Marmolada

The best-known peaks

• Punta Penia3,343 m
• Punta Rocca3,310 m
• Gran Vernel3,210 m
• Sasso Vernale3,058 m

Elevations from the map (OpenStreetMap).

The glacier

The glacier is enclosed at the top by the ridges of Punta Rocca and Punta Penia. According to the UNESCO Foundation’s geology sheet it covered 305 hectares in the early 1960s and 170 in 2006, and its front has retreated above the Sasso delle Undici and Sasso delle Dodici, the rock spurs that used to divide its sectors.

The massif also includes the Gran Vernel and the Ombretta and Val Fredda peaks. Lake Fedaia, at the foot of the north side, is a reservoir: since 1950 the meltwater has been used to generate electricity.

The cable car and access

At Malga Ciapela, in the municipality of Rocca Pietore, the cable car climbs in 12 minutes from 1,450 to 3,265 metres, with intermediate stations at Coston d’Antermoja and Serauta. The first section, up to Serauta, opened on 8 December 1967. At Punta Rocca the viewing terrace is reached by lift; the operator asks visitors to set off by 3.30 pm. In winter La Bellunese runs down from Punta Rocca, 12 km and 1,810 metres of descent, crossing the glacier and passing the Fedaia Pass.

From Val di Fassa you drive up from Canazei to the Fedaia Pass, on the border between Trentino and Veneto. The best-known viewpoint over the north side is the Viel del Pan. Punta Penia, on the other hand, is for experienced mountaineers: Visit Trentino advises against climbing it without a mountain guide, and the cable car operator forbids heading out onto the glacier without proper equipment.

The Great War

According to Visit Trentino, the Marmolada was the highest battlefield on the Dolomite front. The Austro-Hungarian army dug the City of Ice into the glacier, tunnels linking the bases at the foot of the mountain with the positions at Punta Rocca and Forcella V. Today, writes the Val di Fassa tourist board, nothing of it remains.

Its story is told at the Marmolada Great War museum, at Serauta station: renovated in 2015, it has 300 square metres of photos, diaries and finds that emerged from the ice. At the Fedaia Pass there is another Great War museum, with finds that come largely from the Marmolada.

The collapse of 3 July 2022

On 3 July 2022, at 1.43 pm, part of the glacier broke away near Punta Rocca and swept over several roped parties: 11 people died. According to estimates by the Autonomous Province of Trento, 63,300 cubic metres of ice fell at 50-80 metres per second, with rock and debris, over 2.2 kilometres.

On 8 July the Province declared a state of emergency. On 16 November 2022 the mayor of Canazei lifted the red zone on the north side, and Trentino’s civil protection defined an attention area, from the ice cap down to Lake Fedaia, where access can be banned again during long hot spells. In June 2023 the Province wrote that the causes were still being studied. Before heading up the north side, check the ordinances of the Municipality of Canazei.

Names and UNESCO World Heritage

According to the Val di Fassa tourist board, the nickname Queen of the Dolomites was coined by Father Luigi Baroldi in 1883. In German the form Marmolata is also used, and it appears on the cable car’s German website. Since 2009 the Marmolada has been System 2 of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site: 2,208 hectares across the provinces of Belluno and Trento.