Italy - Via Feratta Week - Marino Bianchi, 24th July, 2008

For our last VF of the week, we drove out to Cortina to do the 2B, Marino Bianchi. The cablecar is situated on the S48 between Cortina D'Ampezzo and the junction between S48 and S48b. The lifts take you up, in two stages, to the rifugio Lorenzi. The second lift, or "coke cans" as they're affectionately called are an experience in themselves, as they rattle and shake they're way up to the main ridge of the Cristallo group where the refugio Lorenzi sits precariously at 3000m.

The "coke cans", only have room for two, just (you can see Lorna and Ben in the one above), and you have to run to get on as the lift guy slams and locks the door shut behind you! You also get a good view of the drop below you through the holes in the floors! As they took forever to go up, I did consider having a pee through one of the holes.

The route of Marino Bianchi VF is the ridge that leads straight from the balcony of the refugio, up to the summit of the Middle Cristallo, so you will have an audience as you leave, and come back. The route has some small exposed sections, but nothing too drastic, yet for a 2B they are exciting enough! That and a couple of ladders, one a little on the loose side, make this a great route.

Ben on one of the short steeper sections. Apart from a small loop in the route, taking a different descent than ascent, you have to follow the cable back to the refugio. This makes the ladders and some of the short downclimbs interesting, but it can be slow going due to amount of traffic. However this gives you time to savour the views and the drops!

The summit at 3154m gives you a great view of Ponte Cristallo (Cristallo Bridge), the longest ferrata suspension bridge in the dolomites, near the start of the Ivano Dibona VF, which also starts from refugio Lorenzi. Sadly, due to the amount of people on our route, we couldn't make it back to the refugio in time to even try and get to the bridge for some photos! Maybe next year?