Capanna Punta Penia, located on the summit of the Marmolada group, straddling Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto, at 3340 metres above sea level is the highest refuge in the Dolomites. Accessible via a variant of the Alta via n. 2 and the Marmolada via ferrata, which leads from Forcella Marmolada along the west ridge of the mountain, the hut offers a breathtaking view of the valley below.

Although the hut is not heated and is more like a bivouac hut, it has a small kitchen, a dining room and beds. Secured with steel ropes, it is located directly above the abyss of the south face of the Marmolada, which is about 800 metres deep. The hut is only open in the summer months and can only be reached with adequate preparation and mountaineering equipment from the north along the glacier, with the via ferrata from the west or by climbing the south face.

The Punta Penia Hut was built by a mountain guide from Alba di Canazei towards the end of the 1940s, reusing the remains of an old Austro-Hungarian post from the First World War. In the following years, the Spartan hut was extended several times. During the Vaia storm in late October 2018, which caused wind gusts of over 200 km/h at the nearby Punta Rocca station, the hut was damaged.

Photo © Carlo Budel