What began as a steep gravel road, the bain of most mountain bikers, soon slimmed down to a rocky singletrack that emerged from the tree line, exposing both the views below us and the sheer drop to our left - unforgiving to say the least. As is often the case, the slopes that didn't look that intimidating while overhead in the cable car turned out to quickly put our entire group, barring Trek's Travis Brown, immediately into the red-zone. The lift, which begins right in town and gains 3,000ft in total, took us to the mid-way station where we disembarked in order to climb under our own power. As it turned out, the storms caught most of our group regardless. Sure, we could have climbed up the mountain's steep lower slopes, but with nasty weather moving in fast, the lift-assisted approach made more sense. We spent two days riding in the valleys and up on the peaks of the Dolomites, with the first leg of our journey beginning with a short pedal from the hotel to the cable car that ascends Mount Faloria. It's fair to say that Cortina has quite a mixed bag of history behind it, not to mention some very challenging terrain for those who are looking for a two-wheeled adventure. And even if you will never get the chance to visit Cortina's mountains, you've likely already seen them up close without even knowing it - the Sylvester Stallone movie, Cliffhanger, features many climbing scenes filmed in and around Cortina, as well as the classic Bond flick, For Your Eyes Only. The adventurous mountain history has spawned many remote Rifugios, restaurants and hostels nestled high in the surrounding mountains, ( shown above ) that provide shelter, food, and atmosphere to those who travel far enough to enjoy them. The vertical, rocky walls surrounding Cortina are also home to both many trekking and rock climbing routes as well, with climbing legend Reinhold Messner himself cutting his teeth on the local terrain. Lifts and gondolas make their way up the surrounding slopes as well, attesting to the area's heavy history in Winter sports. Well-maintained ski jump tower and landing slope on the drive in on the twisting two-lane road.
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