Introduction

It is hard to say which is 'the' place of pilgrimage in the climber’s world. There are really so many places that deserve the title, places enchanted with the spirit of the climbing pioneers, names that instill respect and awe in every climber's heart.

Take the Dolomites, for example. A big chapter of the history of the modern rock climbing has been written in these Italian mountains with huge limestone faces and towers, signed by names as Comici, Dibona, Dimai, Preuss, Buhl, Solda, Cassin, Dulfer… Many climbs from the beginning of the 20th century were done here that even today’s climbers with their super-safe and reliable equipment would not dare to repeat, preferring instead to stay under the wall and try to imagine how the fellows from the black and white pictures ever managed it…

Last year I bought a guidebook in Chamonix, France that has the name “Classic Dolomite Climbs”. It is a nice guidebook that has at least one route for every corner of the Dolomites - a total of around 100 routes. Over the past year I have been reading through this book - each time after a few minutes I would get a headache trying to decide where I would actually like to climb...

For this first visit I decided on the routes concentrated around the Falzarego Pass – a mountain pass about 15km from the town of
Cortina d’Ampezzo where together with my wife, Vesna, we had our “base camp” in one of the town’s camping sites.

Thinking when we should go, the best invitation came – Sri Chinmoy was about to give three concerts in Italy at the end of May in Milano and Torino so we decided to head towards the mountains after these concerts. We were eagerly waiting for these concerts and for this visit of Sri Chinmoy in Europe - every time we came close to this spiritual Master we get so much inspiration by his selfless work to inspire everyone to reach deeper in their own lives. His concerts - where he plays on numerous instruments and sings songs that he has composed in his native Bengali language - are the best inner food that we could get for our planned trip.

After the concerts we headed towards Cortina and there we made our plan of when we are going to do the selected climbs that were:

Mountain (height) - route (name)
1. Sass di Stria (2477m) - South Rib
2. Torre Picola di Falzarego(c.2500m) - South Arete
3. Torre Grande di Falzarego (c.2500m) - West Face (Lassato Route)
4. Piccolo Lagazuoi (2778m) - South-West Face (Via del Buco)
5. Piz Popena Basso(2224m) - East Face (2 routes)
6. Cinque Torri (Torre Barancio 2308m) - (2 routes: North Face, and North West Corner)
7. Punta Fiames(2240m) - South Face (Via Comune)

I don’t like to rush things, and when it comes to climbing in an area where I am visiting for the first time I like to start from easier ground so that I can gauge the lie of the land, so to speak. For this visit we decided to do easier routes that did not exceed the IV+ grade of difficulty (see Rating Systems). Climbing up to VI on a traditional alpine-style routes in our local crags and a bit harder on a well protected bolted routes - but this and the fact that these routes are termed “classic” might give you the false impression that everything was so easy…

“Climbing in the high mountains is to be enjoyed most when the difficulties (and not just those of a technical nature) are well within one’s capabilities and the mind is free to explore things on a deeper level”… we wanted to live up to this quote taken from the guidebook, and have a nice and enjoyable mountain experience.

Cross-posted from

Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team articles - more articles

About the author:

Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.

In the 27th edition of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence Race, Tswi Wen-Ya attained a new women's world record for the 3100 Mile Race, in a time of 45 days +12:28:44. The diminutive runner from Taiwan, overcame tiredness, heavy rain and numerous physical challenges to set this remarkable new record which involved running an average of 68 miles for 45 days straight. After a short victory celebration, she continued to set a new world record for 5,000km in a time of 45 days +14:56:42.

The race saw fourteen runners take to the start line, and each runner had their own unique experience of self-transcendence. The first place finisher was Andrea Marcato from Italy. it was his fourth consecutive 1st place in the 3100 Mile Race and comes after an amazing year which included two ten day races and other ultra-distance events. His time of 43 days+13:33:23 was not a personal record, but he joins the Finnish men's world record holder Ashprihanal Aalto for being the only runner with four consecutive first places.

Another notable achievement was 2nd place, Lo Wei-Ming (Taiwan) who covered 17 of the last 19 days in 71+ miles, including 14 days over 72.4 and 74.3 miles, with two days wrangling 79.4 miles. He averaged 68.343 miles/ 109.986 km per day. He then completed the 13 extra laps needed to reach 5000km in a sparkling time of 45 days+ 11:16:51. These top personal results are National records and Asian records.

The race was inspired by Sri Chinmoy who saw distance running as a unique challenge to bring to the fore all the inner and outer resources of the competitor. Sri Chinmoy taught the real goal was not the outer accomplishment, but the inner progress which can come from transcending our previous capacities, and remaining cheerful whatever happens during the race.

“We compete not for the sake of defeating others, but in order to bring forward our own capacity. Our best capacity comes forward only when there are other people around us. They inspire us to bring forward our utmost capacity, and we inspire them to bring forward their utmost capacity”

– Sri Chinmoy

The race inspired many people who both took part, but also who came to help or cheer on the runners. This video gives an insight into the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the runners

3100 Mile Race Feature on US National Public Radio

3100 Mile Race Featured on NPR

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About the author:

On 30 August 2023, the 27th annual Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race began in Jamaica, New York, US. This year, there are fourteen runners are on the start list and it is set to be a great race.

The start list includes the winner of the 2022 Race (Andrea Mercato, Italy) and last year's first woman (Susan Marshall, New Zealand). There are also four new runners - Tsai Wen-Ya, Mahasatya Janczak, Adrian Papuc and Jason Lester who will be entering the 3100 Mile Race for the first time. Despite being experienced ultra-distance runners, there is nothing that can fully prepare you for this unique ultra-marathon event.

In order to meet their goal of 3100 miles (4989km) in 52 days, they must log an average of 59.6 miles (95.9 km) per day. The runners begin at 6 a.m. and run for extended periods throughout the day. If they want to, they can continue as late as 12 midnight when the course closes for the night. After completing the race, runners have the option of continuing on to complete 5000km.

For many years, the race was held in the middle of the New York summer, with scorching temperatures adding to the challenge. Last year, the runners had cooler temperatures but also had to contend with the tail end of a hurricane and frequent heavy, persistent rain. This year the runners will be hoping for more favourable weather conditions, but whatever the conditions, the runners will be ready to seek their own personal self-transcendence and seek to overcome the many obstacles.

Sri Chinmoy the founder of the race saw distance running, and this race in particular, as a valuable opportunity for the runner to seek a life-transforming physical and spiritual self-transcendence.