Via Ferrata

clarkey cat

anyone done this?

thinking of taking the missus in September (got a babysitter for 5 whole days)

was thinking of doing a guided tour. is it necessary? can you go it alone. we aren't climbers but have done alot of scrambling / walking in high fells.

Thanks

mudcow007

that sounds cool

my mrs cant stand heights though, probably why is is only 5ft odd tall

clarkey cat

My missus is 5 ft 1 and she is a mountain goat. Hopping all over Helvellyn when 5 months pregnant.

mudcow007

dont mountain goats have two legs shorter than the other to let them stand on really steep slopes?

Greg T

I'd go in a group, transport to / from the start / end of the routes and local knowledge all take the drama out of the thing. If you aren't used to rope work (no Japanese allusions here) the saftey aspect kciks in as well. There are some proper exposed sections of the routes so it's always useful to know you probably won't fall to your horrible death.

Climbers should be taxed and insured.

KateF

We did some Via Ferrata last year in the Dolomites. We did one of the more 'touristy' routes, which wasn't particularly difficult climbing-wise, but made all the more difficult by being a little like a motorway - too many people, meaning you had to keep stopping and starting, often in places which weren't ideal for stopping at, which was a little annoying. Also, because the route we did was one of the busier ones in he resort, the rocks were pretty slippy/polished. If I were to do it again, I'd probably get a guide (we were with one of the tour op reps) and do one of the quieter routes, probably a little further away from the centre of town. You probably could go alone on the lower rated ones, as long as you had the kit, but I think taking a guide might be a better idea if you don't know the route and plan on doing one of the more interesting routes.

All in all I quite enjoyed it. Keyser__soze was not quite so keen.

mrc1

I've done it in Lake District http://www.honister-slate-mine.co.uk/via_ferrata_xtreme.asp and in France. It's great fun.

Most places insist that you are guided in a group. Some of the Italian places may let you go off alone but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are very confident/know what you are doing!

Greg T

KateF wrote:

All in all I quite enjoyed it. Keyser__soze was not quite so keen.

Was he too scared to enjoy himself?

I think so

keyser__soze

Greg T wrote:

KateF wrote:

All in all I quite enjoyed it. Keyser__soze was not quite so keen.

Was he too scared to enjoy himself?

Scared either the fat woman ahead of us (not KateF!) would fall off and flatten me or that one of the big queue of Germans/Italians building behind us would throw us off! If I could've climbed at my own pace it'd have been fine but I didn't like having to hang around on some of the more seriously exposed sections waiting for the inept in our group to get out of the way. Oddly I have no issue with similar exposure when I'm on skis (or bootpacking) or even straight rock-climbing (which KateF didn't enjoy, backatya!) , guess it's down to familiarity.

contadorbeef

It depends how you feel about exposure, map reading skills, specific kit you've got. Via Ferrata's are graded 1-5 so if your not a climber then I really wouldn't venture any higher than a grade 3, obviously being with a guide or group then you get the benefit of everything being done for you (mollycoddled), where as if you feel you can tackle it on your own then you've got a lot more freedom.

clarkey cat

Thanks guys - that is all really helpful. I think for peace of mind we'll probably go with a guide.
Although we're both pretty comfortable at heights its been a while since the wife has done anything of this sort.

Does anyone have any recommendations - for small groups?

MRC1 - we've done the Honister one! My keyring is a piece of honister slate. We did the tour of the mine afterwards. Really enjoyed it.

Underscore

We spent a week or so at the northern end of Lake Garda afew years back and did a few Via Ferratas. We didn't do a guided thing - we simply bought this book and did it ourselves. We bought the kit in a shop in Arco and just went for it. You can hire the kit if you want but it wasn't too expensive to buy at that time.

While I did a bit of climbing at the time, my wife only really did scrambling and she did find some of the exposure a bit daunting (one had a ladder that was almost 40m long and pretty much vertical for the top 10-15m and I found the exposure to be heart stopping, so I'm not sure how she managed it at all since she is normally a lot worse with heights!)

If you are planning to go to that area, I can look out the book and tell you the ones we did - three of them were particularly memorable, as well as being quite different in character.

_

Edit: Just found this site: http://alavigne.net/Outdoors/FeatureRep ... /index.jsp which has some good information.

Here is a shot of a short but fascinating VF that we did:


Here is the big ladder:

clarkey cat

Underscore - yes please! Garda was where we were thinking.

many thanks

Mr Sworld

I went to the Dolomites last year with On Top.

http://www.ontopmountaineering.com/cortinadolomiteshike.php
We went hut to hut for 3 days, then back to the hotel, then back out to the huts for another 3 days.

You will need specialist insurance and I would recomend Snowcard.

http://www.snowcard.co.uk/

It was great!

Underscore

clarkey cat wrote:

Underscore - yes please! Garda was where we were thinking.

many thanks

OK. Now bear in mind that this was 6 or 7 years ago but we stayed at this place in Torbole: http://www.casamorandi.it/ It was a nice family run place - reasonably priced, clean and serviceable. If you're planning - as we were - on being out and about whenever you are not sleeping (though it does have a bar and a swimming pool), it's ideal with lots of restaurants a short walk away.

From memory, there is a climbing centre in Arco that rents out VF kit and helmets, though -as I said - we just bought a kit each from one of the climbing shops in Arco and we already had harnesses and helmets.

The first photo above is of http://alavigne.net/Outdoors/FeatureRep ... fsallagoni which is a short VF, easyish. Totally artificial, it is largely covered over or in shade so ideal on a hot day. It also finishes at a castle which is open to the public, if you fancy joining it up with something non-VF related.

The second photo above is of http://alavigne.net/Outdoors/FeatureRep ... centenario which is a longer VF - pretty much all walking or climbing of ladders. The views are excellent but the exposure is astonishing. The good thing is that the first ladder is pretty serious so, while the big one is more daunting, if you're going to want to turn back, it'll probably happen at the first one.

There was a third one that was west of Lake Garda, IIRC . It was a lovely selection of walking, scrambling and VF with gorgeous views and some gun emplacements from the war in the mountainside. Can't find a link at the moment so I'll try to dig out the book and post the route here.

HTH,

_

Underscore

Ah, found the third one. It is Fausto Susatti (Cima Capi): http://www.summitpost.org/fausto-susatt ... api/289694

It has some fairly easy VF/scrambling with utterly amazing views over Lake Garda:



Of the three VFs that I've mentioned, I would rate the first and third over the second but I remember all three fondly. We did a couple of others as well, but it is these three that stick in my memory.

HTH,

_

mrc1

Think I need to get myself to Lake Garda - those routes look awesome.