So I’m rumagging around Petzl’s website and I see a term I have not heard before: via ferrata. Curious, I do some quick web searching which forms this picture in my mind:
Via ferrata is climbing up metal rungs anchored into a rock face.
Is this an accurate definition?
I saw pictures of rebar-looking stuff bent like a staple with each end embedded into the rock face. Not just one, but hundreds of these rungs making a ladder up the face. So folks start at the bottom and climb up this ladder to reach the top – usually on belay to prevent a fall.
Is this for real? Bolts are a sensitive issue for canyoneers around these parts, yet in some other places folks are building ladders on rock faces to make them as easy to climb as a ladder? Needless to say my mind is boggled.
I’m generally OK with providing outdoor experiences for people of all levels of capability, but taking a rock face and making a ladder out of it seems to be going waaay too far. Am I just misunderstanding via ferrata? If not, is the ethics of via ferrata a hot issue in the US and other countries? This inquiring mind would like to know more.
– Kris Nosack
Dick Shear
—– Original Message —– From: “Kris Nosack” kn@xmission.com> To: Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 8:31 PM Subject: [from Canyons Group] Via ferrata – Is it what I think it is?
Some time ago I spoke with the owner of a Via Ferrata School in Kentucky USA. I was doing research for a federal agency that was considering some variation of via ferrata to make a heavily traveled canyon route safe. Go to: http://www.viaferratatorrentfalls.com/ It was an interesting bit of research. Along the way I discovered that some canyons in the USA, have large hand rings bolted in the walls to assist hikers at difficult places. Made sense because via ferrata (a la Petzl) requires some training and gear and many of these places attract folks that are closer to pickners than canyoneers. In the Western USA I have seen evidence of hardware in places that detract from the setting, for sure. Dig a little deeper and you may find that the ugly ladders, etc. served a purpose for commerce, construction, mining, etc. from years gone by. There are folks who see old abandoned mining equipment in the Mojave Desert as an eye sore, and there are folks who covet the stuff as treasures. Go figure. This must be America Best regards, Dick Shear, Las Vegas
hmoon@petzl.com
Kris
Via Ferrata need need not have metal rungs, though most of them do. There are sometimes sections of plain rock with just the protection cable. Ethically questionable? Maybe/yes/no/sure/whazzitallmean? Aside from the historical Via already mentioned, there are many new ones going up all over Europe. My understanding is they are using “junk cliffs” for these, i.e. cliffs of no interest to climbers or anyone else. I sincerely hope they don’t start going up all over the U.S., but it’s cool to have them in Europe. Did a couple back in 2000 and had a blast! Good family outing, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them eventually pop up around here if they catch on in the U.S. Right now there are two I know of in the States: one in KY, and the other in WV. The one in KY is mostly traversing a low cliff band (
Bo Beck
I recently spent a week in Italy (Northeastern) and had an opportunity to experience a couple of these Via Ferattas (Iron Trail). The Ferattas, Grotta de Tofana, and Feratta Giovanni Lippella, were both established during WW1 by the Italians and Austrians. Tofana was a traverse a cliff to get to a cave (Artillary emplacement to bombard the Italians as they tried to scramble up the talus slopes) and Lippella was a 1/2 KM long tunnel 45 Deg. and general ascending traverse to get to the top of Tofana de Rozes. These were just 2 of 100’s of Ferattas that were established during WW1. I kinda think that ETHICS took a backseat to survival! I could be wrong though! If you go to photos in Canyons Group you will see 2 photos I took of these ferattas. Cheers! Bo
—– Original Message —– From: Kris Nosack kn@xmission.com> To: Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 9:31 PM Subject: [from Canyons Group] Via ferrata – Is it what I think it is?
> So I’m rumagging around Petzl’s website and I see a term I have not heard > before: via ferrata. Curious, I do some quick web searching which forms > this picture in my mind:
Via ferrata is climbing up metal rungs anchored into a rock face.
Is this an accurate definition?
I saw pictures of rebar-looking stuff bent like a staple with each end > embedded into the rock face. Not just one, but hundreds of these rungs > making a ladder up the face. So folks start at the bottom and climb up this > ladder to reach the top – usually on belay to prevent a fall.
Is this for real? Bolts are a sensitive issue for canyoneers around these > parts, yet in some other places folks are building ladders on rock faces to > make them as easy to climb as a ladder? Needless to say my mind is boggled.
I’m generally OK with providing outdoor experiences for people of all levels > of capability, but taking a rock face and making a ladder out of it seems to > be going waaay too far. Am I just misunderstanding via ferrata? If not, is > the ethics of via ferrata a hot issue in the US and other countries? This > inquiring mind would like to know more.
> – Kris Nosack
> When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
Subject: BIZ~ New Abbreviation List – working?
Bombastic Bolt Debates are allowed to only a limited extent. Folks should go to the Canyoneer Group for a truly un-moderated forum. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyoneer
> To change your delivery options, go to the Canyons Egroup page on yahoo: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/
> This will require logging into Yahoo. Click on the "Edit My > Membership" link, and change your delivery option. Press "Save > Changes".
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>
Michele Angileri
“Via Ferrata” is made for ledges. Paths on ledges are ususally exposed and dangerous: a cable anchored to the wall is a good mean to prevent hikers from falling. A narrow ledge is not a path (via), it becomes a path if someone puts a cable of steel (ferrata)
“Le vie ferrate” were born in dolomites, because there are plenty of ledges !!
Ladders and vertical cables are used to pass to an upper ledge.
“Le vie ferrate” are not made for climbing.
Michele
charlybldr@aol.com
Kris,
The literal translation of Via Ferrata means “iron way”. Klettersteig or “rock/steel” in German. Typically these routes are exposed hikes and rock scrambles that use steel cables and ladders bolted to the rock face to protect the difficult terrain. Climbers wear a harness with a special belay rig and clip into the cables and ladders to protect the dangerous sections.
Via Feratta routes are quite common in the Dolomites and southern Alps and are very popular. They tend to attract a crowd that is interested in more than just hiking but aren’t really rock climbers as we know them over here. The sport may look weird to someone not used to the idea but then, so does rapping through waterfalls.
During the first World War the Austrians and Italians fortified their common border along the Sud Tyrol, in the heart of what is now the Italian Dolomites just north of Cortina. To get all those soldiers, machine guns and canons in place they dynamited trails and fixed steel ladders throughout the mountains. Some of their fortifications, empty shell casings, barbed wire and all can still be found today. Mute testament to the thousands who died there.
As the locals began venturing into the mountains again after the war, they found using these ladders and cables to get around very helpful and the first Via Ferrata came into being. Since then a vast network of these incredible routes has been developed throughout the Dolomites, as intricate and varied as any climbing area in the world.
Charly
—–Original Message—– From: kn@xmission.com [mailto:kn@xmission.com] Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 8:31 PM To: Yahoo Canyons Group Subject: [from Canyons Group] Via ferrata – Is it what I think it is?
So I’m rumagging around Petzl’s website and I see a term I have not heard before: via ferrata. Curious, I do some quick web searching which forms this picture in my mind:
Via ferrata is climbing up metal rungs anchored into a rock face.
Is this an accurate definition?
I saw pictures of rebar-looking stuff bent like a staple with each end embedded into the rock face. Not just one, but hundreds of these rungs making a ladder up the face. So folks start at the bottom and climb up this ladder to reach the top – usually on belay to prevent a fall.
Is this for real? Bolts are a sensitive issue for canyoneers around these parts, yet in some other places folks are building ladders on rock faces to make them as easy to climb as a ladder? Needless to say my mind is boggled.
I’m generally OK with providing outdoor experiences for people of all levels of capability, but taking a rock face and making a ladder out of it seems to be going waaay too far. Am I just misunderstanding via ferrata? If not, is the ethics of via ferrata a hot issue in the US and other countries? This inquiring mind would like to know more.
– Kris Nosack
When you post, please change the Subject appropriately, to make reading and searching easier. You can use the following abbreviations: TRIP = Trip Report; BETA = Canyon Beta; PARTNER = Partner and/or Rides; ETHICS = Ethics; TECH = Technical Questions and Tips; BIZ = E Group Business; SALE = Stuff for Sale. Please use a Tilde ~ after the abbreviation, so we know you are coding for us, such as:
Subject: BIZ~ New Abbreviation List – working?
Bombastic Bolt Debates are allowed to only a limited extent. Folks should go to the Canyoneer Group for a truly un-moderated forum. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyoneer
To change your delivery options, go to the Canyons Egroup page on yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/
This will require logging into Yahoo. Click on the "Edit My Membership" link, and change your delivery option. Press "Save Changes".
DAILY DIGEST OPTION will deliver one email to you each day summarizing that day’s messages.
WEB ONLY OPTION will not deliver email; you must visit the web site to view messages.
Your use of Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Shane Burrows
Kris,
Rent the Sylvester Stallone movie “Cliffhanger” if you would like to witness bad acting and some good pictures of a “Via ferrata” route in the Alps.
Shane
Tom Jones
Yah, that is about it. Add a cable that you clip to with a shock- absorbing sling and that’s a pretty good description.
The only Via Ferrata’s I know of in the US of A were constructed by the Park Service in a bygone era. Angels Landing. Half Dome. Lady Mountain (removed from service because there were too many problems). Hidden Canyon.
Fun fun fun. Ethics in across the pond are, uh, a little more developed than they are here. There are (supposed to be) awesome Via Ferratas scattered throughout the Alps. Like climbing without the hassles of the belay. Without the crux. It’s all fourth class, until you fall…
tom
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “Kris Nosack” wrote: > So I’m rumagging around Petzl’s website and I see a term I have not heard > before: via ferrata. Curious, I do some quick web searching which forms > this picture in my mind:
Via ferrata is climbing up metal rungs anchored into a rock face.
Is this an accurate definition?
I saw pictures of rebar-looking stuff bent like a staple with each end > embedded into the rock face. Not just one, but hundreds of these rungs > making a ladder up the face. So folks start at the bottom and climb up this > ladder to reach the top – usually on belay to prevent a fall.
Is this for real? Bolts are a sensitive issue for canyoneers around these > parts, yet in some other places folks are building ladders on rock faces to > make them as easy to climb as a ladder? Needless to say my mind is boggled.
I’m generally OK with providing outdoor experiences for people of all levels > of capability, but taking a rock face and making a ladder out of it seems to > be going waaay too far. Am I just misunderstanding via ferrata? If not, is > the ethics of via ferrata a hot issue in the US and other countries? This > inquiring mind would like to know more.
> – Kris Nosack