One day, when ordinary hiking, cycling or swimming has worn thin and you get an irresistible urge to try something new, something with a bit of adrenaline in it, set off on a via ferrata. That is the name for mountain routes secured with fixed steel cables, pitons, staples, footholds, ladders and other safety fittings. They take you to places, over terrain and along routes that used to be for experienced climbers only. This rocky adventure has won the hearts of many a mountain lover, whatever their age, sex or faith.
Austria has countless fixed routes – via ferratas – and new ones keep appearing. They are classified above all by difficulty, and the notation can differ from country to country. Austria uses letters from A (the easiest) to E, or F (the hardest). Less commonly they are distinguished by the Roman numerals I to V.
The grade takes account of both the technical difficulty and the time the whole route demands.
Not a step without the gear
Only a suicide, a lunatic or Spiderman would set out on a klettersteig (the German name) without the proper equipment. The basics are a sit harness and a via ferrata lanyard set with a shock absorber and two carabiners. Do not economise on those! When you are in trouble, the CZK 500 you saved will be no comfort at all.
There are several designs of via ferrata set, differing in the shock absorber used and in the straps that connect the harness to the carabiners. If you want safety and comfort, choose sets with palm carabiners (they open only once the carabiner is squeezed in your palm), elasticated straps (they stretch as needed like rubber, get in the way nowhere and do not tangle round your legs) and a tearing shock absorber (after a fall it can be swapped for a fresh, untorn one). This is the absolute minimum, without which you should not even think about fixed routes.
It is also recommended that you clip a chest harness to the sit harness. The via ferrata set is then attached to the chest harness, which spreads the forces better in a fall – you will not be jack-knifed at the waist. But I meet very few people in the mountains who have one.
Very few sports today are done without a helmet ….
A helmet goes without saying. It protects you – as long as it is not sitting on your rucksack – against falling rock, against knocking your head on the rock in tight spots or on protruding staples, and also against badly secured objects falling off the rucksacks of climbers above you: drinks bottles, which everyone likes to keep to hand, clipped to the side of the pack.
You will certainly not go wrong if you reach for products from established makers (Petzl, Singing Rock, Rock Empire, Salewa and the like). They also offer complete via ferrata sets containing everything you need.
Experienced via ferrata climbers add a rest lanyard and a prusik to the above. The rest lanyard lets you, as the name suggests, sit back when you need a break during the climb and want your hands free. A prusik makes sitting back easier in places where the cable does not run horizontally. It is a small-diameter cord that you wrap several times around the steel cable of the via ferrata and clip into the carabiner of the rest lanyard. The friction stops the rest lanyard from sliding.
Clothing and footwear are of course up to you. Above all they should be comfortable and suited to the weather on the day. When choosing boots, bear in mind that the descents from the top of some via ferratas can be very long and may cross scree fields, sharp stones and slippery roots. Whether you go for low or high boots is entirely your choice. High ones have the advantage that they pick up less dirt as you walk and protect your ankles from being grazed on rock or staples. What matters is the sole, which should grip well on wet rock too.
Gloves are not strictly necessary, but personally I consider them essential. Most of your time on a via ferrata is spent holding a steel cable that is fairly hot in summer and not exactly user-friendly to your palms, and calloused hands may not feel pleasant against your partner’s skin in the evening either. On top of that you can and will sweat, and a damp palm does not grip a cable well. I use fingerless cycling gloves. Better to avoid those and choose full-finger or special via ferrata gloves.
If you only want to give the sport a try, go to a rental shop. You will find one in almost every sports equipment store, and Austrian towns and villages always have several (Intersport, Sport 2000 and so on). For your first time it is worth hiring a klettersteigeführer along with the gear, who will show you everything, explain it and guide you safely up your first via ferrata.
If you decide to take up via ferratas for the long term, buying your own set with everything that goes with it is definitely worth it. As with any sport, via ferrata equipment comes in varying quality, differing in design, workmanship and price. Always be a little cautious about buying new products. Unfortunately not every manufacturer manages to make safe, reliable kit at the first attempt, and the flaws come to light only after a while. Better to go for older, proven models that have been on sale for at least one season.
Erste schritte – the first steps
As you move along a via ferrata you must always have at least one of the set’s carabiners clipped to the steel cable. The cable is anchored to the rock at regular intervals. Whenever you reach such a point, move the free carabiner onto the next stretch of cable and only then unclip the other one. Ideally you have both carabiners on the cable and move them one after the other onto the next section at the anchor point.
NEVER UNCLIP BOTH CARABINERS AT ONCE!!!
As you climb, hold on to the cable, the rock, the ladder or the staples. To save your strength it is always better to push up with your legs and to use your arms to pull your body up only where you have to. Keep your spacing, so that the person ahead of you is at least two cable anchor points away.
When you want a rest, whether in the middle of an exposed section or while you wait for the climbers ahead of you to move on, clip the rest lanyard into a fixed fitting, brace your feet against the rock and sit back into the harness. The first time it takes a little courage, nerve and trust in the equipment, but the feeling of hanging several metres above a ravine is priceless.
Have a good drink and something to eat before you start the climb. Steel yourself and skip the beer and other diuretic drinks; on a via ferrata there is usually no chance to pull the harness down and relieve yourself in comfort. If your blood sugar drops during the climb or you get an unbearable thirst, and everything is in your rucksack, take it off very carefully. Dropping it can be an irreversible process – there is no Undo icon. The rucksack usually holds our wallet, documents and car keys as well. I always carry at least 2 spare HMS carabiners and use them for “parking” the rucksack, clipping it to the steel cable. Be careful handling a camera too: attach a thin sling with a carabiner to its strap and clip that to your harness.
Choosing a klettersteig
When choosing a via ferrata, always weigh up your current fitness. Match the length of the climb and the grade to the weakest member of the group. Study the route information properly. The via ferrata itself may take only an hour, but the approach and the descent another six. For most routes the internet also has a diagram grading the individual sections, with the important landmarks. Even where the climb is graded C, the via ferrata may have an easier variant. The overall grade is always taken from the hardest section.
You can pick a suitable via ferrata on specialist sites, for example the Austrian Bergsteigen.com, the German Klettersteig.de or the Czech Alpskyvudce.cz, where you can filter routes by country, area, difficulty, length of climb and so on. Each usually lists a suitable place to park, a topo diagram, photographs and sometimes comments on the current condition.
For anyone who prefers print, I recommend what is probably the best via ferrata guidebook, the „Klettersteigatlas“, which is kept up to date and has been through several editions.
Weather and season
Although some via ferratas can be climbed in winter as well, the ideal climbing period runs from the last snow to the first – roughly from May to October. Some areas may be closed on certain days for nature conservation or after a natural disaster, but those are not very frequent exceptions. Before you climb, follow the current weather for the area, ideally from several meteorological models (Windyty.com offers 4 models on one site).
Look at the expected development over the coming hours as well. A sun icon may not tell you enough. During the day it can turn sharply colder or the wind can pick up. A thunderstorm on a via ferrata is not the experience you came for: you are joined by a climber’s umbilical cord – the cable – to a lightning conductor!
Insurance
Good travel insurance is the basic prerequisite for a trouble-free holiday. Fortunately via ferratas have made it into the vocabulary of almost all Czech commercial insurers. Most of them, though, offer cover only for klettersteigs up to and including grade C, and there is usually a limit on altitude as well. You will find the specifics in the general terms of the policy in question.
A closing word of encouragement
The objective safety risks listed here should certainly not put you off a klettersteig. Moving on via ferratas is a great mountain activity, and the feeling on reaching the top, along with the endorphins it releases, is unforgettable. It offers views of the surrounding countryside that ordinary walking trails cannot reach. You can pass through a ravine with a stream under your feet, climb a ladder beside a waterfall or cross a gorge on a rope bridge, and at the end of the route cool off in a pool of cold, crystal-clear water where only the eagles “come” to drink.