Via Ferrata - DIY

Jim Titt wrote:That´s the Seeben klettersteig in Austria. Not my sport as it happens but I´ve been on a few in the Dolomites as they are often part of the descent from routes. I´ve done a couple of the hard sport via ferrata´s as well, I used to sell the anchors and steps to build them.

Thanks Jim...just one more reason to go back to Austria!

Hey folks,

Thanks for the in-depth information here. I appreciate having more than a yes/no answer.

About to do a few routes while I'm in France for a few months, and this answered most of my questions about VIA Ferrata.

Jonathan

In a pure climbing scenario it's possible to exceed a FF2 also. Belayer yards in rope.

It's really hard to find good info in english for VF's. I found this site, unfortunately, AFTER our trip to the Dolomites:

alavigne.net/Outdoors/Featu…

It's the most encyclopedic english language website I've found on it. The "Cicerone" guidebooks are probably your best bet beyond that.

For gear info, here are a couple of useful sites:

4-seasons.de/magazinartikel…

blackdiamondequipment.com/e…

The options are nearly limitless, but a nice "warm-up" VF, that still has absolutely spectacular views and strong adventure feel is the VF across from Tre Cime:

alavigne.net/Outdoors/Featu…

If you're wondering about difficulty level, my wife had never put on a harness before, and made nice work of this. (There is plenty of die-if-you-fall exposure, though, so don't underestimate it. Sorry, I haven't been on the MP forums long enough to be able to say "YER GONNA DIE!!!")

Note that I think it's better done in the opposite direction as this trip report. If you do it that way (tunnels first), make sure you don't just scramble down the scree gully at the end. Follow the VF traverse along the cliffs towards Tre Cime. You can traverse almost all the way back to the trailhead via via ferrata. Bring a headlamp for the tunnels!

If you don't want to spend the money on a VF lanyard, and you plan on staying in pretty populous areas, VF kits can be rented all over the place. If you do it probably more than three times though, you'll probably have bought yourself a lanyard.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more trip planning questions. This was one of my favorite trips, have fun!

20kN, any tips on where you find these lanyards on sale for $60? I've been watching up for a while now and never found one under $83
. Need 2, one for my wife and I, so it adds up. Thanks!

Bob Dobalina wrote:I use two runners with biners on each one girth hitched to my harness for our local via ferrata. I've also done it with just one runner on a tied webbing "swammi-style" belt too. Specialty gear for via ferratas is not at all crucial in my experience. Falling onto a horizontally draped cable with slack in it is not a static fall.

Bob, we aren't talking solely about the Telluride Via Ferrette here. Most via ferrette's in the world feature significant vertical sections on it. Useing a simple sling and biner rig would not be safe! We get away with it in Telluride simply due to the fully horizontal nature of ours.

Eric Engberg wrote:In a pure climbing scenario it's possible to exceed a FF2 also. Belayer yards in rope.

Or the slack rope could catch on a flake somewhere along the fall path before the top piece catches you. Seems exceedingly unlikely though.

Mike Marmar wrote: Or the slack rope could catch on a flake somewhere along the fall path before the top piece catches you. Seems exceedingly unlikely though.

In which there is a good chance the flake would cut the rope and send you to the deck.

Paul-B wrote:20kN, any tips on where you find these lanyards on sale for $60? I've been watching up for a while now and never found one under $83 . Need 2, one for my wife and I, so it adds up. Thanks!

Last time I bought one it was from Moosejaw. It was about $80 but Moosejaw has a 15% off coupon you can find on Google.