Via Ferrata - I'm a competent climber, can I just buy a via ferrata lanyard and go? Or will I die?

Hi, I have been climbing for 10 years and I'm a self sufficient climber and I have only almost died twice in the alpine.  

I want to do some via ferratas in europe.  I see kids with parents doing them in tennis shoes.  As a climber, are they easy enough to do solo without a guide?  I have never done a VF before.  

I would buy the proper VF leashes as I've read that they have built in screamers in case I do fall, I won't break my back (again).  

I'm being nonchalant but I'm asking because I actually do take safety very seriously and I don't want to be overconfident and die a stupid death.  But VF from what I can tell, look like climbing a ladder high above the ground.  The only "special" gear I would need are VF leashes and leather work gloves? 

You will be fine.

I use my approach shoes 

Harness, helmet, gloves 

Via Ferreta is like going to Disneyland  for climbers. They are fun. Enjoy .

Via ferrata, zip lines, bungee jumping, rollercoasters... these all exist so that the most basic humans can feel a sense achieving some kind of manufactured adventure. As a climber, you'd be fine 3rd classing this stuff if you weren't going to be surrounded by those people, dropping their phones as they try to get the perfect selfie, etc. For that reason alone, use all the safety gear. 

100% yer gonna die.

While I can’t speak for all via Ferratas in Europe, the ones I had seen do not require guides, and climbers often just go up those things to access the actual climbing.

Maybe the longer, more advertised ones are different…

Go for it! Via ferratas can be a lot of fun and lets you access some outrageous places quickly and with minimal gear.

A few places charge a fee for their Via Ferratas, a few even demand that you book a time in advance and use their gear. Some are completely free to use as you wish. But that's in Norway, not sure what it's like in central Europe.

A simple safety tip is to put your carabiners on the cable from opposite sides, that way you won't be so tempted to move them both simultaneously past a bolt.

Perhaps keep a couple of meters of dynamic rope in the pack? That way, you at least have something dynamic for makeshift lanyards if a fall does occur and you blow your shock absorber. Not sure how they usually do that but a plan for self rescue seems in order.

Sep M wrote:

You won’t die. But I can’t really get behind the idea that via ferrata is just shitty climbing. They’ve got their own thing going on.

Head up a hard enough ED with too much pack on and you’ll still pump out and fall. And you’re really not supposed to fall.

Do wear a helmet. Don’t get too cocky. Check that you’re in the weight range for your lanyards. Consider bringing a third static lanyard for rests your first couple goes. Do enjoy it.

The set-ups I'm familiar with have a short dogbone-style leg straight off the harness (no enery absorber) for clipping in for rests.

Technique- and strength-wise you'll be fine. Something to consider is that VF varies widely between almost urban playgrounds to serious alpine endeavors. For the latter, don't forget to plan for the descent, possibly snow, etc. There has been a trend towards very long and at the same time difficult VFs and most incidents occur out of exhaustion, inadequate planning and a disregard for a not ideal weather forecast.

You having died almost twice in the alpine, you probably know all this already.

You'll be fine if you are selective of the via ferrata that you choose, watch the weather, and climb carefully. But don't be over-confident either. It is sobering to recall that one of the best alpinists, Kurt Albert, died in a via ferrata accident. 

Sunny-D wrote:

You will be fine.

I use my approach shoes 

Harness, helmet, gloves 

Via Ferreta is like going to Disneyland  for climbers. They are fun. Enjoy .

The above is spot on. It is just good fun. Usually. Though do be aware some routes can be really - really busy. Getting stuck behind a big slow group can be no fun as passing can be an issue. If you are into history many of the routes in the Dolomites have WWI emplacements, including some long tunnels. Also routes can be combined into multi-day adventures with an over night at hut or bivouac (unmanaged hut). 

FWIW, I did the VF in Ouray last summer and was glad I had gotten some lanyards. I went into it perhaps a little overconfident (I tend to have slightly above average mental strength on rock), and to be fair there was nothing harder than 3rd/4th class, but the exposure was very real and I felt that climbing mainly on rungs and cables was a very different feel than rock. Or maybe it was just a mental high-gravity day for me. Either way, maybe best to borrow/rent some lanyards for your first one

Nick Niebuhr wrote:

Either way, maybe best to borrow/rent some lanyards for your first one

Not looking to pick a fight here, but any novices getting into via ferratas, take note:  If Nick's suggestion is to free solo or use something like a PAS instead of a proper via ferrata tether at any time (1st, 2nd, or 100th), both approaches would be extremely hazardous.  For a quick video about the fall forces involved (which are potentially much higher than any roped climbing fall), see this:

https://youtu.be/slYMyquz-98?feature=shared

I'm sure there are many other, and perhaps better explanations out there.

Nick, you may have intended something other than what your post suggests, but any ambiguity on something like this, which will almost certainly be found by a gumby or two through Google searches, could lead to disaster.

TL;DR:  Use proper protection every time, not just your first time.

Artem Vee wrote:

I think the level of hazard greatly depends on the specific via ferrata in question measured against climbers innate ability combined with their overall experience level.

It’s impossible to make a general statement on something so complex - my point being is that on SOME via ferratas (ladder routes) you would only fall if either:

- an over-engineered anchor (by alpine/rock/ice standards) rips out of the wall or breaks at the wrong time, which would be unfortunate but extremely avoidable with proper experience

- you have a medical episode

- are somehow really bad at climbing a literal ladder

Basically my point is that for some via ferratas, for some people, the risk is virtually zero even though our ape brains generally do have an overall visceral response to them. We tend to be bad at judging risk - we tend to (mistakenly) exclusively equate it with fear, which I find to be frequently misleading. It’s a ladder. Just don’t let go. Don’t trust your entire weight to one anchor at once, and if you must - then daisy into something else (preferably with a dynamic leash) real quick to make it redundant just in case. Learn to judge anchors. Etc, etc, etc… all of these problems are solvable problems because it's virtually the most tame form of aid you will ever engage in as a climber, imo, assuming you make good decisions about the via ferrata you are about to explore (which I admit we really can't trust the general public to do, reliably).

Virtually zero risk.....

Don't assume the rungs are infallible. Imagine you're on a sport route where all the bolts are older than your parents.

For those who think all via ferratas are "just climbing ladders"....

Sunny-D wrote:

Via Ferreta is like going to Disneyland  for climbers. They are fun. Enjoy .

Yep. Super fun blast for climbers with very low risk. Great to go with a mixed-skill party because everyone can "climb" next to each other (you don't have to be 100s of feet apart). Strong people can take more risk and clip less, and be next to party members that want a lot of protection. 

Artem Vee wrote:

Basically my point is that for some via ferratas, for some people, the risk is virtually zero even though our ape brains generally do have an overall visceral response to them. We tend to be bad at judging risk - we tend to (mistakenly) exclusively equate it with fear, which I find to be frequently misleading. It’s a ladder. Just don’t let go. Don’t trust your entire weight to one anchor at once, and if you must - then daisy into something else (preferably with a dynamic leash) real quick to make it redundant just in case. Learn to judge anchors. Etc, etc, etc… all of these problems are solvable problems because it's virtually the most tame form of aid you will ever engage in as a climber, imo, assuming you make good decisions about the via ferrata you are about to explore (which I admit we really can't trust the general public to do, reliably).

I really don't understand the point you are making and it could easily lead people into trouble. Are there some via ferratas that some people can do without lanyards without dying? Sure. Are there some 5.10s that some people can free solo without dying? Sure! However I'm not going to go around on the internet saying that people can feel free to onsight free solo 5.10, as long as they are good at judging rock quality...

The assumption that all via ferratas have iron rungs everywhere isn't accurate. I went on two "very easy"/"easy" via ferratas (as defined by the guidebook) in the Dolomites and both had 4th class moves on wet rock, no ladder rungs, over exposure. I was fine, I didn't see anyone fall, but if you were free soloing it thinking "I'm good at judging anchors and this was supposedly easy" you might be more than a little freaked out. Not every via ferrata is the Beehive in Acadia or the cable route up Half Dome in Yosemite (although people die on those too). 

Otherwise stated, if you are a random person on the internet finding this thread thinking "should I get leashes for this via ferrata?" the answer is yes. If you are some experienced person who has done lots of via ferratas (or enjoy free soloing up big cranes), like apparently Artem is, then you don't need random internet people to tell you what to do...

lots of great responses, thanks all!!  

as long as I buy the lanyards, I think I will be OK to do the via Ferratas I am thinking of.  I just need to stay humble and hopefully I know well enough to know, that there are things I don’t know.

Artem Vee wrote:

Jesus christ in heaven, its like you people don’t actually read my posts and just are hell bent on raging. Nothing you’ve said is something I’ve debated. Yes its dangerous, no, it’s not particularly dangerous in comparison to everything else we do. Also comparing soloing 5.10 to soloing a ladder rung via-ferrata is absurd. I’d compare it to soloing 4th - easy 5th.

I’m just saying its fun to solo via ferratas because it’s basically the chillest form of soloing in my personal experience, in my area. Idk or gaf about the via ferratas in your areas. Not responsible for any yahoo that kills themselves because they read my post. That’s honestly, quite literally, their problem. That being said it can often be done with virtually zero risk on many, BUT NOT ALL, via ferratas. 

This forum is famously not fun-forward, so all of this rabble over me talking about something that happens many times, every single day, doesn’t surprise me.

Do you have a cow over people talking about base jumping? What about big mountain skiing? Should people shut up and not talk about those things either?

The whole "don't talk about soloing" thing is one of my biggest pet peeves in climbing. People solo. Especially if you live near alpine zones, I bet WAY more people have soloed 5th class than the average person thinks... It's fine to talk about your experiences, spray about your solo you're proud of, and yes even recommend solos to people who ask about it. It's really not that deep. 

Shay Subramanian wrote:

The whole "don't talk about soloing" thing is one of my biggest pet peeves in climbing. People solo. Especially if you live near alpine zones, I bet WAY more people have soloed 5th class than the average person thinks... It's fine to talk about your experiences, spray about your solo you're proud of, and yes even recommend solos to people who ask about it. It's really not that deep. 

At the same time, don't get salty when someone calls you a moron for soloing. I don't go out climbing to watch people die, so I'll tell you that you're a moron for it 10/10 times. 

Artem Vee wrote:

The whole reason people get so upset about soloing - while simultaneously cheering on people like big mountain skiers and roped up alpinists - is that the fear of falling thousands of feet to our deaths is just that viseral in our brains. It’s so upsetting to watch, that we instinctively hate the person that is soloing for subjecting us to those feelings and for flirting with a nightmare ending in front of us. I get it, I’ve felt all of these feelings too.

Are you truly a moron if you solo, ever? Who knows. Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that it makes people quite upset because the danger is more obvious than other extreme sports.

In any case, soloing easy things like via-ferratas occupies a place in the climbing world where lines blur in a big way. It’s like soloing long rampy alpine ice or the second flatiron. Sure, it’s dangerous. But its also really safe for being dangerous. Just hold onto the giant holds as you carefully climb up, or downclimb on the giant holds if you don’t like whats ahead. Easy money if you have sharp judgement about whats happening and what you are committing to. Probably not that easy if you were overly cock-sure about the route you’ve committed to. Only one way to find out, though.

Nah, I'm annoyed at it because if you do eat it, everyone else has to deal with cleaning up your dead parts, traumatizing them. Same reason with exceptionally rowdy skiing that you tell people pretty clearly when they're somewhere that might kill them - no one wants to scrape your remains off their favorite spot.
I get it as a practice and test of self - sure, but the reality of equipment, rock and body errata/failure means part of it is an uncontrolled diceroll with unprotectable consequences that another group has to manage.