Blog Posts in Category: Via Ferrata

Reintalersee Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

Having moved to Munich last weekend this was my first opportunity to make the most of living an hour from the Alps. Adam and I headed into Austria to the Reintalersee. As it was a forecast to be a really hot day, and to avoid the traffic we set off very early. Given how hot it was in the afternoon, and how many people were on the klettersteig by the time we finished this was definitely a good idea. The route had a short and reasonably steep walk in, followed by a fairly steep start. Unfortunately the route involved lots of ’cable pulling’ rather than rock climbing, but it was still enjoyable with excellent views. As it was our first route in a while we decided not to go for the hard “E” variant and just to stick to the normal route. This meant we were able to enjoy a lovely traverse in an outstanding position with fantastic views, which as made even better as it was in the shade! Soon we harder route rejoined our route and we just had one final section to do, which again was fairly. Read the full article…

Via Ferrata Punta Anna & Lamon/Formenton

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

The Punta Anna via ferrata is a classic route which climbs Punta Anna and then continues onto Tofana di Mezzo by combining three via ferratas: Ferrata di Punta Sant Anna, Ferrata Guiseppe Olivieri and then Ferrata Gianni Aglio. It is a long route which is graded 5c, so a fairly serious undertaking. Usually this route would finish at the lift station at Tofana di Mezzo, however at the start of July this lift was not yet open. This meant we had to descend using two other via ferratas (Ferrata Lamon and Formenton) which also involved climbing another peak, Tofana di Dentro. As the book gave this day 12 hours we reluctantly had yet another early start. The walk into the route from Rifugio Dibona was a harsh wake up in the morning as it was very steep. We arrived at the base of the route at the same time as another British couple, who we ended up spending the entire day with which was a lovely addition to our day. The climbing was very interesting as it was mainly focussed on rock and was also fairly technical whilst also not. Read the full article…

Tomaselli via ferrata

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

With a poor afternoon forecast we decided to have an early start on the Tomaselli via ferrata in order to avoid the crowds and make sure we were back down before the rain arrived. Apparently this route used to have the reputation of being the hardest via ferrata in the Dolomites. We joined the many other vans sleeping at the cable car station, which meant that we had as much sleep as possible before our early start. The morning was beautiful as there was not a cloud in the sky. The walk out of the car park was fairly brutal, and did lead to us questioning our decision to not use the lift, however the views were fantastic which did somewhat make up for the hard ascent. We made great time to the start of the route, as we were there before the cable car even opened. The start of the route was tricky, but not overly interesting as it required lots of cable pulling, interspersed with lots of very loose ledges. The second half of the route was significantly better than the first half. The rock was solid, the. Read the full article…

Giovanni Lipella Via Ferrata

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to a deteriorating weather forecast we decided to relocate to the Dolomites. On our first day we decided to climb the classic Giovanni Lipella route up the Tofana de Rozes. As it was a weekend we had an early start to avoid queueing on the route, which worked out really well as we didn’t have to wait for anyone all day. The route starts from a car park up a gravel road at 2000m, which made for an excellent overnight van camping spot. We woke up in the morning to rain which was a bit unexpected, but left the van anyway on the promise that it would soon clear up. The initial walk certainly woke us up and got the blood flowing, but we were soon at the Gallerie del Casterletto. The Gallerie del Casterletto is a set of tunnels which were created by the Italian military during WW1, and were fairly impressive due to the amount of height that was gained as we travelled through the tunnels. We ignored the sign to our route which exited the tunnels before the end, and climb to the top of the. Read the full article…

Reinhard Schiestl Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

With a morning weather window we decided to climb our local klettersteig as we could easily walk to it from our campsite. The route was called the Reinhard Schiestl Klettersteig, and it was graded “D” which meant that it was much harder than the previous route. The route started off as it meant to continue, with steep and strenuous climbing from the off. The hardest bits actually seemed technically easier than some of the easier bits, but just very exposed. Despite some drizzle on the ascent we made excellent time to the top of the route, and managed to descent back down to the campsite before it started to properly rain.

A weekend near Sölden

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

This year we started our alpine summer holiday in the Otztal in Austria. After driving out from Bristol we met up with some friends in the Sölden valley for the first weekend of the trip. After the long drive down we wanted a short day on the first day, we we headed for the classic Klettersteig Stuibenfall, a relatively easy klettersteig which climbs up next to an impressive waterfall. As it was the weekend, close to the road, and not too difficult we knew it would be busy, and we were certainly not wrong! We spent most of the route in some form of queue, but as it was such a nice day, and we were catching up with out friends this was certainly not a problem. From the top we decided to have an extended walk back down to the car along the valley. Unfortunately the Sunday had very unsettled weather, with just about no forecasts agreeing with how much rain there would be, or when it would hit. Due to this we made a plan in the morning to do a short walk up to a small hut. Read the full article…

Saas Grund Klettersteig

Alastair BegleySwitzerland, Via Ferrata Short Link

After traversing the Zinalrothorn we headed to Saas Fee where we met up with Rich, Ben, James and Lucy. As James and Lucy had just arrived we decided to start with the Jegihorn via ferrata as it is a great day out and it gets you fairly high. I have previously climbed the via ferrata, however when I last climbed it the exposed bridge near the end was in the gully rather than attached to the rock so we were not able to climb it. Becky, Lucy and I caught the first lift up from the valley and enjoyed a cool walk to the base due to some mist. Thankfully by the time we arrived at the base of the route as the mist had cleared. The via ferrata gets interesting quickly with excellent scrambling on mostly good rock, it is really enjoyable as it mostly a protected scramble up a mountain, rather than just pulling on lots of metal. We soon got our first view of the bridge with someone on it, and it certainly looked fairly impressive. After a series of ladders and some down climbing it was. Read the full article…

Che Guevara

Alastair BegleyArco, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to snow in the Dolomites and a cold forecast for the remaining week, we decided to decamp to Lake Garda where the forecast was 15 degrees warmer and for constant sunshine. The via ferrata of the region which stood out to us was Ferrata Che Guevara, which climbs an impressively big face and gains 1220m in the process. The total height gain throughout the day was 1380m! As we didn’t want to move the van from the campsite, we decided to cycle the 15km up the valley to the start of the route, which was a bit harder work than anticipated with 20% hills to climb en route! It was a strange start to a big mountain day, as we had to walk through an industrial estate and then around  huge quarry. The ascent up to the start of the cable in the woods was hard work due to the heat, which turns out was just a sign of things to come. We almost didn’t start the via ferrata due to a rockfall incident from an inexperienced person above, who had left his girlfriend at the bottom unable to. Read the full article…