Ferrata-ing in the South Tyrol

In the absence of a British summer (again!) there a still a few weeks left for grabbing a quick summer trip abroad. While it's tempting to write-off the northern hemisphere summer completely and jet-set to the land of all things Kiwi, we settled for the shorter-haul trip to Italy. It's less tough on the wallet but still suitably spectacular. Better still, it has a variant on hiking / climbing to offer that's in short supply in the UK.

If you haven't tried climbing via ferrata routes in the Dolomites - or you've tried it and you want more - read on.

What's via ferrata?

We wrote a beginners' guide to via ferrata earlier this year where you can find out what's involved, what equipment you need, and also whet your appetite with a photo or three.

But if you're in a hurry, the short answer is that via ferrata routes - literally 'iron ways' - are scramble routes up a mountain protected by metal cables that you can clip to your harness. They vary in steepness from a walk with hands through to routes of the 'oh my god, don't look down' variety, so there's something to keep everyone happy.

The Alta Badia region

There are plenty of great bases for tackling via ferrata routes, from Trento in the Southern Dolomites, to the well-known resorts of Cortina and Val Gardena. We've visited several of them but this time around, we stayed in Alta Badia, which is north east of Trento and close to the resort of Corvara.

The downside of heading to the northern Dolomites is that you add traveling time to your trip. Unless you fly to Innsbruck in Austria, your nearest Italian airports are Venice or Verona, both of which are about two and a half hours' drive away.

There are compensations for the long drive though. While the southern Dolomites offer some beautiful lakeside ferrata routes, with surprisingly verdant descents, the routes around Alta Badia are as rugged as you could want. The scenery is textbook Dolomites - fangs of rock jut into the sky looking suitably imposing and 'unimpressive' is simply not in the vocabulary. Oh dear, are we waxing lyrical again?:-)

There's also some added interest in this area if you have a taste for a spot of culture along with your mountainous meal. The region has its own language, spoken by only a few thousand people, and a fair few tasty local dishes too. We managed to put away lots of pastries stuffed with various combinations of cheeses and spinach, and yards-long spirals of sugary sweets. All this is just by way of fuel for climbing mountains, you understand!

Speaking of climbing mountains, here are some suggested routes ...

Beginners - Ferrata Gran Cir and Piccolo Cir

Ascent on via ferrata: 300 - 400m
Grade: 1
ACcess: Take the road from Corvara to Passo Gardena. The route goes up to the right hand side of the road as you climb.

If you want a warm-up on your first day, or you've never tried the sport before, then these two short routes might be a good place to start. You can easily do both in a day - or half a day if you're quick - and there's little technical difficulty or exposure on either route.

At the same time, you have the satisfying feeling of reaching a 'peak' (marked with a cross and all) at the top of each. And best of all, you can look out across the valley to the impressive Ferrata Brigata Tridentina on the other side.

It's a good place to hone your skills. Put another way, here's the appetiser before the main course ...

Intermediate - Ferrata Brigata Tridentina

Ascent on via ferrata: 500m
Grade: 3
Access: Take the road from Corvara to Passo Gardena. There's a parking area on the left as you drive up.

The Ferrata Brigata Tridentina is one possible choice of main course, and as it's quite a popular one, the weekend is best avoided if possible. It's a steep route that alternately traverses and climbs the rock face to the right of the gully in the photo above. The drop below your feet can look pretty sheer at times but the good news is that this feeling of exposure is achieved without too much technical skill. It's far from a beginner's route, but there are metal rungs drilled into the rock, like a step ladder, whenever life starts looking particularly vertical, so it's not quite a hard core climber's route either.

When you come close to the top, a suspension bridge (see photo) crosses the gully, so don't forget your camera. And above that - joy of joys - there's a conveniently placed mountain refuge with hot chocolate on the menu. What more could a climber ask for?

Advanced - Ferrata Tomaselli

Ascent on via ferrata: 300m
Grade: 5
Access: Take the Funivia del Lagazuoi cable car from Passo Falzarego on the road SS 48

The Ferrata Tomaselli comes with a definite vertigo warning. Unlike the Brigata Tridentina, which kindly offers metal footholds to dizzy climbers, the Tomaselli only has the cables themselves to offer, and your feet have to find whatever rocky footholds they can.

Several hundred metres of vertical rock drop away below you, but if that sounds threatening, we should add that it's a stunning route and, as it's pretty high up too, there's a fantastic view from a very pronounced summit.

Again, allow a full day and bear in mind that there's quite a bit of ferrata involved in the descent as well as the ascent on this route.

Further information

If any of those options sound tempting, here are some websites that might help you with tips on transport, accommodation and of course, via ferrata routes to try...

South Tyrol Tourism
Tourism in Alta Badia

See also the extra information about Via Ferrata techniques and gear below.