Scaling the Dolomites on the Via Ferrata

Take on the awe-inspiring sheer rock faces of the Italian Dolomites� by ladder

Featured June 08 Words by Alf Alderson
Scaling the Dolomites on the Via Ferrata

Take on the awe-inspiring sheer rock faces of the Italian Dolomites� by ladder

WORDS BY ALF ALDERSON

The word vertigo apparently originated in the Dolomites. Interesting that, since the titanic peaks and crags of these beautiful mountains, and the trails that snake their way up them-known as Via Ferrata-are definitely not the place for anyone suffering from this ailment.

But if you have a head for heights and you like spectacular, unforgettable views then you'd be hard pressed to find more dramatic mountain walking and scrambling anywhere on the planet.

Via Ferrata translates as "iron way'" and refers to the network of iron ladders and steel hawsers (cables) that crisscross the crags and mountains of the Dolomites allowing mere walkers to access the kind of terrain normally reserved for experienced rock climbers and mountaineers. You simply clamber up the ladders-or metal rungs bolted into the rock face-and clip into the hawsers which run alongside with a carabiner. So if you should fall, it will be a short and relatively painless experience as opposed to a thousand metre death plunge.

If you've seen the movie Cliffhanger, you'll get some idea of the kind of terrain the Via Ferrata helps you access, since all the rock climbing sequences were shot in the Dolomites above Cortina (and the rumour is that action man Sylvester Stallone actually did very few of the climbing sequences for real since he suffered from� vertigo).

Unlike Sly, you need to have a head for heights, along with a sense of adventure, to make the most of these spectacular mountain trails. They're a long way from an amble across your local hilltops but each route is graded (from 'A' easiest, to 'G' hardest) so you can avoid taking on more than you can handle.

A grade 'A' route can be handled with ease by any fit and adventurous 11-year-old; a grade 'G', however, is a pretty serious challenge, which may involve many hours at altitude on vertical cliff faces, and these are the territory of very experienced hill walkers and scramblers.

The original Via Ferrata were not all created for the amusement of tourists however. The first one to be constructed was the Possnecker Path on the Sella Massif above the town of Corvara, which dates back to the early 1900s. But many of those that followed were built between 1915-17 when Italian and Austrian troops fought each other in the Dolomites and built the Via Ferrate to assist with movements of troops and equipment.

The fact that the troops were lugging all the gear of warfare along these high alpine trails using little more than man and mule power becomes all the more impressive when you tackle one yourself -two experienced British climbers I met while I was in the Dolomites were not afraid to admit that they'd had a "bit of an epic" time negotiating a wartime path on 2733m Bec de Mesdi.

Mind you, they were also dealing with rain, sleet and snow. This was a grade 'F' Via Ferrata, but it goes to show that for all their relative ease and security, these trails still need to be treated with the respect due to any high mountain activity.

The best introduction to Via Ferrata is to start easy and work your way up. Begin with something like the grade 'A' trail to the summit of 2,625m Sasshonger Peak, a grand and apparently insurmountable limestone bastion, which looms over the pretty mountain town of Corvara and turns out to have a virtually hands-in-pockets route to the top-from where you'll enjoy absolutely sensational mountain panoramas.

Then you could move on to something that involves a decent amount of technical climbing and the use of the harness and carabiner, which you'll have strapped around your waist. The grade 'D' Via Ferrata Brigata Tridentina on the Sella Massif, also above Corvara, is an exciting 440m climb, which involves long, almost-vertical sections of iron rungs and even a spectacular suspension bridge across a yawning chasm near the top. It's a very popular route and can get pretty busy, but the climbing and the scenery are so spectacular and exposed that you soon forget about anyone else who may be in the vicinity.

And now, with a couple of Via Ferrate under your climbing harness, why not challenge yourself a little. Try, say, the ascent of 2,908m Piz da Lec, a pretty tough grade 'D' route.

"This route is usually pretty quiet," says guide Giorgio Manica. "But wherever they want to climb I advise my clients to visit in July or September-not August, which is always busy."

The base of the route is easily reached via two ski lifts from Corvara, but once you hop off the second lift and start climbing the word "easy" is the last thing on your mind. There are some technically challenging moves where rock climbing skills come in useful, and seeing Giorgio "testing" one of two of the metal rungs by pulling hard before he places his whole body weight on them, does little to steady any nerves before the ascent.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replies in answer to alarmed enquiries. "The mountain guides regularly inspect the ironware along the Via Ferrate for safety-this is fine." This is only faintly reassuring, particularly towards the top of the route where on one rock face you could swear the iron ladders were not just vertical, but overhanging.

Which was about the point when you come to understand why vertigo was "invented" in the Dolomites. But then, the payoff for being so terrified is a picnic on the summit with the sublime views of the Marmolada Glacier to the south-east and the Austrian Alps to the north.

Here, at this superb vantage point, it's strange to think that had it not been for a war between the country you're standing in and the one you're looking across to, you may never have had access to this magnificent viewpoint.

� Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were at war in the Dolomites between 1915-17, with Italy's eventual victory leading to much of what was once Austrian territory becoming Italian-hence the use of German and Italian languages in the region, along with a local tongue, Ladino.

� Tunnels, trenches, embrasures (wall openings) and forts were constructed at strategic locations in the mountains and linked by Via Ferrate, some of which can still be walked today in order to see open air 'museums' of restored defences.

� Tactics used by troops on both sides included tunnelling into and under mountainsides to attack the enemy-in March 1916, Italian troops tunnelled beneath a peak above the Col de Lana near Arabba and blew the entire top off, along with a brigade of Austrian troops. They also fired shells into mountainsides above enemy locations to bring down rockfalls and avalanches; thousands of troops were killed in this way.

� Austrian troops even constructed an "ice city" beneath the Marmolada Glacier under what is today La Bellunese ski slope. Over 10km of tunnels were built to depths of up to 50 metres, housing a garrison of 300 men who remained safe here from Italian bullet fire-shells simply ricocheted off the ice above.

You'll need all the gear you'd take for a day out on the hills, plus a purpose made Via Ferrata climbing harness and a climbing helmet, which should be provided on any guided climb. If you want to buy one yourself expect to pay around �100. www.dolomiti.org