First ferratas

Susana may have made the claim that Triglav was our first ferrata, but we didn’t use our ferrata kit, and well, lets face it, the Italians invented it.

Last night we wild camped in a nice little layby come picnic area which also had a spring, so we were able to fill up with water. We had talked about having a coffee outside, but quite frankly, it is a bit too cold, we huddled up inside Dora. This may be August, but we are getting high into Alpine country.

We had a bit of a drive still, crossing the rest of Austria and entering into northern Italy, It gave us plenty of time to mull over yesterdays rather chilling experience.

But we also had something to look forward to. Hopefully we would arrive in time to try our first Via ferrata.

So we have a lot to contemplate as we pass through the last of the Austrian landscape.

Via ferrata have an amazing history in Italy. They were first used in World War I when fighting the Austrians. These protected routes; cables, ladder and other assisted hand and foot holds, allowed the soldiers to move around the mountains, We may even get to visit some of the places where battles took place and via ferrata still exist.

We have chosen the most direct route to out first via ferrata, in Corvara. It just so happens that this means going over a mountain pass.

To guide ourselves around these mountains, we are using the Ciceron guide Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Volume 1. The route we have chosen for today is:

CORV 2: Piz da Cir V

Grade: 2A

VF: 100m

Time: 2 1/2 hrs

As we approach the highest point a lake appears, and with the lake, lots of people.

It is really busy up here, everybody seems to be taking their summer holidays here.

Everywhere we look are cars and people, mostly Italian cars, judging by the number plates, we must be near the border.

And sure enough, we pass the signs to show we are leaving Austria and entering Italy and immediately the road becomes crazy.

A green traffic light, but then a sign saying you may have to wait…a long time.

The road is just a single lane, and Dora only just fits. Obviously, this being Italy, there were no other warnings.

The road snakes its way down the mountainside and a rather large queue of vehicles who weren’t so fortunate in their timings awaits us at the bottom.

Another beautiful lake sits at the bottom.

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Absolutely stunning landscape, I have visited the dolomites several times before and I think it is one of the most dramatic mountain sceneries you can come across. But not only that, it is really accessible too.

We drop into Brunico, but we have missed that brief nanosecond when Italian shops open in the morning, we will now have to wait until three in the afternoon. That is one exceedingly long lunch hour!

We imagine them coming in in the morning, opening up, turning off the alarm, turning on the lights…..Oh, it is time to close up now, lunch time!

What the hell, we aren’t waiting around here all afternoon, the internet will have to wait. The Lidl is also a sorry affair, so we leave, we have a via ferrata to attend to.

We also find few shops in Corvara, this is a proper skiing town in winter, trekking town in summer. All the shops have walking gear in them. Normally, this would be quite appealing, but not today, we find the road we are looking for, and drive just outside town. We head up to a pass, Passo Gardena. Here there is a proliferation of skiing infrastructure, and lots of car parks all charging, but no one is around to take our money, what a shame.

We have a quick, slightly sad lunch, as we failed to buy bread, and then hopped on a chairlift which took us a couple of hundred metres up the hillside.

Normally we would have walked, but the time is getting on and we are keen to start.

The walk up to the start of the climb is steep, lots of switchbacks on a narrow, gravelly path through the meadow.

The rocky outcrop above us is intimidating. It is difficult to establish the route from down here, however it looks fairly quiet, except for a couple that are coming down.

We have chosen this route because it sounds like a good introduction. We both are competent scramblers, trekkers, and we also used to sport climb to a reasonable standard, with the occasional bit of lead climbing. We didn’t want to start too easy, we want a bit of a challenge. The name of the route is ‘Piz da Cir V’ with good protection and solid rock, quite short and not too demanding, this should be a good introduction. There is an adjacent route, half an hour along the outcrop ‘Gran Cir’ but this one sounds a little easy, so we are going to give it a miss. Our guide grades the climbs in two ways 1-5  on technical difficulty, 1 being the easiest, and A-C on seriousness, which deals with things like exposure, but also the ability to escape off of the route.

It is a bright sunny afternoon, but due to the altitude, not so warm. Just enough for a t shirt. The climbing will soon warm us up.

So this is is the climb. We start with a scramble up a malaise of rocks and boulders, following a series of faded red dots.

Nothing difficult so far.

No, nothing difficult but I feel a bit nervous. My legs seem weak and I find hard to find my balance on the rocks. It must be it is my first proper Via Ferrata. We have blindly started with grade 2A, I don’t know what to expect. SM

Eventually we see a cable, Susana clips straight on and heads off. I wait until she has completed a couple of sections and then follow.

Here, you can just pick out the route of the cable, which moves over to the left. We just have the cable here, for protection. There are no stemples, or other artificial foot or hand holds. Obviously you can use the cable, but there are plenty of natural hand and foot hold on the rock. One hand we leave on the cable, sliding the karabiners up, stopping them getting hooked up on the intermediated eyes that secure it to the rock.

We move quickly up the rock face. It is only when you pause and look down do you get any sense of vertigo. While you are climbing, all concentration it on the next the move, where you are going to put your hands and feet. At its best, climbing is like ballet up a rock face, the body always in balance, sometimes on one foot, then transferred onto the other, it should be elegant, not brutal.

The climb is lovely, our first via ferrata. Well within our limits, but with a little bit of exposure and a few really nice moves. It is good to get back into climbing. We are really pleased with our days adventure.

We take a few photos of the summit. A women has been following us up, she is agile, experienced and moving quickly, we descend to a small gully, she passes up to the summit and immediately turns and heads back down.

We watch her move effortlessly across the rock.

We wait to let her pass. She is moving much faster than us. As she passes she stops to introduce herself. Martina lives locally, 20km down the valley. Her son and husband are away cycling, which has given her the freedom to play in the mountains. She parked at the bottom, cycled up to the pass and now intends to do the two climbs before heading back home. What an afternoon. Even though she is much faster than us, she persuades us to join her, going to the other summit Gran Cir.

We head back down the gully.

And then continue across the scree to the start of the next climb.

It is quite difficult to keep up the frenetic pace set by Martina.

I think somewhere up there is our next objective. This is a really nice development for us, we never intended to do both climbs!

We haven’t brought out trekking poles today as the walk to the start of the climb has been quite short. Susana studies Martina’s posture carefully. Up steeper inclines her arms rest on her waist to add support ‘chicken wings’ I call it. Susana soon adopts this position, it is very effective.

The views around here are so beautiful they bring tears to your eyes. This is enhanced as it is getting later now and the sun is lower on the horizon, giving really sharp shadows amongst the creased and craggy mountain landscape.

The climbing here is generally easier. A lot of the time, as on Triglav, you can use the cable as support and not bother clipping in. This is quicker, but you only do this when there is no chance you could slip or fall.

Although the climbing is less dramatic, less of a challenge, this is made up for by the summit.

And the amazing views.

Not bad for our first via ferrata, hopefully many more to come.

After a few minutes on the summit we follow Martina back down the mountain, apparently her bike is secured somewhere close to Dora.

At the bottom Martina shows us some other local climbs that we should consider. Thanks, you have made our first experiences of proper Italian Via Ferrata quite special.

She heads off home on her bicycle (can you see her?) It is late now and we are really tired, but just five minutes down the road a large parking spot, with lots of people camping; tents, cars, vans and campers. This is at the base of a popular via ferrata, apparently 400 climbed it today. Should this be our next objective. We have the evening to decide.

So, what do we think about our first experience?

We feel we have chosen the right grade, we have handled the climb comfortably, within our capabilities.

There were a few awkward moves, which we overcame nicely by bringing back our climbing skills.

On a couple of occasions, we had to walk on a ridge for a few metres, testing our head for heights.

I think we will stick to grade 2 for now. Although we may be able to move up by the end of the week.

SM

2.7 kms

3 hrs

GDR