UKC

Hi,
My partner who has only been to the indoor wall a couple of times is interested in the possibility of some via ferrata. We went to go-ape as a sort of trial run which she enjoyed, and so now we are looking to book a week somewhere, with great scenery and historical sites being the primary interest. I've never been myself other than a short section that we inadvertently came across near chamonix and would like some suggestions about where to go and how to get around with minimal fuss.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Hi Fish, can I recommend Briancon, check out this link -

http://readbetween.co.uk/go/destination-guide-climb-briancon/

It has everything you are looking for!

I could even sort you a guide if you need one.

Stephen

In reply to MaranaF:

I would also suggest Briancon as a good base. Five Valley's campsite is good.

The via ferrata up to the clock tower at La Argentiere is an ideal starter one, and the one along the river on the road to Vallouise is superb. Loads of others in the area including one on the crag behind the town.

In reply to rj_townsend:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=200924 < probably one of the best and right outside my back door!

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

I 3rd Briancon because there are plenty of VF's of varying grades that are not a long walk to get to. Briancon old town 'Vauban' is a French National Monument and above Vauban are many historical buildings built on top of the mountains. You can have tours of the city but its more fun to explore on your own. The moats have plenty of old passageways, stairways and doors leading to tunnels deep inside the old city.

You would need to hire a car imo. Fly to Turin and drive over the border into Briancon.

A word of warning. This part of France gets very hot in the summer but because the humidity is low, you can bare the sun much longer. When you do VF's here, you need to take plenty of water and you need to plan your climbs so you're not hitting the hottest part of the day.

Thanks to all who responded:
A couple of questions.
I know I asked for recommendations for an area(and thanks again for those given) but I was surprised to get suggestions for Braincon (which I not heard of until now) instead of areas in the Dolomites with it's WW1 legacy.

Does the recommendation for Braincon come on the basis that it's better for what we're looking for, or is it a recommendation based on experience of one location only?
Thanks in anticipation.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Hi, my recommendation comes from living there for the last two years, I do not disguise the fact that I run accommodation there.

I do believe it offers everything you are looking for and unlike the Dolomites you wont have to endure the two or three hour walkins to get to the routes.

Check out this page for a history of VF's in the area http://teamholidays.co.uk/wp/what-can-you-do-in-the-durance/climbing/via-fe...

Hope that helps!

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:
If you want WWI legacy, then of course go to the Dolomites. Not interesting to me (but some of the Dolomites VF routes are pretty nice anyway).

Thought Via Ferrata started in the Dolomites, nowadays there are VF in many areas of the Alps (and in some lowland areas). My view is that the Dolomites have been "resting on their laurels". For more athletic climbers, I think Austria has been building new VF routes which are generally better than Dolomites.

I have not yet tried any of the VF routes around Briancon, but generally I have found the VF routes in France to be interesting. At least from the guidebook descriptions, Briancon seems to offer a good selection of routes for beginners.

Ken

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

I was in the Ecrins last year where I did my first via feratta. I'd 4th the Briancon recommendation there are lots of well maintained and generally good routes in the area.

Others who have been to the Dolomites as well say they found the standard of maintenance far better in the Ecrins, as others have said the Dolomite equipment is generally old with more frayed cables and loose fixings.

I also second the comments about the heat and need to take plenty of water. How is your friend with big exposure? It's huge in places no comparison with Go Ape. Go Ape rarely exceeds 30m, many Via Feratta, even the easy ones have exposure measuring in the 100s of metres.

On the other hand if you are interested in the history of WW1 then the Dolomites would be good.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

+1 for Ecrin / Briancon... plus there's climbing, mtbing and excellent walking too

we went in July 2010 and it was pretty hot as said. (if you will have a car and want to camp you may find up in ailefroide a bit cooler.

we used http://www.viaferrata-fr.net/via-ferrata.html and google translate a lot.

have also done some "near" chamonix, not been to the dollies yet but i do love french high places

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

I've never tried the Ecrins, but I always hear good things from those who've been.

Just to set a few myths to rest regarding the Dolomites that I keep seeing crop up on UKC. The majority of the routes are exceptionally accessible. I can think of at least 20 routes off the top of my head with a walk-in of under 30 minutes. Sure there are some more remote ones, but for me that's certainly part of the appeal and the approach is often is good as the routes. It also ensures the more remote ones can be enjoyed in relative solitude.

The wire conditions are also very good. KIA maintain nearly all the via ferrata's with the help of local guides and on the whole do an excellent job (bear in mind it's free to use any of the via ferrata). Punta Eterna, Oscar Schuster, Possnecker Path and Piz da Lech have all been refitted in the last year. Col dei Bos, Sandro Pertini, Ski Club 18 and Il Magnifici Quattro have all been put up recently and are super well equipped (as well as also providing quite a challenge).

The majority of the routes were put up during the first world war and so are exceptionally historical. Trenches, tunnels, gun emplacements, officers quarters, old field hospitals and lookout posts are all very common.

The Dolomites still have the highest concentration of via ferrata in the world (though it's actually Austria that started them). I'd recommend a look at http://www.colletts.co.uk or http://www.holimites.com/en/ , both excellent companies.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

The Dolomites are utterly brilliant mountains and the vie ferrate there are great fun.

I'd usually recommend staying in Corvara if you are going to the Dolomite and are new to climbing vie ferrate. It's a not too big, but still has a variety of restaurants, a couple of supermarkets, a good gear shop and a brillant campsite. The scenery is also stunning and there are some really enjoyable vie ferrate in the 2B - 3B range in easy reach. However, it doesn't have a lot of WW1 history for a beginner. Corvara is a short drive from Arrabba and the brilliant Via del Trincee (which has a lot of WW1 remains), but you may find it a bit hard if you are new to vie ferrate.

There are vie ferrate with more WW1 connections around Passo Falzergo, Cortina and Misurina and you could look for somewhere to stay around there. Cortina is pretty expensive, but quite a lot of routes with WW1 history can accessed from that area. Misurina is much smaller, but cheaper and there are a few routes with strong WW1 connections that are close.

I've written a blog post about the top five vie ferrate in the Dolomites for WW1 history that you might find useful and you can see it at http://thesevereclimber.com/2013/04/14/wire-and-war/

I hope helps.

Kind regards,

Robin

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Go to the Dolomites, you can't go wrong if you want the combo of scenery, history and good food. VF can be broadly separated into two sorts, 'old skool' and 'new skool'. 'Old skool' means the 'classic' VFs in the Dolomites which generally have more walking than climbing and get you right up above ski-lift height with corresponding awesome views and mountain weather. They're the equivalent of trad climbing - you need some idea of mountaineering skills (navigation, coping with weather, endurance, unprotected dodgy bits). 'New skool' tend to be the equivalent of sports climbs - <2 hours to do, at low altitude, and with more climbing than walking. Expect 2-wire bridges and lots of staples. A lot of French VF are new skool. Austria have plenty of VF now, the ones I've done have been a good mix of old and new skool - high up, but with less walking than the Dolly classics.
This site has fantastic info:-
https://alavigne.net/Outdoors/FeatureReports/ViaFerrata/
Anybody with any sort of climbing ability will have no trouble with difficulty level 'c' VF. The Cicerone guides are written by people from a walking background so consequently the VF are rated from that mindset where ladders are classed as difficult, whereas a climber will find them simple.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

I'd recommend the dolomites, either cortina for a more mountainous experience our Arco for a more chilled lakeside holiday. Both have lots of easy via Ferrara within a short distance from the road and with good summits and interesting history. The French vias are good fun but feel far more manufactured.

Seems like lots of people are forgetting how many VF around Dolomites and Arco and NE Italy (including at least two put up new in the last five years) have loose rock on the ascent (wear a helmet, but just plain avoid climbing under other parties.

How many VF in the Dolomites have long ugly descents on scree.

Also how many push the "mountain scenery" thing without seeming to be aware that many modern VF routes are constructed in remarkable gorges in valley settings (nowhere near high mountains).

Anyway the VF around the Dachstein in Austria pretty much blow away the Dolomites for high mountain scenery. The Koenigsjodler in Austria is pretty amazing for suatained quality on exposed ridge.

Makes you wonder how many people have actually tried many VF routes outside of the "old school" stuff in the Dolomites.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Good morning all - I'm the partner mentioned in the original post.
Thanks for all the very informative replies, lots of food for thought there. I'll probably be back later with some more questions if that's OK...

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

KenR - you make good points, but I felt it important to mention the two 'skools' of VF as many people won't be aware of the diversity. I suspect people who tried an oldskool VF 10 years ago and found it boring would have their eyes opened by a hard new-skool VF!

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

I used to work for Colletts, so shameless plug.

http://www.colletts.co.uk/walking-interests-and-activities/#ferrata

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Shameless thread hijack. Can someone recommend the best VFs in the Cortina area (we have a car) accessible without ski-lifts for VF novices with modest trad and scrambling experience?

By the way, we also did a dry run by doing the 'extreme' VF at Honister. It was a good laugh, but wasn't very extreme compared to even our tame climbing!

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Thanks for all the advice. To be honest, and trying to be pragmatic, from what is said both Braincon and the Dolomites seem to be good for what we are looking for. I've now started looking at how to get there next weekend as I thought this might make one or the other a better option. So far all I've found is frustration or flights in excess of £500 which I though was a bit steep.
Most of the flights into the region appear to be seasonal and for Skiing. Any suggestions welcomed.
We're setting off from Bristol, so Bristol, Heathrow, Cardiff and Gatwick and all be reached via national express or similar. Stanstead, East midlands and Manchester not so good.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

You're going next weekend? The last-minute booking could be the reason for the expensive flights. Check out Gatwick to Venice Marco Polo on Easyjet for the Dolomites, I found that was quite good value but maybe not if you wait until a week before.

Most airports fly regularly to Verona, but that's a slightly longer drive.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Bristol, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and London Stansted all fly to Treviso with Ryanair. Usually pretty cheap. Car har of public transport then available to the Dolomites (though car hire offers more flexibility).

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Hi, we usually do Turin Stansted on Ryan Air who do one flight a day in the morning and outside of the school hols its usually about €60

Alternative isTurin Gatwick on BA, bit more expensive, evening flights, easier to get to.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

Try flying to Innsbruck, it's not that far to drive to the Dolomites from there. BA fly there IIRC.

In reply to Bounce Like a Fish:

In Dolomites now. Did first via ferrata (not counting honister)today, Piz da Lech 3B. Loved it Technically it should fine if you've done some outdoor climbing, maybe warm up on an easier one if not. Take care with picking routes, bear in mind lots of snow still about high up, our descent had a couple of dodgy crossing of steep snow and scree slopes. Poles might be handy! Check for multiple descent options, we didn't take the quickest descent as you'd have wanted an ice axe to cross a really steep snow slope.

I spoke to someone who'd done Piz da Cir V (2A) and said its descent is fine (no snow).

If you're going to cortina this link might help and cicerone guides a useful place to start.

http://www.guidedolomiti.com/en/ferrate-open-closed/

Hope you get sorted, you should have a great time.