Very interesting. The mountain warfare was grim, even more so in winter when tens of thousands of Italian and Austrian soldiers died in avalanches, often triggered by the enemy artillery firing onto the slopes above their positions. After the disastrous Battle of Caporetto in 1917 British troops were sent to help bolster the routed Italians in this mountain battle ground. The Italians also executed an unprecedented number of their own soldiers for alleged cowardice. I don't think much has been written in English about the British involvement in this fighting. Vera Brittain touches on it in Testament of Youth as her brother fought and was killed on this front.

For anyone interested in some more info I highly recommend the 'White War': http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-White-War-Italian-1915-1919/dp/0571223346 which is a great and scary read. Little bit more info regarding via ferrata in the war to be found at: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6918

Always interesting the origins of VF, I really need to do more in that part of the world as it combines my two main interests. Thanks for the book recommendations, I'll hunt them down. Somewhere I have a pair of heel crampons from those battles. Grim stuff as Trangia says, like the western front but with vertigo.

Thanks for the book recommendations