A Via What?! - Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center's Via Ferrata in West Virginia

While on The Most Epic Trip during the Summer/Fall '11 we had the opportunity to do something that I didn't even know existed, a Via Ferrata.


What's a Via Ferrata?

According to Wikipedia:

(Italian for "iron road") or klettersteig (German for "climbing path") is a mountain route which is equipped with fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges. The use of these allows otherwise isolated routes to be joined to create longer routes which are accessible to people with a wide range of climbing abilities.

The history of the Via Ferrata is militaristic as the Italian Army used this system in World War I to get the mountain unit past the Dolomites.  The West Virginia Via Ferrata is purely for enjoyment, obviously.

It was a really different experience.  At times I felt my nerves were tested because of the thought of the fall factor that can happen.

Fall Factor = Length of Fall / Length of Rope

In standard vertical rock climbing, a typical fall will factor in at around 2 most of the time.  Whereas the Via Ferrata, because you are attached to a fixed line and not a dynamic rope, will have a higher fall factor.

At any rate, it was fun to get away from climbing for a bit and venture on to something that was different from what we were accustomed to.  From my understanding, there are not many Via Ferrata's in the USA but the ones that are here are pretty good.

Check out the video below of our trip with Nelson Rock Outdoor Center's Via Ferrata in West Virginia.

All gear and guides were provided by the Nelson Rock Outdoor Center.