The Dolomites' network of cabled climbing routes lets walkers reach airy summits once reserved for mountaineers.
Iron rungs and airy ledges
The via ferrata — literally the iron way — lets walkers with a head for heights travel routes that would otherwise need a rope and real climbing skill. The Dolomites are its birthplace, laced with steel cables, ladders and pegs first strung across the peaks during the First World War, now a playground of vertical rock and impossible views.
Clipped to the cable with a harness and lanyard, you move along ledges and up chimneys with the valley falling away beneath your boots.
Before you clip in
- Hire a guide for your first routes and rent a proper via ferrata set — harness, lanyard, helmet.
- Start with an easier graded route to learn the clipping rhythm before the exposed classics.
- Watch the afternoon storms; be off the high routes before the weather turns.
You do not need to be a climber, but you do need steady nerves and basic fitness. Get both right and the Dolomites open up a way of moving through the mountains that feels equal parts hiking and flying.
