Quick Reminder: What is Via Ferrata?
Via feratta is a series of cables, ladders, ropes, rungs, and bars to aid getting people around mountains and obstacles. Via feratta is Italian for the iron way and was originally developed during world war I in the dolomite mountains. This was used to move troops and gear around mountains for efficiency and to flank enemy troops.
Top Via Ferrata’s Around the World
Via feratta is now used for recreational purposes. These via feratta’s have many different options and aspects that will keep you wanting to go back for more.
Here are some of the best guided and unguided trips around the world:
Telluride Via Ferrata
Beautiful trek across the San Juan Mountains over a beautiful river valley.
Location: Telluride, Colorado in southwest Colorado.
Length: Telluride via feratta is a 3-mile loop route.
Level: This via feratta is best as a guided trip and with some climbing knowledge and background. This trip is made to push yourself and your adrenaline. This is a more advanced via ferrata course.
Features: This via feratta features stunning views of box canyon as well as a 500-foot drops at its highest point.
Dolomites Via Ferrata
This is where it all began. Take a step into the history of the via feratta revolution. There are more courses through the dolomite mountains than anywhere else in the world. The via ferrata Ivano Dibona Was used and made popular by the movie cliff hanger. This route travels alongside many world war I artifacts and is sure to please any history buff.
Location: Cortina d’Ampezzo – These mountains are located in northern Italy just south of the Austrian border.
Levels: It has courses for all levels. Check out the Gran Cir for something short, sweet, and great for beginners.
Features: No matter what you want the dolomite mountains are sure to please any form of activity or leisure you would like.
Chang Kong Via Ferrata
This via feratta is known as one of the most dangerous in the world and has a few fatalities under its belt. It is now required to have a harness while traversing this mountain path. This is a series of wooden boards thought to be built in the 13th century by the Yuan dynasty.
Location: Chang Kong, China
Levels: This is an advance Via Ferrata not for the faint of heart.
Features: Once you start there is no turning back because of the narrowness of the boards. If you really want to push your nerves this is the via feratta to choose.
Tordrillo Via Ferrata
This is the first via ferrata built in Alaska.
Location: Tordrillo, Alaska near Anchorage
Length: The todrillo via feratta covers over 900 verticle feet, 1200 feel of bolted cable and is over 400 feet in elevation.
Levels: This is a beginner friendly route.
Features: This has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world overlooking a glacier creeping in at 28 miles long. If you want to travel to some beautiful remote wilderness while pushing yourself this is the via feratta for you.
Mountain Kinabalu Via Ferrata
This is in the record books as the highest via ferrata in the world.
Location: Mountain Torq, Malaysia. This is located on Mt Kinabalu’s mountain face. There are two routes on this mountain for both beginner and intermediate trekkers.
Level: This via feratta is for someone of normal fitness level and has a stunning view of the surrounding landscape.
Features: One of its main features is the views as it is located 3776 meters above sea level.
Wanaka Via Ferrata
This via feratta is one of a different kind of trip. It has the world’s tallest waterfall climb.
Location: Wanaka, New Zealand
Length: This is a 6-7-hour adrenaline filled adventure that ends in a helicopter descent back to ground.
Level: This is a trip that requires a moderate fitness level but if you are able to experience this excursion it is well worth the price of admission
As Via Ferrata continues to grow there are more and more of these amazing adventures popping up all over the world. If you are looking for a beginner trip before you tackle some of these big mountains by yourself, check out our Mount Evans Via Ferrata just 30 minutes from Denver or our Granite Via Ferrata just 1 hour south of Breckenridge, Colorado.
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