Page 26 - AMA Summer 2024

VIA FERRATA ›
IN DEFENCE
OF VIA
FERRATA
VBrig Adam Corkery
ia Ferrata is like snow shoeing. Not in the literal sense of course – in that respect it is nothing like it. But I’d propose that both are similar in that they have sister activities that are more technical,
more skilful, more hard-won and whose proponents look down with a slight ‘sniffiness’ on them.
Snowshoeing is of course the poor cousin of ski touring, requiring virtually no skill but still, I suppose, getting people to some beautiful and far-out places. Perhaps I am one of those ‘sniffers,’ being a ski mountaineer and viewing ‘raquette à neige’ people with tolerance, but probably without the respect deserved of a fellow mountain-goer.
I’m also a rock climber though and so a similar degree of scepticism could surely be warranted about the via ferraterists who simply turn up, clip on, and start climbing. Well no. And here’s why...
I hadn’t heard of via ferrata until well into my Army career – I suspect most civilians in the UK still haven’t (unless they’ve been to Honister Pass and been relieved of £60 for a quick taste). A regimental mate of mine with whom I had done a lot of climbing ended up on the Kletter- steig Leader course many years ago. He was converted and took my then girlfriend (later wife) and I out to Italy to have a go. It was with genuine surprise that I loved it. The lack of faff, the comparative lack of actual danger, the glorious surroundings of the Dolomites, the ability to undertake the activity as relative peers with relative novices, all topped off with the ability to link routes into a multi-day hut to hut adventure was a genuinely attractive mix.
I find
it very rewarding to see people’s disbelief as to the terrain they might end up on
4A terrain in the river gully below Drona Castle
I went off the next summer and did the course – and tellingly perhaps, most of us were JS RCIs. Since then, I have via ferrata’d in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and have taken groups out to the Dolomites most summers. As a military AT activity, I genuinely think it’s only matched for suitability by perhaps scrambling and parachuting. Like both those disciplines, it can put novices in a situation where there is genuine worry and fear but with little objective danger after only a minimal introduction. Having now introduced dozens of novices to via ferrata over the years, I find it very rewarding to see people’s disbelief as to the terrain they might end up on, and their delight to discover their own ability to deal with the terrain and exposure. Done well, there are innumerable opportunities for enrichment through the day too – discussions on rock formations, Alpine hut networks, wartime history, emergency procedures and practical ropework. I usually include a session on rigging belays and then have people abseil down an outcrop of some sort – usually with the attendant change of facial expression from fear to delight as they descend.
Why is it different from snow-shoeing then? I’m not sure, but perhaps it’s to do with the availability of routes of different grades meaning that you can get people into their ‘challenge’ zone so easily. The challenge might be technical, it might be psychological, and the fact that poor technique could be very serious indeed provides added focus.
If you’re a climber or mountaineer in search of another qualification to add to your arsenal, go and do the course – it’s formally called the ‘Alpine Klettersteig Leader’ (AKL) course and you need to hold the MLT and RCS awards before applying. Once done, get groups out and share the word!
Whether newly qualified, or already an AKL, how about adapting the following for a great week’s AT with a group of novices? Fly to Verona Brescia on a Saturday, hire an MPV and drive the two hours to Arco at
The author next to Campanile Alto
26 ‹ ARMY MOUNTAINEER