I haven't been in the Sierras all summer, but on a trip to Europe, while my wife was with our 6 year old at Euro Disney, I took the older three kids (17, 15 and 12) to Murren, a tiny carless town tucked in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland. While there, we spent a morning on the Via Ferrata ("iron highway"), a 2.2 km traverse and downclimb that positions much of the path along the ridge of a cliff with a 4,000 foot drop off. It had two tyrolienne traverses, an 80 meter Nepal bridge, breathtaking views of the Eiger and Jungfraujoch, occasional flybys of paragliders and even one flyby of a cow (when the cows wander too far down the mountain, they put the cow in a harness and helicopter them back up to their homes--craziest thing I've ever seen). This path also took accross a squirrel-suit base jump that gets a lot of action. I have taken all three of these kids climbing but never with so much exposure. We were all harnessed in and always had solid places for hands and feet. I worried about how my 12 year old daughter would do, but she did great. I couldn't be prouder of all three. This is a memory that will stick with us forever! So glad to be alive and doing these things with my kids!
Thanks for sharing! There are many Via Ferrata networks in NZ, Canada, and Europe, which are on my list. Looks like some good fun for the family, and yes, your girls will remember that forever!
Hi Brent, The picture doesn't show up for me. If I click on the https... link, I get a screen that shows: > It seems you don't belong here! You should probably sign in.
Are your pictures set as private?
Thanks much for posting the video! That must have been quite a memorable day.
Steve, let's see if this will work. Here are a few sample shots. This is me looking down through my feet at the town of Lauterbrennan, 4,000 feet below. Untitled by Northern Explorers1, on Flickr
Way on the other end of this Nepal bridge is my 12 year old. The whole thing was fun, but this bridge is the only place that my heart really skipped because there was so much wobble in the bridge itself:
Awesome Brent! I've not heard of this place, but it's now on the bucket list. Kudos to your kids - they definitely handled the exposure like true troopers! That's an experience they'll carry for a lifetime.
Did anyone have to depend on the pro at any point? Any slips?
Gary, all were glad for the protection but there were no slips. I hadn't used Via Ferrata equipment before and assumed that it would basically be a sling, but it is designed to have more give if there is a fall. A fall would not have been fun because you would probably hit one of the rungs, rocks or something else, but you would live to whine about it.
There was nothing terribly technical about the experience, but near zero fear of heights is a necessity. We heard stories in the village of people freezing on the Nepal bridge and just hugging it, refusing to go forward or backward. It would be terrifying if a fear of heights was in our heads. I don't have that fear. I don't fear heights--only falling from them ;-)
I was just looking at the trip reports as I have a trip to whitney coming up, and I saw this thread. I took almost exactly the same picture you did on that exact via ferrata in Switzerland. What an incredible place.
Here are the rest of the pics if you're interested. The first half are from hiking the nearby peak, the schilthorn (about 3000m).
Mike, yup. Amazing place. How funny that you took nearly the same pic. It was quite a view.
Norris, yes, a steel cable runs the entire route. Much of the route has no exposure whatsoever and you would likely decide not to clip in there. Along the tyroleans, the bridge, and when on the cliff side, the cable is welcome. There is nothing technical about this experience and it is extremely well laid out and secured. But it is a ton of fun and different from anything else I have ever done.
