Lessons From a First Time Mountain Climber

Full disclosure: I am not an expert. As the title says, it was my FIRST time on a via ferrata in the Dolomites. All things I recommend below come with this caution and warning. Please consult your physician prior to performing any of these activities (or whatever the correct wording is here). I am able to write about these events and recommend them to others because I survived… so there you have it!

I’ve never had a fear of heights. I grew up loving to go fast, ride every roller coaster, and go as high up as possible thanks to my dad. That was the one thing we loved to do together. And I’ll try anything – at least once – food, sports, adventure, cities, you name it. So, when we decided to try mountain climbing, of course, I said yes!

The Monday before this “adventure”, Stephen and I had just finished a beautiful hike among alpine pastures in Alpe di Siusi, a mountain region of the Italian Dolomites. It was a fairly easy hike, but one we were kind of disappointed about driving 6 hours round trip for. On the way home, I mentioned that I’d like to try “one of those via ferrata things”. Of course, he agreed. He had always free climbed or gone with a tour guide, so this would be new to him too. I started googling via ferrata and all the likes of it on the drive home.

You can check out the Alpe di Siusi photo gallery here: Portfolio

I found a great website of a guy who does ALL THINGS via ferrata in the Dolomites – tours, instructional videos, itineraries, etc. His website is loaded with tons of info which you can check out here. I navigated my way to his beginner’s course and found his day 1 suggestion. Too easy. I showed Stephen the YouTube video and he was like “yeah, let’s do that one.” (**YouTube video number 1 done**)

Table of Contents

What’s a Via Ferrata?

Via ferrata roughly translates to an iron path. Essentially, they are protected climbing routes located in the Alps and European countries where a steel cable runs along the path. They were originally used in World War I to help soldiers move supplies in high altitudes and dangerous conditions – aka the Dolomites (mountains in Italy). They’ve grown in popularity and many via ferrata routes have been installed on various mountain ranges, and a few can even be found in the U.S. The perks of this type of climbing is being able to ascend cliffs and rough mountain peaks without having the skill set or knowledge of ropes. You have access to beautiful views just as regular climbers do but for way less money and liability.

You might like: Hiking and Cow Festivals: A Cool October Weekend in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Gearing Up

Wednesday – we headed to Decathlon (best sporting goods store ever) to purchase the equipment that we would need. We already had some things like helmets, carabiners, backpacks, and a few other items thanks to our awesome Wedding Registry list. Wait, what? Yeah, we didn’t have a “typical” wedding registry list. But see where these things are paying off! Amazon wedding registry is where it’s at!!

We watched our second YouTube video on things we would need and also how to clip into the via ferrata correctly. Below are recommendations for gear:

Requirements:

Helmet
Harness
Via Ferrata Kit (Decathlon)

Additional helpful equipment:

Gloves
Safety Kit
First Aid Kit
Extra Carabiners
Safety/Sunglasses
Backpack (Osprey/REI)
Camera / GoPro
Extra rope
Hiking Poles – be sure they fold small enough to fit in a backpack

Planning

We knew we didn’t want to drive 3 hours there, exert a lot of energy, and then have to drive 3 hours back home while super exhausted. I found a great mountain lodge in the town of Colfosco called Pension Merisana about 12 minutes away from the base of the path. It had the essentials – they were pet-friendly, included breakfast, a bed, and I was able to request early check in and late check out times without extra charge. I used booking.com per usual.

**You can use my code here to get $25 back after your next booking (and I get $25 in return)!

Our room ended up being way nicer than I expected, especially for the rate that we paid. We had gorgeous views of the mountain, a balcony, third-floor room accessible by stairs or elevator, and sounds of the creek flowing nearby to soothe us to sleep at night!

View of the sunrise from Pension Merisana

Day 1 – Nature Has a Mind of Its Own

After we checked into our room early Saturday afternoon, we quickly changed into our hiking gear and made sure our backpacks were loaded with the essentials. Even though it was early June, it was only in the low 60’s. We drove the short distance to Rifugio Frara, which sits directly across the path up to the via ferrata, where you’ll find plenty of space to park for free.

We followed the trail heads 12A and 2B to Gran Cir. It was mid-afternoon around this point, and in the summertime, that usually means thunderstorms. We were playing chicken with the weather and taking the risk. Clouds were starting to form overhead and I could hardly focus on my breathing and hiking for worrying about those darn clouds. But nonetheless, we kept trucking along. It was an incredibly tough incline hike. Once we got to the base of the mountain and left the grassy area, there were no more trail markers. It looked like rain and landslides had washed away most of the trail and you could only see random footpaths going in all different directions. It seemed like it took hours to reach the start of the actual via ferrata route and right when we did, the first strike of lightning appeared.

Mountain Climbing - Via Ferrata in Dolomites, Italy — The Gran Cir (summit #1) is the tallest peak to the left. It stands at 2,592 meters tall.

We found a small indented cave-like area and took shelter to let the storm pass. I was not about to be struck by lightning while attached to an iron rod for my first time climbing. As soon as we sat down and unloaded our bags off our back, the hail began. It literally sounded like the bottom fell out of the sky and we lost sight of everything except for what was right in front of us. Fog and clouds rolled in and our visibility was at zero percent. The hail turned to rain, which created waterfalls and runoffs down the trail and off the mountain. We sat there for almost an hour growing colder and colder.

Luckily, we had packed our rain jackets and I was wearing long sleeves and pants, but we weren’t cold weather prepared. We huddled together hoping the rain would pass. Spoiler alert, it never did. We attempted to clip in the first few cables of the via ferrata path, but it was just too slippery, and water was running off the cliff right down our backs. It was miserable. We called it a bust and headed down the mountain in the pouring rain. I slipped multiple times and fell on my butt, on my front, my knee was killing me, my ankles were throbbing, and the rocks were literally crumbling down the mountain every step I took. Day 1 had defeated me.

When we finally made it to the bottom of the mountain, soaking wet from head to toe, my hands and feet frozen, and muddy all over, the only thing I wanted was some warm food. We stopped in at the rifugio to grab a bite to eat. They had a very small selection of food but we chose the vegetable soup and I was pretty content. Between the veggie soup, bombardinos, and warm rum punch, I was starting to gain my pride back.

We headed back to our hotel to shower and lay out our clothes to dry before dinner. Around 9 pm we walked to a local bar – Apres Ski Bar Sadla – chowed down on some bruschetta, goulash, and mulled wine, then called it a night.

Day 2 – Whatever It Takes

The sunrise from our balcony on Sunday morning was incredible. The sun rising on the peaks of the Dolomites – no pictures can do that justice.

We had breakfast downstairs around 8 – which of course only included a few pastries, types of meat and cheeses – then headed out to start our day.

We returned to the same exact route as the day before. The only difference was that today the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was well rested and ALIVE! I put my harness on before we started, to avoid having to do that while wobbling on the side of the cliff like I had the day before, and brought along my hiking poles. Hiking puts a lot of stress on my bad knee and the hiking poles help tremendously. They are a crutch for me and allow me to push off with my legs AND arms. We made it up to the via ferrata trail much faster this time. We got to the cables, strapped on our helmets, and started clipping in.

There were very few cables along the way. In fact, it was a lot of just hiking and easy rock climbing on safe trails. At times I didn’t even clip both of my carabiners in depending on the steepness of the climb. We reached the summit of Gran Cir (2,592 meters) around 10:30. The top of this peak brought incredible panoramic views of the valleys around us and the rest of the Pizes de Cir peaks. We could see for miles – even to where we had hiked the previous weekend at Bullaccia (you can see photos of hiking Bullaccia in my portfolio here). There’s a beautiful gigantic cross at the top that has been filled with rocks and a book inside to write your names.

On the way down we passed a lot of people, mostly kids coming up with their parents. I can definitely say that the Gran Cir route is a beginner Via Ferrata route, based on the fact that it has very few cables and none of them were anywhere near challenging. From grades A to E with A being the easiest, this was definitely a grade A via ferrata.

To say we were disappointed at how easy it was is sort of an understatement. It was very “meh” and I didn’t get much of an adrenaline rush. After all, that’s what we came for right?

We checked our map and decided to go to the via ferrata path just east of us, on the Piccola Cir. It took a little parallel hiking and then climbing up to the actual rods and we were there in an instant. This route was much more difficult than the other. The entire way, minus one small section of walking, I was clipped in with both carabiners. I went in front of Stephen on the way up in case I fell, so that he could be below me to catch me. This route required a lot of actual rock climbing with all four limbs. Fortunately, I had been to the rock climbing wall in the gym on base a handful of times, so I somewhat knew where to place my feet and what type of rocks to pull myself up on. If I had never had any prior experience with a rock climbing wall though, I would’ve been in trouble. There were times that I depended solely on the actual iron rod to pull myself up. I stumbled, and my feet didn’t always catch a good grip at first, but I never fell while hooked in.

Stephen was right behind me the entire time. He wanted to make conversation when we first started, but I told him straight up that I didn’t want to talk, I just needed to focus. He understood, but continued speaking words of encouragement and motivation, which was just what I needed. If you watch the video you’ll see him provide constructive criticism a few times, such as telling me to untangle my rope or providing helpful tips on where to place my foot when I was too afraid to look down to find an actual foothold.

It was physically and mentally exhausting, especially after the previous day’s defeat and the earlier hike. It was hard. I huffed and puffed, cussed, may have shed a tear, but we reached the peak of Piccola Cir at 2,520 meters. After relishing at the moment and sharing a fist bump, we continued down the route. Going down is always so much harder for me. My legs were shot at this point and it felt like rocks just kept crumbling under me. But I was on a high from having accomplished something I never would’ve imagined myself doing. The route down went much quicker and once we finished the via ferrata part, it was just a lot of sliding and lowering ourselves down with our upper body, all while trying to figure out where the trail actually went since it had been washed out.

We made it back to our car safely, checked out of the hotel, then headed home. We weren’t even halfway home and Stephen says, “I think we should do this next weekend.” Oh, I love that man!

Lessons Learned

As with all experiences, there are lessons to be learned. We as humans learn best from making mistakes and self-correcting them. Here are some lessons that I learned this weekend and am now able to pass on to you.

You must wear a helmet at all times. People that were climbing above us were stepping on rocks that weren’t secure, and they would tumble down the path by us, causing us to have to duck. Even when I wasn’t hooked into the via ferrata route, and was just going down the rocky path, I kept my helmet on because as clumsy as I am and as much as I fall, I need protection against any rock that my head is going to hit on the way down.

I felt safer than I thought I would when I was hooked in. Sure, I wasn’t a big fan of looking down and checking out the view around us when I was hanging off a cliff and could fall to my death, but I knew I was secure, in case my feet slipped. I like this method of climbing because I wasn’t relying on someone else – my life wasn’t in another person’s hands. I trust those iron rods.

I don’t hit the gym every day. I’m not incredibly fit. I dig into my pasta, drench it in parmesan, and I love my bottles of wine. But I have the mental capacity to push myself physically. Whether that’s mountain biking downhill scared to death (+ a flip over my bike), or trekking in waist deep snow up to a cabin in Norway, I’ll get there one way or another. While yes this required a shit ton of physical exertion, it required more mental strength. A lady passed us coming down the mountain who couldn’t make it all the way, and she was way more fit than I could ever be. But she admitted to us that she had been too frightened to continue any further. It was a fantastic full body workout. Going up, you have to use your legs to drive you and your arms to hold you. Going down, you use your arms more to lower your body down via rocks. Stephen and I both agree that it does take holding your body weight sometimes when you’re transitioning your clips from one section of cable to the next.

If you watch the video, Stephen instructs me to uncross my lines. Nothing bad happened, but it’s something I learned and forced myself to be aware of. They’re easy to get crossed if you’re using double carabiners.

I liked always being hooked in, even if I was just using one carabiner. It was a crutch for me. If you’re not using the other, hook it to your harness or somewhere easily accessible.

Bring lots of water. I usually always bring extra water, but Sunday I wasn’t really prepared to do TWO trails and I ran out of water. I didn’t thirst to death, but you know how when you know you’re out of water, you suddenly become even more thirsty?! Yeah, that was me.

You can’t predict the weather. Nature takes its own course. On Sunday, it said there was a 100% chance of rain starting at 1 pm so we were semi rushing to make it back down the mountain in time. We didn’t leave the valley until around 3 pm and it hadn’t rained a drop. Blue sunny skies, with only a few clouds all day. And just the day prior we had been drenched. Nothing is perfect. Everything is an adventure.

More Resources

I hope you enjoyed reading about our first experience of mountain climbing and tackling the via ferrata routes. Like I said in the beginning, I don’t claim to be an expert, but I did sleep at a ~~holiday inn~~ Pension Merisana and I watched two YouTube videos – so basically yes I am. But seriously, I hope you find this helpful if you yourself are thinking of trying this for the first time or are looking for another route to add to your list!

For further resources, I highly recommend checking out this dude’s page for all things Via Ferrata Dolomites related, and I’ve since purchased this Via Ferrata book with over 75 routes off Amazon!

If you liked it, share it! XOXO