Via Ferrata in the Ecrin Alps

The Bridge at Durance - Via Ferratas are fun as well!

It was my first experience of a via ferrata and the ease of movement over the vertical rock faces linked by exciting traverses and fragile looking suspension bridges were certainly a big thrill. Via Ferratas (paths of iron) were originally developed by the Italians during the last war as a way of scaling the rock faces of the dolomites and othwer areas without detection. One can imagine secret hideaways and stores of armaments in inpregnable positions in the Mountains.

Via Ferrata at Vigneaux

Since then there has been a gradual but steady increase in their popularity as a leisure pursuit in their own right. In more recent years there has been a dramatic increase in their numbers as villages and tourist areas have seen their potential as a wasy of luring summer tourists into the ski resorts.

The Briancon area alone has 20 to 30 routes of varying dificulty, certainly enough for a couple of weeks holiday. Some can be combined with walks and mountain summits to make a full day's outing.

The basic techniques are very easy. Just follow the continous cable and keep clipped in at all times. You can make up your own "lanyards" using a friction plate or buy ready put together kit (which do seem rather expensive). All these kits do is provide some shock absorbing capacity in case you fall and load your harness with a heavy load. You do risk internal injuries, broken pelvis, etc without this equipment.


You also need a helmet of course and stout footwear.

The easier routes are an ideal way of introducing children annd beginners to moutaineering/climbing and it is of course possible to rope people up as you would on a climb if they are short of confidence.

Some of the more recent Via Ferratas have amazing cable bridges, Tyrolean traverses across exposed gorges, climbs up the slides of spectacular waterfalls and even routes up massively overhanging walls via ladders where you have to face outwards from the rock face!

There are many guidebooks available as well as free guides produced by the tourist boards.

A day in the Ecrin

View towards the Bar des Ecrin

The jagged peaks of the Ecrin lie betweeen Grenoble and Briancon. They offer great mountaineering possibilities away from the overcrowded aeas in Chamonix and elsewhere. The main peak in the area is the Bar des Ecrin, a 4,000 metre plus peak of great beauty. We chose a route on the other side of the Glacier Blanche (the main glacier running up to 'The Bar') called Pic de Neige Cordier (peak of the white snow maker?). A pleasant walk up the popular footpath to the mouth of the Glacier Blanche took us from the valley floor near Ailefroide to around 2400 metres. Then it was a case of following a slightly rougher path past a mountain hut until we found a suitable bivouac point near the Ecrin Hut. Some well constructed previously used sites just above the edge of the Glacier proved ideal and about 6 hours after setting off we were settled down in our sleeping bags and makeshift shelters after a quick snack and drink. We watched the moon set and the amazing display of stars commence as we drifted of to sleeping in our lofty position.

At 4 am we awoke to the amazing spectacle of tiny dots of lights bunched together in lines making their way up the edge of the Glacier and towards the Bar Des Ecrin. We had a hot chocolate and snack before setting of upwards first traversing the edge of the main glacier ourselves before heading up a smaller ice slope and towards our own objective. Day dawned with the pink glow of sunrise illuminating the huge 1000 metre face of The Bar Des Ecrin, but we were glad to be on our own and not amongst the large guided groups heading up The Bar. Several 100 metres of ascent brought us to a rocky col and we were unsure of the way on. Piles of precariously balanced rocks seemed to guard the route we thought we had to take. Eventually we worked out that our route lay up a more amenable although still potentially dangerous ridge. 45 minutes of scrambling brought us to the tiny rocky summit with great views in all directions including in the far distance Mont Blanc itself and even The Matterhorn.

5 am - walking up to the Col at Sunrise


Scrambling up the Ridge

Enjoying the Summit Views

After absorbing the great panoramas we roped back down to the col and then retraced our steps to our bivvy site whilst watching climbers tackling the jagged ridge to our left. 6 hours later we were trudging back along the valley floor towards a welcome cold beer and sat discussing the pleasures and efforts of the previous 24 hours.