Via Ferrata climbing holidays & courses
CMH Summer Adventures
based: British Colombia, Canada
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A heli-hiking, Via Ferrata climbing trip in the Canadian Rockies, a lodge-based vacation in British Colombia. Their 'High Flying Adventure' includes climbing Mt Nimbus using the most extensive and longest via ferrata in North America. The trip also includes exhilarating ropes courses, ziplines and glacier experiences.
| via ferrata | Canada |
Honister Slate Mine
based: Cumbria, UK
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Guided courses at Honister Slate Mine, climbing the UK's first Via Ferrata; offering a choice of two different routes: Classic or Xtreme. Day courses available plus luxury self-catering accommodation.
| via ferrata | England |
Mountain Torq
based: Sabah, Malaysia
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Mountain Torq (the 1st mountaineering training center in SE Asia) are caretakers of the highest Via Ferrata in the world, located in a UNESCO World Heritage site on Mt Kinabalu, in Malaysia. Courses include the Via Feratta, sports climbing, abseiling, mountaineering and rock climbing.
| via ferrata | abseiling | Malaysia |
Highpoint Mountain Guides
based: Cumbria, UK
July-September holidays to the superb routes of the Sella area of the Italian Dolomites; and early or late season holidays to the Lake Garda area.
| via ferrata | Italy |
Humanfish Holidays
based: Slovenia
Via Ferrata adventures in the Julian Alps, in Slovenia; offering routes to suit all levels of climber, from novice to expert.
| via ferrata | Slovenia |
Nordic Blowfish
Bespoke Klettersteig holidays in the Bavarian Alps, with Keith Jenns, a specialist in adventure training and mountain leadership.
| trekking peaks | Germany |
Swiss Mountain Guide
based: Aigle, Switzerland
Custom designed tours for individuals, families and groups, with IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide, Jean Pavillard.
| via ferrata | Worldwide |
Via Ferrata Holidays
based: Oxfordshire, UK
Via Ferrata holidays in the Italian Dolomites, offering a range of fixed dates, but with bespoke trips also available.
| via ferrata | Italy |
What are Via Ferratas?
If you're new to the sport you may wonder what a Via Ferrata is exactly. Via Ferratas are mountain climbing routes that use fixed climbing aids like cables, wire ropes, pegs, ladders, stemples, and bridges. Their purpose is to reduce the difficulty of harder sections of rock climbs in order to make them more accessible to all.
Via Ferratas allow novice climbers to climb safely on big, steep routes that would normally be restricted to the more experienced. However they are not for total beginners, climbers still need to know what they're doing and have the right equipment – this is where it might be wise to employ the services of one of the companies listed here. Unless you're an experienced climber the more challenging routes are also best climbed with a guide.
A brief history of Via Ferratas
The term 'Via Ferrata' translates from the Italian to 'iron road'. In Germany they are known as 'Klettersteig' which translates to 'climbing path'. Many sources attribute the construction of the first Via Ferratas to the First World War where, in the Italian Dolomites, they were built to aid the movement of the mountain infantry. However, the practice of equipping mountain routes with climbing aids started before that, in the late C19th, in the early days of mountaineering.
After the First World War, military Via Ferrata routes continued to be used by mountaineers and climbers and numerous new Via Ferratas have been built. They can now be found right across Europe and in few places in Canada, the US, Singapore, Borneo and Malaysia.
CATEGORY DEFINITION FOR TOUR OPERATORS WISHING TO BE LISTED:
Travel-quest's via ferrata climbing holidays section is intended for listing holidays, vacations and breaks climbing via ferrata ('iron road' in Italian, 'klettersteig' in German) – mountain routes equipped with fixed metal cables, ladders and bridges. This might be on the original, traditional via ferrate found mainly in the Italian Dolomites, or newer routes in other areas of the Alps, in the US and Canadan Rockies, and further afield in other mountain areas.
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