Two above images: Professionals and all around awesome people Mike & Madison teach us how not to die at the base of the mountain.
Yeah, that’s a tunnel you see in the image directly above. This area near the town of Cortina was the front for a time between the Italians and the Austrians in World War One. These tunnels, and other things such as rusted barbed wire can still be found with ease. According to what I have read about “Via Ferrata” (Iron Street more or less directly translated) is that it was a method of climbing that was both relied upon heavily and refined during WW1.
Epic views all day…
No bad photos possible in this incredible place…
Last weekend was a first. Amanda and I went climbing in the style of “Via Ferrata” near the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. We’ve done a little climbing a tons of hiking before, but never anything like this. Luckily we were able to go with two professionals (Mike and Madison) that helped us with everything from proper equipment to technique (and moral support all the way up, lol). The method of climbing is basically clipping into lengths of a large cable mounted to the mountain face with tethers from a waist harness. It basically allows newbies like us to experience climbing lengths of vertical face—we honestly would have never tried anything like this without professional guidance, but I have to say we both felt really comfortable the whole time. I definitely tried not to look directly down much, though 🤓. Our trail was just outside the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is a super cool mountain town. Something that was I will be going back to explore is the World War I open air museum and the tunnels in the mountains. This particular area was the front between the Italians in the Austrians—the most intense of which happening in 1917. You can still see bundles of rust barbed wire and other debris scattered once you get further up—I’m told there is still danger of mines and unexploded ordnance in the ground from mounted artillery pieces. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to fight in conditions like that. Just hiking and climbing were absolutely exhausting. I have so many more great shots from the day, but this is a nice little sample. I carried my trusty Panasonic Lumix with me in a fanny pack slung around my shoulder for the climb. I’m glad I didn’t drop the camera, as I don’t have a strap on it right now. Guess that’s all for now—a dopo!
⛰ + 🧗♂️