Cliff walking on the Via Ferrata in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
#viaferrata #lauterbrunnen #cliff
Back in Lauterbrunnen to try the Via Ferrata.....something that I've wanted to do for a long time. What is a Via Ferrata? Well, Via Ferrata translates to 'Iron Path' and is essentially a wire and pegs that often traverses very steep cliffs.
You're clipped into the wire and make your way along these paths that would otherwise, for good reason, be fairly dangerous.
There are Via Ferratas all over the world (though the Dolomites seem to be pretty famous for them). I had never done one and the last time I was in Lauterbrunnen it was too early in the season so they weren't running trips.
This time though, the trips were running. After a small scare the night before where the weather forecast said it would be raining, we woke up to cloudless blue skies. We met at the Intersport in Murren at around 9am, got our harnesses on we were on our way.
In terms of logistics, it's 150 swiss francs per person. They tend to fill up reasonably fast so it's worth booking in advance. You can do the route solo and just hire gear, but if you go in a group (with a guide), you can also do a zipline which you otherwise can't do. Also, our guide said that the morning trips were the best to do because you have more chance of good weather, and the afternoons can also get really hot in the Summer.
You start by making your way down from Murren towards the cliff edge that looks over the Lauterbrunnen valley, approximately 400m up. After making your way past one of the base jumping platforms, you get to the most exposed section of the climb where you have to downclimb to the cliff face and then make your way along it.
You then spend around an hour making your way along less vertical terrain, though there are a few ladders, to the zipline. Once you've done that, you start to climb back up to the final 'Nepalese Bridge' and then to the gondola.
All in all it takes around 3 hours and whilst I was expecting more sections of exposed cliff, I would highly recommend it.
0:00 - Back in Lauterbrunne
0:58 - Start of the Via Ferrata
2:50 - Base jumping platform
3:21 - Exposed cliff face
6:50 - Zipline
11:53 - Nepalese Bridge
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