Day: 10: Via Ferrata

After a train ride to Salzburg, we boarded a bus to take us to lake Gosau, where we were to climb a via ferrarta which is a cable and other helpful climbing points that have been attached to the side of a mountain. You clip yourself on to cable and work your way along. You can't fall and die, but you can get yourself into some difficult (and painful) situations.

The via ferrarta we were climbing was relatively new, installed about 20 years ago purely for recreation, but this method has been used for over a century to move supplies and troops (especially in wartime) through the alps.

As you can see in the photo we took from the lake, there were two parts to the run. You first did the lower portion from left to right and then went up the ladder on the right to do the upper part. It was possible to call it quits after the initial (shorter) section, but once you clipped into the longer, higher section you had to continue to the end. I quit after the first part, because I wasn't having fun and it was pretty hard for me.

Russell did the whole thing!Read more