Telluride's Via Ferrata
Via Ferrata is Italian for Iron Road. These routes are essentially a series of cables and ladder rungs affixed to rock faces to aid in climbing. There are supposedly 1000 Via Ferratas in the world, the majority of which are found in the Alps. Searching to see how many were found in the U.S. I could only find 7. However, one of them was Picacho Peak in Arizona which I can say should not even be considered in the same category.
This is a view from a small ledge on Telluride's Via Ferrata route. I had stumbled across pictures of people hanging from ladder rungs along the side of a cliff and started trying to find more information. When I learnt that it was in Telluride I knew we had to do it. It seems as though every year that goes by I get a bit more nervous around heights which is why we decided to cross this one off the bucket list before it's too late.
We hired an awesome guide from San Juan Outdoor School who hooked us with equipment and led through the course.
My camera was dead so we only snapped a couple of pictures with Jenni's. Besides, you kind of need both hands along the way. Here is great video of a section of the route called "The Main Event" that will give you a sense of what we did and maybe even some butterflies : Telluride Via Ferrata Main Event.
