Via Ferrata in Les 2 Alpes
Climbing an almost vertical rock face with incredible views
Les 2 Alpes in summer is a veritable hot bed of things to do. I'm here for a few days trying out some of the things you can do on your summer visit here, and today it was the turn of the Via Ferrata.
For the uninitiated, the name literally translates as 'iron road' and you can find these iron routes in a number of places in the area. They are part scramble, part climbing and include lots of hand holds and steps made of iron, attached to rock faces enabling you to climb up. The whole route is accompanied with a metal rope attached to the rock that acts as your safety device on the way up and there are lots of places where you have to clip on and unclip your carabiners on the way up.
You pick up a harness with two slings and carabiners made for this exact activity and a climbing helmet and that's all you need, aside from a friend to go up with. A pair of sturdy, grippy shoes are also essential, as was sunscreen on a day like today.
The via ferrata we did today is called Les Perrons, which is graded as a difficult route and it starts just to one side of the Venosc gondola, on the left as you look down from Les 2 Alpes. You can see the white maker board that signposts the start of the route from quite a way off. My friend and I had taken a wander around the old village in Venosc first taking the gondola down and approaching the start of the via ferrata from the bottom. This added an additional hour to the climb, but I'm told it takes just as long to walk down to it from the gondola if you choose to start from the top, which most people do.
By the time we got to the start of the route it was around 11.30am and the signposts on the way told us it would be around a 3 hour climb up. I'd definitely recommend setting off an hour to an hour and a half earlier though, as it was already starting to get hot, and after around an hour and a half of climbing you're more exposed to the sun. Hot rocks, hot metal ladder rungs and a tiring climb all add up, so set off as early as you can. The other serious thing to note is that on this route, once you've committed to going up, there's no exit or bail out possible - it's either carry on up or go back down the way you came..
On the climb up there are plenty of ladder rungs, but also quite a few sections where there is bare rock, leading you to get a little creative with hand and foot holds. For someone who doesn't climb this was my biggest challenge. My arms were trembling for the first half hour, but thankfully I quickly overcame this and my route / hand hold / foot hold choices were getting better and better as we moved on up.
From the start of the climb you're treated to incredible views, although you do spend most of the time staring at the imposing rock face ahead of you, but there are ledges where you can stop for a breather and take in the enormous waterfall across the valley, or the village of Venosc below.. which for a long while I didn't think was getting any smaller..
In total this route is around 500m of mostly vertical climbing, with some ledges, a few small traverses, some without obvious hand holds and places for your feet. The route was tough, exhausting and challenging in places, definitely not one for beginners. If you've got a head for heights and have three hours to kill, then give it a try.
If you'd prefer to something a little less steep, then there are is another via ferrata route just down the Venosc valley at St. Christophe. The route here is still long, but includes a few bridges and traverses just above the river and is more family friendly. There are also a couple of climbing areas in the valley which are detailed in the Via Ferrata and climbing brochure that you can pick up from the tourist office.
If you want to take the lift for the trip down to Venosc it's 5.90 for return or single (one price) or you can buy a pass for 27 euros VTT & pedestrian for the day.
Recommended - sticky soled shoes, fingerless gloves, sunscreen, twice as much water as you think you need - I took 1.5 litres and ran out, so take as much as you can bear to carry - it gets easier as you climb and use up your supply.
You can book this activity through ESS, who also offer a large range of other summer activities and can help you find accommodation if needed. Find out how to contact them.
