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Not in a million, billion years!

Après Skier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow, very beautiful but I don’t think I would enjoy it. I still get nervous on old style chair lifts lacking a safety bar (chair 23 at Mammoth was the worst!), not sure how I would handle that crazy ladder.

2504C071-45BE-4D6E-B8CF-74C428B89B2F.jpeg
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow, very beautiful but I don’t think I would enjoy it. I still get nervous on old style chair lifts lacking a safety bar (chair 23 at Mammoth was the worst!), not sure how I would handle that crazy ladder.

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not in 1 million years would I be on that ladder! I don’t like regular ladders! And I, too, detest chairlifts without a safety bar. Big win for Vermont is safety everywhere! I’ve had a few moments in Utah where I was a little queasy on open chairs!
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
I can see the view from my seat safe here at home. There's not enough safety equipment in the world to make my feet move up those rungs and no way I'd let go with my hands or anything!

And I hated chair 23 at Mammoth, too, and I'm used to lifts without bars.
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
I got dizzy just watching the video! In a way it's like those glass floors (I recall one at, I think, Tower Bridge in London) that I can't make myself walk over. All in the mind I guess. And yet, I'm usually fine on chairlifts (though on barless ones - which I avoid if at all possible - I'll drape my arm over the back of the chair and look to the sky...)
 

Christy

Angel Diva
What do climbers think of this? I know ladders aren't uncommon in mountaineering--the climbing rangers at Mt Rainier have to haul them up and down to span crevasses. But those are short--they are actual ladders. Is this another thing entirely that takes the sport out of climbing, or not?
 

Kimmyt

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
What do climbers think of this? I know ladders aren't uncommon in mountaineering--the climbing rangers at Mt Rainier have to haul them up and down to span crevasses. But those are short--they are actual ladders. Is this another thing entirely that takes the sport out of climbing, or not?

Its a via ferrata, a fairly common thing in Europe that is sometimes nontechnical (but there are plenty with technical sections) and getting more common in the states. There one in Telluride and one in Ouray and apparently one up in Estes Park now. Back in the day there was one at a little crag in West Virginia that I did a few times. Basically you wear a harness and helmet and have this set of lanyard attached to the harness with biners on the end (and usually screamers which are like shock absorption systems if you fall) but its generally considered a pretty safe and fun way to spend a day.
 

Kimmyt

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I knew about the Via Ferrata in the Alps but I thought those were more practical/leftover from world wars, and less, like, an Instagram-ready attraction. But I'm not a climber so I'm not up on all of this.

The whole point of VF is really that exposure (which is that airy feeling you get when you're up high or on a ridge or standing on a cable ladder in the middle of a mountain range lol) so even though a lot of them aren't technical and can be done by anyone, they can still be really scary to non-climbers even though they're pretty safe as long as you follow the protocol for moving while always being clipped in. Hardware doesn't really last forever, so I'd be really surprised if there is a lot of the original cables and stuff from WW2 still on the rock and being used, most have likely been upgraded and probably features added to make them more exciting and exposed.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Jackson Hole and Arapahoe Basin now have Via Ferrata set up for "green season" fun.

I've had the Via Ferrata in WV on my bucket list for a while. Somehow always too busy in the summer. Need to plan ahead because it's popular and it's usually harder to find lodging at short notice.
 

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