| |
| Via Ferrata Le Chemin de la Vierge - France, WW | |
|
| | Via Ferrata Le Chemin de la Vierge - France, WW | | | |
|
|
Via Ferrata Le Chemin de la Vierge - France, WW
| | |
| |
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | After the previous day's rainout, we finally got to do a full day of via ferrata at the fantastic Via Ferrate du Diable complex off D1006 near Aussois. According to my book, this is the largest collection of via ferratas in one place in France. There are routes of all levels of difficulty, exposure, etc., on both sides of the River Arc. Some are reached out of the Fort Victor Emmanuel, built in the 19th century by the Piedmontese king to defend aginst French invasion. More routes are reached behind the massive treetop adventure park (which includes two very long ziplines across the gorge) behind the Redoute Marie-Therese. The two sides are connected by a foot bridge and some tyrolean cables. Very impressive place to visit, even if you don't do any via ferratas.
Book graded Stage D (Le Chemin de la Vierge) as technical grade 3 (of 5), exposure 4 (of 5), and seriousness A (of A, B, or C). 360 meters long with and ascent of 150 m. Easy approach, but due to our lack of French reading skills found the drop in point plastered with red signs, plastic tape, and serious-looking legal documents. We figured we better get out the Google Translater and see what this was about. Turns out the route was closed due to a weak flake near the start. Nothing had fallen but they had set up monitors to see how fast and far the flake was moving. Not a good sign for us.
So, we retreated down the trail a bit to find another route and Frank noticed a tree (just past the monitoring device) with a rope hanging over the bank. We could see the route just below us about 30 feet, and it was obvious that others were using that short cut and doing the barely abbreviated route, so we did also. Route was a little dirty due to lack of use and maintenance, but protection was solid throughout. Lots of good vertical and exposure. Two crossings of a plank bridge over a huge waterfall. Good adrenaline. Check my pictures.
Sorry, no track for this one because my gps battery was no. Not very helpful anyway since the cliffs interfere with signal. |
| _____________________
| Check out my Instagram posts at "cartershift", and videos on my Rumble channel "rvcarter". |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
