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Iceaxe
12-01-2005, 02:21 PM
Hey.... it looks like Ogden has a via ferrata. Anyone been over to test it out? These puppies are really popular over in parts of Europe. I hear the ones in Italy are a blast.

:hitit:

The Iron Climb
Via ferrata park near Ogden lets novice climbers take metal steps straight to the top of the mountain

By Tom Wharton
The Salt Lake Tribune

OGDEN - A European-style rock climbing practice known as via ferrata now has a Utah angle in Waterfall Canyon east of this city.

For novice climbers who don helmets, clip lanyards into a fixed metal cable and climb steel ladders straight up the side of a cliff, it is more like a stairway to heaven.

With Chris Peterson providing the property and veteran Utah climber Jeff Lowe doing the designing, this via ferrata park - one of only three in North America - includes a practice wall and two, fixed 350-foot-high vertical routes that use permanent metal ladders and cables.

The climbing park, just off the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, is primarily designed for novice climbers, with future routes planned for those with more experience.

The concept of the via ferrata, which translated to English means "iron roads," originated in the 1860s when people living in the Dolomite Mountains in Austria and Italy began installing fixed ropes and ladders to the top of prominent peaks, according to the Singing Rock climbing gear company. In 1869, climbers used steel wires and poles on the southwest ridge of the GroSlockner, Austria's highest mountain.

The practice took off between 1915 and 1917 in World War I when soldiers utilized the fixed iron cables and ladders to establish positions in high, hard-to-reach mountains.

The trend expanded for recreation climbers from 1949 to 1966 as the fixed routes provided rapid descent routes for extreme rock climbers.

"The policy now is one of maintenance rather than expansion," according to the Singing Rock Web site. "The status quo, which is certain to be maintained, is that no area in the Alps has more via ferrata than the Dolomites. Here, iron ways are a major part of the region's tourism."

While there are beginning climbing routes with some fixed bolts throughout the state and along the Wasatch Front, there is nothing quite like the via ferrata park. It also is unusual in that the park is all on private land. Only the climbing area in southwestern Utah's Veyo Hot Springs offers anything similiar. But it does not have via ferrata routes.

Peterson owns 1,440 acres east of the Mount Ogden golf course in and around Waterfall Canyon. That includes a portion of the popular Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Peterson, who worked for 17 years at nearby Snowbasin on the east side of Waterfall Canyon, said he hopes his park will draw some of the thousands of tourists traveling north through Weber Canyon on their way to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Lowe, who pioneered the sport of ice climbing on Malan's Waterfall in this pretty canyon setting in 1971, envisions a climbing park that will include not only the via ferrata routes but sport and traditional climbing, and ice farming, a practice in which water is diverted to create falls that ice over in the winter for climbers.

The famous Utah climber has multiple sclerosis, which makes walking the trail up to the via ferrata more difficult than the climbs.

The via ferrata is ideal for novices who want to get a feel for climbing. Climbers must use the training area first and wear a helmet. According to Lowe, routes are equipped with pre-placed anchors, cables and ladder rungs in the steeper places. Climbers wear harnesses and are attached to a cable at all times, with shock-absorbing lanyards as protection against a fall.

Future developments in the Waterfall Climbing Park are expected to include routes ascending more than 600 feet of near-vertical rock along the canyon's waterfall, including a cable bridge across the top of the waterfall.

The climbing park might be the first of several developments in the Malan's Basin property that Peterson purchased. He has talked about building a gondola from Ogden to a potential new resort on the mountain and using the climbing park as a midway station where riders might depart.

The developer said the permanent routes and metal ladders used in the via ferrata would not have been allowed on U.S. Forest Service property without years of study. Will public access to popular Waterfall Canyon and the portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on property owned by Peterson remain open as it is now, at least temporarily?

"I will grant permanent hiking access to my property when I get permanent permission to do what I want with my property," he said.

Environmentalists are warily watching the development.

"The [climbing park] is on his land and he can pound holes and hang wires on it if he wants to," said Jock Glidden, a longtime Ogden Sierra Club member and environmentalist. "We can't stop it. It is a portal to something else. He's already been cutting swaths of trees in Malan's Basin over the next ridge . . . It's all rather suspicious to us. We can only make inferences as to what he is up to."

Peterson declined to talk in detail about his plans for his property in Malan's Basin.

Lowe argues that those worried about the impact of the via ferrata on the land should examine the trail near the waterfall he has built. He maintains that a vertical trail built on rock offers less erosion than a footpath.

Salt Lake climber Tom Adams, who works for Liberty Mountain gear, has used via ferrata in Europe.

"Having done a few myself, I think they are a lot of fun and a fairly safe way to get up in the mountains and climb," said Adams.

For now, the increasingly popular sport of climbing along the Wasatch Front has a new addition designed to draw converts to climbing.

accadacca
12-01-2005, 05:12 PM
Huh, interesting... :ne_nau:

I would like to see some pictures of this or this routine. If you or anyone have some on hand.

Iceaxe
12-01-2005, 05:29 PM
Here are a couple via ferrata pictures. I don't have any from Malen Falls but this will give you an idea. Biggest deal is you are always clipped in.

Sombeech
12-01-2005, 06:41 PM
Environmentalists are warily watching the development.

"The [climbing park] is on his land and he can pound holes and hang wires on it if he wants to," said Jock Glidden, a longtime Ogden Sierra Club member and environmentalist. "We can't stop it."

:twisted: :haha: :twisted: Too bad, so sad. Notice how he said "We can't stop it". That's exactly what they would LOVE to do, is stop it, cover it up, and erase it from the history books.

Awesome. I hope this thing really takes off. I myself, an Ogdenite, want to go check this out. I'd really like to see where it is from the Bonn. Shrln Trail. I'm also excited about that gondolla. Several different ideas have been thought up, but if it's on his land, go for it. I'd love to see it.

That's the kind of environmentalist I am. Things that HELP me notice and enjoy the environment that otherwise would be unavailable and unappreciated.

Sombeech
12-02-2005, 11:33 PM
Hey, I found a few pics of the Ogden one.

http://www.ogdenhub.com/images/climb/web/ViaFerrata.jpg

http://www.ogdenhub.com/images/climb/web/ViaFerrata7.jpg

http://www.ogdenhub.com/images/climb/web/ViaFerrata3.jpg

These pics were from this site:
http://www.ogdenhub.com/sections/climb/via-ferrata

Glockguy
12-02-2005, 11:54 PM
We need to plan a UUTAH trip!

Sombeech
12-03-2005, 12:04 AM
We need to plan a UUTAH trip!

Yes sir! I'm already here in Ogden, so I'm good to go!

Iceaxe
12-03-2005, 07:08 AM
I'd be up for a group trip... but probably have to wait for springtime now. I'm a guessing the iron rungs are now under 12' of snow?

:rockon:

ogdenhub
12-03-2005, 09:32 AM
I'm glad that you found my pictures on ogdenhub.com (http://www.ogdenhub.com).

They are going to keep the Via Ferrata open all winter, however, I think that they are going to require the guide service when snow might be on the routes.

It would be really fun to go up in the snow, as the view of Malan's falls is even better when it gets all iced up. The also plan on creating some kind of ice climbing features near the Via Ferrata Routes by diverting water from the falls to some of the north facing slopes.

The whole plan for the "Climbing Park" is pretty cool. I got to discuss a lot of it with Jeff Lowe, the designer of the routes, who is a world renowned ice-climber/mountaineer.

accadacca
12-03-2005, 01:38 PM
Wow, thanks for the info ogdenhub. I am interested in trying this out. Welcome to the site. Good to have a resident climbing expert on here. Hope to you stick around. :2thumbs:

Iceaxe
12-03-2005, 11:41 PM
The climbing park sounds awesome.... and welcome to the furom. :2thumbs:

Ice

Windwalker
12-04-2005, 08:44 AM
Great, a safe thrill for me and the Mrs. :five:

hesse15
12-04-2005, 11:13 AM
Hey.... it looks like Ogden has a via ferrata. Anyone been over to test it out? These puppies are really popular over in parts of Europe. I hear the ones in Italy are a blast.}

are they also having a bar /pizzeria ristorante on top?
that is the big blast
do all your ascend reach the top and get a cold fresh beer pasta steaks and real ice cream!!!!

Iceaxe
12-04-2005, 12:03 PM
do all your ascend reach the top and get a cold fresh beer pasta steaks and real ice cream!!!!

MMMmmmmm.... beer, pasta and steaks.... and a beer for desert.... you can keep the ice cream.... :2thumbs:

Sombeech
12-04-2005, 12:31 PM
I'm glad that you found my pictures on http://www.ogdenhub.com

Welcome to the site, ogdenhub! A few of us Ogdenites will have to hook up for this and other stuff.

Sombeech
04-03-2006, 09:25 PM
I posted a "response" to this thread Here (http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2200)

DiscGo
04-05-2007, 05:37 AM
this picture:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f375/DiscGolfDiver/via_ferrata3.jpg

is sweet!