[Tagging] RFC rewritten proposal Via_ferrata_simplified

[Kevin Kenny]

On Wed, Mar 6, 2019 at 11:10 AM Adam Franco <adamfranco at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 8:04 PM Kevin Kenny <kevin.b.kenny at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Slightly off topic: vie ferrate are not a familiar thing in the
>> mountains near me.
>> Does http://aspiringfortysixer.com/Upper_Lower_Wolfjaw,_Armstrong_%26_Gothics_files/P1010309.jpg
>> count?
>
>
> I wonder this as well. I don't have any direct experience with Via Ferratas, but reading these two pages makes me think that the term seems to be used for more involved routes than a short set of stairs or hand-holds:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata
> https://chamonixallyear.com/what-need-via-ferrata-in-chamonix/

How short is 'short'? Other people's GoPro video (I haven't done that
route myself yet) suggests that the section with cables is at least a
few hundred metres. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj5ZJUSUsiU

I *think* I understand 'via ferrata' as being 'there are aids
permanently affixed so that travelers with minimal technical climbing
skills can complete what would otherwise be a technical route' with a
strong implication that use of the aids is needed for safety - a
typical climber would need to be roped otherwise.  Yes, I know people
who waltz up YDS 5.8 (UK: Hard Very Severe) free solo, but I'm not one
of them!

If I understand the definition correctly, this route is right on the
borderline. From what I see in the videos, I'd feel comfortable in
summer going up it using the cable as a hand line, but I'd appreciate
the cables because I know that the rock in those mountains is slick!
In winter, I'd bring a harness and enough webbing and 'biners to throw
Bachmanns or Klemheists over the cables. If the fixed cables wseren't
there, I'd want to protect the route if doing it with ice tools and
crampons. The route is way over on the technical side of 'hiking,' but
far to the novice end of 'climbing'.