Dolomite Mountains, an adventure travel company based in the Dolomite Mountains, is offering the experience of mountain climbing on a Via Ferrata. The Via Ferrata (or iron road) is a mountain route equipped with fixed cables, ladders and bridges. Via Ferratas allow isolated routes to be connected and to create longer routes which are accessible to people with a wide range of climbing abilities. It is a way to experience the Dolomite environment and its mountain views. Many Via Ferratas were originally built in Italy to aid movements of alpine military units during World War I. They also exist in Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland, and are among the major attractions in the Dolomites. They are, in effect, a range of protected routes, comprised of fixed cables, ladders and even gorge-spanning bridges, which aid ascent to places normally reserved for expert rock climbers. Routes are graded according to difficulty.
Via Ferrata climbing is suitable for everyone not afraid of heights who wants to experience the Dolomites in a different way. Cables and ladders aid even non-expert climbers. There are many Ferratas of different difficulties so everyone can do what suits best. While in other regions, the Via Ferratas were built for tourism, the ones in the Dolomites are mostly of historical origin. Probably the most unusual Via Ferrata in the eastern part of the Dolomites is VF Lagazuoi Tunnels. Fighting for control of Mount Lagazuoi in World War I, Austrian and Italian troops built a series of tunnels through the mountains. The aim of each side was to tunnel close to the enemy and detonate explosives to destroy their fortifications. Some of the tunnels have been restored, with a Via Ferrata following the route of one of these.
Around 1850, English mountaineers began to appear in the Ladin valleys. Their journeys took them several days on foot and their destinations were the imposing rock faces and peaks of the Dolomites. From 1870 onwards, train connections and large hotels attracted the nobility who, without exerting themselves too much, could restore themselves with the pure mountain air and the alpenglow. The inhabitants of the Dolomite valleys found themselves at the service of the guests in various ways -- as hotel personnel, as mountain guides and in other roles. Some of them soon started their own businesses and, around 1900, began to teach new winter sports to their guests. After 1945, tourism became the most important business sector in the Dolomites. A tourist mecca, the Dolomites are famous for skiing in the winter months and mountain climbing, daily excursions, climbing and base jumping, as well as paragliding and hang gliding in summer and late spring/early autumn. Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, when 17-year-old Georg Winkler soloed the first ascent of the pinnacle Die Vajoletturme.
The staff at Dolomite Mountains has been providing active experiential adventures for more than 15 years, designed to help travelers uncover the true spirit of the Dolomite Mountains. The company offers hiking, biking, skiing, climbing and ferrata climbing. For more information, call 347-826-6271 or visit www.dolomitemountains.com.
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