Via Ferrata in the “Suisse Normande”.

This was the first time I ever did a Via Ferrata, and for sure it will not be the last.

A Via Ferrata is a climbing sport but much easier than climbing a mountain. There are bars for your hands and your feet and you are attached to a “life line” with two snap hooks that you move one after the other along the line (there are “pig tails” you have to go over in order to stop you close to you if you fall). Sometimes you can go through a beam with nothing else than you life line to hold you or wood bridges. It seems dangerous but it is pretty safe.

I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to climb all the way up. I do climbing once a week because I want to challenge myself (I am a bit afraid of heights). When I climb in a climbing gym, I often don’t go all the way up because it is too high and my arms are too weak for now. Though I went on the Via Ferrata in Clécy to prouve to myself that I could do it. I have to add that I am not a well trained sportswoman, I started running only few months ago and I only do it when I have time so it can leave weeks between two training. I used to go every week to the climbing gym but I stopped for almost five months because I couldn’t find a gym that fitted me and I started again few weeks ago to go once a week.

To get back to our main subject, Clécy is a nice little town in the Lower Normandy countryside. It is well known for all the outdoors activities it offers: you can do kayaking, canoeing, via ferrata, climbing, biking, perpendicular jump (like a bungee jump but on the side, like an old clock)… I will talk about kayaking there in another post in details.

So I went up the Via Ferrata. The start was slow because I had to get used to remove and put back the snap hooks without being afraid to fall. Then came the first bridge. I was terrified it was going to fall at each move I made on it. I decided to go – well, I had no choice – thinking that many other people went on it and nothing happened to them so it might be safe. And it was!

Just after the bridge, came the first big difficulty for me. I had only one grip for my hands and the cliff was rounded in a way that the next foot grip was out of my reach. I thought I would never have the courage to jump, held by only one hand. I can’t do that when I am at the climbing gym. But what other choices did I had? None! I knew I was well attached so I closed my eyes, breathed and jumped. As I landed on the grip, I realized that the only thing that was stopping me from moving further in climbing was myself and my fear of falling. But when I have no other choice, I do it, with fear, but I do it. I succeeded in finishing the Via Ferrata and I was proud of myself. During my climb, I was not really focused on what was around me except for the grips and the heights did not bother me that much. The view when we arrived on top was beautiful, we could see all the valley.

The climb is around one hour up and down (you go down by a little path in the woods) and it costs 15€. You can also take a pack with a zipline at the end but it costs 32€ if you take both or 22€ only the zipline. We didn’t do it because we did the climb early in the morning and the zipline is only opened during the afternoon.

I would recommend this via ferrata for beginners because it is a nice way to learn the feeling of what it is to do the via ferrata. Though the view is nice, the road just under it is hampering the wilderness feeling and it bothered me a bit I have to admit.

My boyfriend (on the pictures) has done one of the most beautiful Via Ferrata in the world: in the Saguenay, Canada. It was SIX hours long (yes SIX HOURS!) up and down. It was hard but they had the most amazing view ever. I will talk about it in a post about Saguenay.