An Extreme Activity for Not-So-Extreme People

Traversing a cliff face hundreds of feet in the air is not how I expected my Wednesday to look. However, when you get a last-minute offer to try out a brand-new, beginner-friendly climbing route in a town that’s nicknamed the “Little Switzerland of America”, you go. I even convinced my 70-year-old dad to join me.

What is Via Ferrata?

We were on the new Gold Mountain Via Ferrata, which is Ouray, Colorado’s second and newest via ferrata. A via ferrata (Italian for “iron path”) is a fixed climbing route made up of metal rungs that provide the handholds and footholds to get you up sheer mountain faces with relative ease. Started in Europe, via ferratas are now prevalent in many U.S. mountain towns, allowing beginners with no climbing knowledge to access rugged rock faces typically only scaled by experienced climbers.

About Gold Mountain Via Ferrata

This route looks terrifying but is practically foolproof. All you need is a little courage. The Gold Mountain Via Ferrata is particularly special because it scales one of the town’s most iconic and historical mountains: Gold Mountain, named for the gold found within it during the town’s mining heyday. The route dips in and out of mining sites and even passes through a mining tunnel that cuts through the mountain, as you climb almost 1,000 feet in elevation. The cherry on top is the 4-inch wide, 250-foot-long suspension bridge that hovers 200 feet above the cliffs below.

Experience and Guidance

The adrenaline rush is real. According to Logan Tyler, our guide and the owner of local guiding company Basecamp Ouray, “It takes the willingness to put yourself into the unknown, and it takes a desire to want to see what you’re capable of. It does not require a vast amount of physical fitness or climbing experience, which is what’s cool about a via ferrata. It’s inclusive that way.”

The Gold Mountain Via Ferrata allows non-extreme individuals to safely engage in extreme activities. A guide is with you every step of the way, and you’re always connected to a steel cable that runs along the route. Moreover, because this particular via ferrata is on private land, you don’t have to worry about other climbers interrupting the experience. Therefore, you have the time to take in your surroundings, which are absolutely breathtaking, have a snack, and feel all the emotions.

The journey starts with an intention: what are you looking to get out of this? It ends at a bar overlooking the town and surrounding 13,000- and 14,000-foot peaks. This experience is not only rewarding but also surprisingly accessible to anyone with a bit of courage and a reasonable level of fitness.

“We want to bring that adventurous spirit out in somebody, and through establishing trust and allowing them to be vulnerable, our hope is that people can have this experience that really is life-changing,” Tyler emphasized. “We want to develop something that is an inner journey as much as it is an outer journey. The course itself is the classroom.”

Conclusion

The journey is exclusively available through Basecamp Ouray. The $178 per person rate includes all safety gear (harness, leash, helmet, gloves) and a local professional guide who will lead you and a small group up one of the most stunning via ferrata routes in the country.