In September, Rob and I climbed the Via Ferrata in Nelson Rocks, West Virginia. Above is a photo of Rob going up the first section of the route. Most people have never heard of Via Ferrata climbing ... including experienced rock climbers. Probably because there are so few Via Ferrata routes in the United States. But in Europe Via Ferratas have existed for a century or more and to date there are over 300 routes in Europe. In the United States, there are two routes.


Nelson Rocks Via Ferrata from Susanita on Vimeo

So what is a Via Ferrata? Well, Via stands for “Very Intense Adventure” and Ferrata means “Driving Fast like a Ferrari”. Just joking! Seriously, Via Ferrata means “iron road” or “iron way”. A Via Ferrata is basically a long climbing route with permanently fixed cables for protection and steel rungs to aid in climbing.

The climber is attached at all times to a steel cable which runs along the entire route. Thus no climbing rope is needed. Steel rungs, ladders and bridges allow climbers to ascend high, vertical faces and rough mountain terrain that otherwise would only be accessible to experienced, roped climbing parties.

I have been rock climbing since 1998 and often climbed at Nelson Rocks Preserve while the Via Ferrata was being built. Since I was doing “technical” rock climbing with traditional gear and ropes the idea of doing an “assisted” climb on fixed steel rungs seemed like cheating. But the real appeal of Via Ferrata climbing is that it’s a great way to introduce your non-climbing or novice climbing friends to the thrill of high alpine climbing! So when Rob and I started climbing in the gym I thought it would be really fun to take him on the Via Ferrata so he could get a taste for real climbing. He loved it.

Thrills are one of the hallmarks of most Via Ferrata routes and the route at Nelson Rocks is no exception. One of the most exciting parts of the climb is crossing the 200 ft long, 150 ft high swinging bridge. The longest bridge of that type in the world. Definitely a thrilling day ...

~Susanita

Time flies when you’re having fun! Annette and I did the Wye Island Regatta in mid-September our beloved club OC2 ... which we’ve named “The Banana.” Our original goal was to train and do the Mayor’s Cup race around Manhattan. As it turned out it was a lofty goal and better suited for next year after we’ve done a few more of the shorter races. So we scaled back our plans and decided to do the Wye Island Regatta.



The race around Wye Island is about a 12 mile race and it's open to practically all types of human powered vessels, although the majority of the boats are racing sculls. NCA, KIOCC, and WCC all competed in OC6's and there were a few OC2's and one OC1. Annette and I looked at the competition in our class and resigned ourselves to third place (out of three) even before the race started.

My goal was to come in better than two hours. And we accomplished that goal. Our official time was 1:50:49:97. Pretty good considering that we huli’d the boat around mile 6. I had stopped paddling briefly to get a shot of power gel. When I started paddling again one of us .. probably me ... was paddling on the wrong side. A little instability and the boat was over ... right there in the calm waters around Wye Island. For the remainder of the race we were totally focused. And we ended up catching up with the OC2 which was in front of us before the huli.



Another successful race. And special thanks to Rob for taking photos before and after the race ... with his seriously large SLR camera with huge lens!

~Susanita