An absolute must for adrenaline junkies when staying at Chalet Le Dragon is the local Via Ferreta in La Chapelle d’Abondance.
If you have done go-ape in the UK then the concept is almost identical, except here you are on the edge of a rock face with sheer drops beneath your feet!!!
You start at the Olympic Sports shop to hire your gear for around 17 Euros. The gear consists of a safety helmet and harness – essential items for the trip!
The entry point is a 200m scramble up behind Olympic Sports. Clipping you harness to the guide wire you can start climbing up the rock face using foot and hand rungs. Every 2m or so, you simply unclip one of the safety lines and reconnect to the next section, and then follow on with the 2nd safety line. You are always secured to the guide wire by at least one safety line. You even have a 3rd safety line to use if you need a rest!
Split into 3 sections of increasing length the course is a series of corners, overhangs, ladders and traversing. Some of the more challenging sections include a wooden plank to walk across and also a long traverse where the metal rungs disappear for a short section and you really become a true rock climber using just the natural rock for grip!
The ascent starts at 1030m and rises to 1250m at the summit. Each section has a get-out route if required. Total activity time is approx. 4 hrs depending how many sections you do. Section 1 & 2 took me around 2.5hrs to go from the bottom and back.
Images from the Via Ferrata website.
Chalet Le Dragon
Le Rys
La Chapelle d’Abondance
France, 74360
See us: www.SkiBikeorHike.com
Email us: contact@SkiBikeorHike.com
Call us: 0033 (0) 4 501 72913
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