The sun was out and so were we. At the crack of 8am-ish we headed off to find the Via Ferrata Che Guevara, a monster klettersteig north-west of Lago di Cavedine. It was about 1400 vertical metres of climbing with something like 1000 vertical metres of Via Ferrata. The route started near a quarry in the town Pietramurata and proved more difficult than we expected at the beginning. We were worried it might turn into something nasty later on. As we rounded a corner Frauke spied what looked like a rope running up through sheer cliffs. Oh no, we were not sure what to do but as we approached we discovered it was a power cable. Thankfully the hardest sections were at the beginning and it wasn’t long until we were romping up the cliffs.
Above left: Taping of fingers. The combination of steel wire and sweaty hands caused by the intense heat lead to blisters. We stopped a couple of times along the way to tape our fingers. Above middle: Frauke surveys the route-to-come. Above right: Chris and Frauke tackle the next section.
It really was a sweat-fest and we were guzzling water at a rapid rate. We were happy once we finished the last section and reached the top. It was a little strange. We expected a rough rocky summit with perhaps an Italian flag but instead we came out of the trees onto a vast manicured lawn. At one edge there was someone doing yoga and another relaxing on a rug. Bizarre. We descended by another route and rode back to Torbole. Another good day out.
Above left: Cris reaches for a ladder half-way up the climb. Above middle: The gang. Above right: We made sure we climbed to the highest point on the mountain.
