Aosta Valley Via Ferrata Circuit

Courmayeur · Italy

Challenging7 daysEurope~£2,200 est.

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Overview

Courmayeur sits directly beneath the Italian face of Mont Blanc, and its via ferrata and protected routes put you on airy rock with the biggest wall in the Alps filling the sky. The centrepiece is the ferrata up Mont Chétif, the 2,343 m pyramid standing guard over the town: ladders and cable up steep rock to a summit ridge with the Brenva face, the Grandes Jorasses and the Val Veny glaciers arranged in front of you like a relief map. Around it a week fills easily — cabled scrambles and balcony paths above Val Ferret and Val Veny, a rest-day ride up the Skyway Monte Bianco cable car to 3,466 m, and long rifugio lunches of polenta and Fontina. Be honest about what a ferrata week demands: a proper energy-absorbing lanyard set, helmet and gloves are mandatory, and afternoon thunderstorms build fast against the massif in July and August — a cable route is the last place to meet lightning, so climb early and be down by two. June to September is the season, once the winter's cables have been re-checked. Around £2,200 covers a week of valley guesthouses, lifts and a couple of guided days; Geneva and Turin are both under two hours away.