A mountain climbing couple has revealed how they can scale the most dizzying heights using a special ‘iron road’ which makes mountains safer.
A video released by the pair shows them using a Via Ferrata (Italian for iron road) to climb a Swiss peak.
The system – little known outside climbing circles – is a secured climbing route or pathway of fixed pegs, cables, and even ladders leading up a mountain slope.
It means even the trickiest peaks can be conquered in relative safety.
The couple’s video of their climb was recorded in the municipality of Leukerbad, in the district of Leuk, located in southern Switzerland, and posted recently on social media.
They are shown using fixed pegs hammered into the sheer rockface as hand and footholds.
Then they are seen scampering up a metal ladder and using a metal cable rope bridge to reach the summit with a sheer 10,000 ft drop below them.
The climbers told Zenger News: “We are Boris Bettex and Bogna Klimek, a couple living in Geneva, Switzerland.”
They added: “We are both 31 years old have been mountaineering in our free time for 3 years now.
“The video was recorded on August 21, 2021 in Leukerbad, Switzerland. The name of the climb is Via Ferrata Daubenhorn.”
Via Ferratas are dotted around mountain peaks all around the world as a way of making climbs safer.
The couple said: “It is a beautiful and accessible way to discover the world of climbing and mountaineering.
“Via Ferratas allow non-expert climbers to reach high altitudes in a safe way, using minimum equipment.”
In 2020, they created their own Instagram account celebrating the method and their climbs of more than 30 different Via Ferratas.
They said: “Via Ferrata has become more and more popular during the COVID 19 pandemic. It is a great way to enjoy the mountains.”
The Daubenhorn peak that they climbed is located above the town of Leukerbad and has the longest Via Ferrata in Switzerland.
The route is built into the mountain’s southeastern face and continues to the summit.
As examples of such routes go, it is regarded as extremely difficult.
It requires good physical fitness to complete the six-hour climb to the summit at some 2,350 meters (9,652 ft) above sea level.
