“Oh God here goes,” I whispered to myself as I hooked my carabineers onto the safety cable and studied the sheer cliff that rose above me. I was beginning my Via Ferrata experience. No, not in Italy, but at the Red River Gorge in Torrent Falls, Kentucky.

I had no sense of what the next moments would be like. Risk is not my forte. Even the late afternoon shadows, hiding some of the nooks and crannies that defined the rock face, were unsettling and slowing my progress. But Nina, one of my partners, was behind me, waiting for my next move. I couldn’t turn back and crawl over her even if I wanted to. So I whispered, “What the heck,” and started.

The challenge was steep and only going one way, up! I couldn’t look down. Little by little, I felt myself rising onto a wall of sheer rock. I looked straight ahead, concentrating on the granules of sand packed together over the millennia to form my antagonist. Then, little by little, I could feel my fear going away. I started looking around.

Unlike standard rock climbing, where beginners grope for footholds and handholds, I felt growing security at each step, landing on solid rebar stakes that were drilled into the sandstone rock. Each hand movement was met with more rebar to grip onto. “It feels a lot like climbing a ladder,” I yelled to no one in particular.

Ropes, strapped onto my body harness, were attached by carabineers to safety cables, giving me an added sense of security. In no time, my legs began to feel steady, my hands less slippery. I started looking both up and down.

“Hey,” I shouted. “This is great!” I really loved the experience and am already thinking of ways to get back to Torrent Falls for another crack at the rock face and my fear.

Via Ferrata eliminates some of the risks of regular rock climbing but still offers the thrill of the adventure. The name means ‘Iron Way,’ an assisted climbing exercise with footsteps, handgrips, a safety cable and carabineer clips for maximum security.

The Via Feratta system was created by the Italian Army during World War I. The scheme enabled Italy’s army to manage tricky mountain faces as it traversed the Alps. Soldiers from entire regiments could carry their gear across rock faces that were never managed before.

Three hundred Via Feratta sites now pepper the Alps. But if there were prizes given for best kept tourism secrets in the U.S., southeastern Kentucky would be a front runner and the Torrent Falls Via Feratta Climbing Adventure would be one of its shining stars. It was a Gulf of Mexico beach, some 370 million years ago. Then time and other forces whisked away the sea and transformed the beach into the residual sandstone that it is now, offering the only assisted climbing opportunity in the United States, and only since September of 2001.

The Kentucky venue is the brainchild of Mark Mayer. He was driving down the highway one day when he came to a screeching halt. Just off the road sat a massive amphitheater of solid sandstone. He closed his eyes and scrambled his thoughts back to the Alps and his own experiences in assisted rock climbing. He could see people with helmets, harnesses and safety straps, scrambling all over the place. He saw beginners, intermediates, advanced climbers and experts enjoying the same rock face. He knew right then that his future rose off the edge of Highway 11 in Torrent Falls. In no time he and his family were drilling holes for placement of rebar steps, handgrips and safety cables.

When Mark completed his Via Feratta dream, he added something to the sport that none of the three hundred existing European sites have. It is an orientation rock for beginners. Here climbers, once fitted into a harness, protective helmet, safety ropes and gloves, get training. If trainees are lucky, they will get Nicole Mayer, Mark’s daughter, as their certified instructor. She is a petite teenager with the charm of a movie star.

Once the instruction phase is finished, adventurers clip their carabineers onto the safety cable and take off, attacking all or part of the 3,400-foot sandstone outcrop. The venture takes two to four hours. If climbers tire or just feel that they have had enough, they have several ‘escape routes’ which enable them to get back to firmer ground in a matter of minutes.

It isn’t long, maybe only a half-hour, before neophytes lose their sense of insecurity and start attempting maneuvers on intermediate and advanced faces. Here they scale cliffs, manage overhangs, and traverse a swinging bridge that they swore they would never touch when they started.

Intermediate explorers may even try the expert ‘Black Diamond’ section. It does not include rebar footsteps or handgrips, depending instead on nature’s own indentations for hand and foot holds. Experts love it.

Instant replays of the experience begin as soon as the Via Feratta adventurer returns to solid ground. Scramblers snack on ribs, porketta sandwiches, potatoes and corn, all provided by the Mayer family. Moonshine may not be on the menu but, since it seems to be a national pastime in the area, may still make it to the table.

At the end of the day, when the last climbers descend the rock face of Torrent Falls Adventure, the words, “I could have tried this or I could have done this,” echo throughout the sandstone amphitheater. I know. I expressed them myself.

Jerry Harpt's email is: jkharpt@cybrzn.com

For more information: www.torrentfalls.com

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