Via ferrate La Pichona

For this first outdoor outing, direction Saint Paul de Fenouillet to browse the via ferrate of the clue de la Fou.

Saturday morning, the group of the smallest climbing “the Pichona” which grows on 150 meters on a drop of 80 m. L’après-midi, it & rsquo; is around the means to go there for a walk. Ambiance “patagonique” this Saturday when the gusts of wind sometimes come to slow us down in our progress, sometimes make us take off. The expressions “in the wind” and “downwind” make sense. Above us, griffon vultures don't do better. They get pushed around in the squalls. But what are they waiting for ? I think there is one watching us … Non trivial adventure with these conditions. Congratulations to our budding climbers ! Still memories that will remain to be engraved in the minds.

On Sunday, with the older ones, we are going on a more ambitious route. We aim “La Panoramique” which overlooks Saint Paul. Arrived on the scene, facing the limestone cliffs, a child surprises me : “We're gonna climb this mountain ?”. I remain skeptical for a moment before answering. We must have missed something, maybe forget to say that climbing is mostly done on mountains… Franco, straight from his native Italy, cradle of the via ferrate, does us the honor to accompany us. The via ferrates have no more secrets for him since he has been exploring them. More than half a century separates him from the youngest of the group. Which foreshadows many more adventures for all of us. AT 67 years, my eye is always on the right foot. Beautiful encounter. The weather conditions urge us to be careful. The Tramontana still blows. We finally opt for “the Pichona” which will be quickly swallowed. I will end up knowing it by heart this “Pichona”, almost as much as Nico. We decide to come back to Tautavel to enjoy the sun and a few more degrees to eat our picnic.. Then revisions of some climbing manipulations.

The via ferrata(from the Italian "railway line") is a route laid out in a rock wall, equipped with specific metal elements (cables, scales, ramps, etc.) intended to facilitate progression. Safety is optimal thanks to a lifeline which allows the self-belaying of the practitioners.

For the history of the activity, the first generation of Via Ferrata was born in Austria in 1843 with the installation of the first equipment on the normal route of the Hocher Daschein.

And Italy, the first “via ferrata” appeared in the Dolomites massif around 1914 and have a strategic origin. The Italian military had, indeed, equipped with huge walls of cables and ladders to facilitate the movement of their alpine troops as well as equipment (sometimes even cannons !)

Become militarily useless, these Italian roads are now operated and maintained by the municipalities (and especially by volunteers) for tourism purposes. The local Italian alpine clubs thus manage it..

Via ferrates allow you to travel in complete safety on walls that seemed accessible only to pure mountaineers.. These trails can be hiking trails, simply panoramic, accessible from 7 with 77 years, without any material, for lovers of walking and the mountains. On other routes such as Saint Paul de Fenouillet, a secure lifeline has been installed supplemented by small rungs, thus making it possible to overcome impassable walls.

In France, these sporting and fun routes appeared in the south (High mountains) towards 1989. Since, the phenomenon has grown considerably.

Prehistokids1

with Thais, Clea, Nasturtium, Baptiste, Aaron, Thomas, Julie, Aurore, Cecilia, Damien, Nico et François.