North America’s new favorite sport?

North America’s new favorite sport?

by
This European WWI-era mountain crossing method is becoming increasingly popular in North America. But why? Author and climber Amelia Arvesen investigates.
My gloved hand grasped an iron ring, as my foot balanced on another one below. I’m sitting 100 feet in the air below a cliff edge in the Shawangunk Mountains of upstate New York. There is nothing between me and the rocky ground but a polyester sling that connects my harness to a steel cable. I don’t expect to fall—I’m a climber and I’ve finished via ferratas before—but still, my amygdala is triggering adrenaline and cortisol to pump through my body.

But I’m not alone here, I’m with six other climbers and two guides, traversing a new via ferrata course in North America. the way Opened this spring at Mohonk Mountain House A 155-year-old Victorian castle resort is surrounded by forest and involves sliding our slings on cables and winding our way around the hilltop in single file.

Whenever we reach a treacherous section—the very wobbly suspension bridge being one—we shout encouraging words and affirmations that calm all our nerves. Despite our range in hiking experience, together we make it to the end where we see storybook views of jewel-blue Mohonk Lake and the Hudson Valley beyond.

At first only a few routes existed and those routes had to be built on private land because the Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibited the installation of permanent climbing anchors on public property. The first via ferrata course in the United States emerged in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge in 2001, followed by West Virginia’s Nelson Rocks in 2002, and Colorado’s Via Telluride in 2007.

Over the past five years, two dozen new via ferratas have opened across North America, providing more opportunities for a shared outdoor experience. Many can be found at ski areas and resorts like Mohonk; Mammoth Mountain and Tahoe, California; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico; Zion, Utah; Golden, British Columbia, and Estes Park and Ore, Colorado.

One day in June By return, The campus hosted a group of students enrolled in an interdisciplinary program in ecology, botany and film studies. “It was cool to see a botany student jump on a flower, and then a film student is like, ‘How do we shoot this?’” said Matt Jensen, director of The Outdoor Experience at the university’s mountain campus.

Similarly, when a fraternity visited, bravery faded into weakness as they traversed The Cirque Route, Colorado’s longest and steepest pitch. “They came back completely humbled,” Jensen said, adding the experience Led the fraternity in an open conversation about their fears.

Research shows that group experiences such as a via ferrata or other type of outdoor adventure can influence our behavior and reshape the way we interact with others. A 2016 study by researchers at North-West University South Africa has shown that outdoor adventure education can help us develop and improve our ‘soft skills’, such as working in groups and problem solving.

Leave a Comment