Ferrate
Nearby ferrate
| Car time [min] | Area | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 45 | Mottarone | The Mottarone offers the nearest vie ferrate to Ispra. Starting from Baveno, the Picasass and La Miccia routes lead up to Monte Camoscio, rewarding climbers with stunning views over Lake Maggiore. |
| 50 | Mergozzo | Ferrata de Montorfano. |
| 90 | Lecco area | Lecco is the nearby area with the highest concentration of vie ferrate. The most famous ones are in the Resegone (Centenario, Gamma 1, Gamma 2, Silvano de Franco). Other notable ferrata areas include the Campelli Group (Minonzio allo Zucco Campelli, Zucco Pesciola) and Valmadrera (Canalone Belasa, Corno Rat). The Grignetta also offers several sentieri attrezzati, such as the well-known Direttissima, which can be tackled using a ferrata kit. |
| 90 | Biellese Alps | The Biellese Alps offer accessible ferrate in valleys such as Val Cervo (Ferrata della Balma e ferrata di Rosazza) and Valle Elvo (Ferrata dell'Infernone). The Ferrata Ciao Miki (Monte Mars) and the Ferrata del Limbo (Mucrone) are more demanding routes for those looking for vie ferrate in an alpine environment. |
Planning platforms
| Platform | Description |
|---|---|
| Ferrate 365 | Website offering detailed descriptions of most via ferrate in Italy, including difficulty ratings, approach information, estimated times, maps, and videos. Routes can be filtered by region and difficulty |
| Gulliver | Italy’s largest collaborative platform for outdoor sports. While not specifically dedicated to vie ferrate, it offers valuable information on approach routes and up-to-date user comments on route conditions. |
| montagnabiellese | Website developed by Gianni Lanza and Dafne Munnareto offering a detailed description of the vie fierrate in the Biellese Mountains. |
Difficulty scale
The CAI classifies the vie ferrate as hiking routes of grade EEA (Escursionisti Esperti con Attrezazatura). However, there is no internationally standardized scale for assessing the difficulty of ferrata routes. In Italy, the grading system can vary depending on the region or the website describing the route. The main grading systems are:
- Italian and French system – based on the alpinism scale (F to ED)
- German system – the Husler scale (K1 to K6)
- Austrian system – designed by Kurt Schall (A to E)
A detailed comparison of these four systems can be found in this article.