These New Via Ferrata Routes Are the Most Challenging in North America — and They’re in the ‘Little Switzerland of America’

If you’re not sure what a via ferrata is, you’re not alone. Even the English translation of the Italian term — “iron path” — doesn’t provide much insight. To put it simply, a via ferrata is a fixed climbing route made up of metal rungs drilled into rock. Climbers can scale sheer mountain faces — typically reserved for experts — with relative ease. The metal rungs act as stairs and handholds, and an adjacent steel cable ensures harnessed climbers are clipped in at all times. 

The whole experience is suitable for beginners and first-timers, requiring only a comfort with heights and some level of strength. And for some climbers, it might be easy — too easy. That’s why Gold Mountain Via Ferrata in Ouray, Colorado, a route that opened in 2022, just added two new challenging segments that allow climbers with more experience the chance to veer off the original route and try what is being called North America’s most challenging via ferrata segment. 

The two new segments, which will open to the public in June, add another layer of depth to the original, beginner-friendly Gold Mountain route, which scales a series of cliffs and includes a narrow 300-foot-long suspension bridge that hangs in the air.

“The intention was to give people the chance to come back and experience these harder pitches,” Logan Tyler, whose guiding company Basecamp Ouray partnered with Gold Mountain Ranch to build and design the Gold Mountain Via Ferrata, told Travel + Leisure.

According to Tyler, the first new segment is around “200 feet of overhanging climbing mixed with some rock climbing movement,” while the second segment is truly the first of its kind in the world. The new, 300-foot-long segment leads to an overhanging rock roof that you climb monkey-bar-style.

“These [new] via ferrata pitches are without a doubt the most challenging in America and could be the hardest in the world. Logan is pioneering what is possible in Via Ferrata,” said via ferrata pioneer and engineer Chris Holland in a press release shared with T+L.

The two new segments are completely optional and lead back to the original route so climbers can take whichever route they’re more comfortable with. 

“We believe this new addition not only offers a thrilling physical challenge but also serves as a conduit for personal growth, inspiring individuals and teams to transcend their limits and explore the depths of their potential,” Tyler said in the press release.

The two new segments are rated at a 5+ on the Fletcher/Smith scale, while the Gold Mountain Via Ferrata as a whole varies between 3 and 5 on the scale.

All journeys up Gold Mountain must be done with a local guide from Basecamp Ouray. The starting $200 per person rate includes all safety gear (harness, leash, helmet, gloves), shuttle service, and a professional guide.