Monday, October 19, 2009

Mount Kinabalu - 'via ferrata'

Loads of people heard about Mount Kinabalu, few knows that it's the world's highest 'via ferrata'.
Ask any person you happen to come across, ask them what is 'via ferrata'..you probably will receive a 'sorry, no idea' response but ask a mountaineer or rock climber and you will be suprised of how passionate their reply would be.

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'Via Ferrata", means 'iron road' in Italian. Its a mountain path consisting of series of steel rungs, cables and rails, embedded into the slope of a mountain. This path provides an opportunity for the average hiker who lacks experience in climbing mountain using specialised equipment.

The first via ferrate was constructed and used by Italian soldiers to move troops and equipment scrodd the Italian Dolomites, into Austria.

Via ferratas can be found in countries like Italy, Germany, England, France, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Poland and also Malaysia.

Mount Kinabalu in Sabah has the first and only via ferrata in Asia. It was opened in December, by Mountain Torq Sdn Bhd, a Kota Kinabalu based entity that promotes adventure and mountaineering activities in Asia. Located at Mount Kinabalu's Panar Laban, it is also the highest in the world. It begins at 3,411 metres and ends at 3,776 metres above sea level.

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