Long popular in Europe, via ferratas are catching on—and fast—in North America. Italian for “iron way,” a via ferrata is a protected climbing route with fixed steel cables, metal rungs, and ladders.

A woman in Colorado died while guiding customers on a privately owned via ferrata route on September 20 near the town of Idaho Springs. The Idaho Springs Police Department reported that 26-year-old ...

A26-year-old guide with Arkansas Valley Adventures Rafting and Zipline died last month while guiding a group on the company’s Mount Blue Sky Via Ferrata in Idaho Springs. The Idaho Springs Police ...

Iron rungs cling to the nearly vertical vermillion cliffs outside Zion National Park in Utah. Strapped into harnesses and helmets, climbers make their slow ascent of the meandering route that ...

Once reserved for mountain towns, iron-rung climbing courses called via ferratas are showing up in places like Columbus, Ohio. Here’s where else to try one. These climbing routes can be found ...

The activity traces its roots back to World War I, when Italian troops needed a way to cross the rocky Dolomite Mountains. They affixed a series of rungs, ladders and cables to the rock to assist in ...