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Is via ferrata safe? What protects you and what the risks are

· 3 min read

A man in a blue helmet, green T-shirt and orange trousers sits on a steel grate over clear turquoise water and pale stones, with the blue arm of his via ferrata set running to the cable.

A via ferrata is safe when the route is well built, the equipment is right and you use it properly at every anchor. You’re clipped to a steel cable from the first metre to the last, so a slip on the wall doesn’t send you to the bottom, though a fall can still hurt before the set stops you.

What keeps you attached

The cable runs along the whole route and is bolted to the rock every few metres. You wear a sit harness, and from it a Y-shaped via ferrata set leads to two large carabiners, both clipped to the cable. At each anchor you move them past it one at a time, so one of them is always on the steel. If you slip, the anchor below you holds the carabiner, and an energy absorber in the set tears open to soften the stop. A fall would be longest while you’re moving a carabiner past an anchor, which is why you finish clipping one before you touch the other. How the harness, the set and the absorber work is in via ferrata safety equipment explained.

The route itself is built to a standard too. Via Ferrata Piva opened in October 2024 as the first via ferrata in Montenegro built and certified to EN 16869, the European standard that sets rules for the design, inspection and maintenance of via ferratas. According to the equipment maker Edelrid, the standard requires the possible fall between two anchors to stay within 5 m.

Your guide fits your helmet, harness and gloves at the bridge, shows you how to move the carabiners and stays with the group to the end. Between anchors there is only one climber on each stretch of cable, so one person’s slip can’t knock into the next climber or pull on the same stretch.

Weather, falling stones and tiredness

Bad weather

We don’t climb when thunderstorms are likely, because you hold a steel cable on open rock for the whole climb. We move the climb to another day instead. Rain makes the rock and the iron slippery, and cold hands grip less well. You can also cancel for free up to 24 hours before your climb.

Falling stones

On the 80 m wall at Piva the group climbs one above the other, so a stone knocked loose by someone higher up could fall on the people below. That’s why everyone wears a climbing helmet for the whole loop. Keep yours on and fastened until you’re back at the bridge, and watch where you put your feet so you don’t kick anything loose.

Getting tired on the wall

The hardest part of the route comes last. After the forest path and the traverse, the final 80 m go up a vertical wall on iron rungs, with a slight overhang near the top. Your legs do most of the work, but your arms are needed too, and tired arms and legs make a slip more likely. Have a drink at the bottom of the wall. About 50 m up there’s a steel bench bolted to the rock where you can sit down with both carabiners on the cable, and you can also stop on the rungs whenever you need a rest.

Two young women in orange helmets sit on the steel rest bench bolted to the limestone wall beside its sign, clipped to the cable, with the wooded canyon side and the river far below.

Who can come

Climbers on Via Ferrata Piva need to be 12 to 60 years old and weigh no more than 120 kg. The weight limit comes from the equipment, because via ferrata sets made to EN 958, the European standard for them, are tested for climbers between 40 and 120 kg, with the 120 kg including your harness, helmet and anything you carry. The booking form asks for each climber’s height and weight, so your guide can bring the right harness sizes. You need moderate fitness and no climbing experience, and no alcohol before or during the climb.

Two young climbers in blue helmets climb iron rungs on the wall above a climber in an orange helmet, with the green river and the grey canyon side far below.

If you’re coming with children, Via Ferrata Piva with kids goes through what they find hard on the wall.

If you’ve never seen a via ferrata, what is a via ferrata? explains how they work, and the complete guide to Via Ferrata Piva goes through the route from the bridge to the top of the wall.