Via Ferrata Piva photos: the route stop by stop

All the photos in this post were taken on Via Ferrata Piva, and they follow the route in the order you climb it. The loop starts at the road bridge over the Piva, 20 km past Plužine, drops through the forest to the river, follows the canyon wall back downstream a few metres above the water and finishes up an 80 m limestone wall beside the bridge. It takes one to two hours and is graded B/C.

The river at the bottom

From the bridge a cabled path runs along the slope and then drops steeply through the trees to the river. At the bottom are the Kaluđer springs and the Ljetnjikovac, a wooden shelter with tables and benches, where you can drink from the spring before the traverse.

Seven climbers in purple, white and blue helmets stand together on a large pale boulder at the edge of a clear turquoise pool, with forested limestone walls behind them.

The traverse

From the shelter the cable leads back downstream along the foot of the east wall. You walk sideways on iron pegs and staples, one person to each stretch of cable between two anchors, so the group spreads out along the rock.

A line of climbers in blue, yellow and white helmets clipped to the cable along a mossy rock wall above a clear turquoise river, with the forested canyon stretching away ahead.

The staples are bent steel bars glued into the rock, and on the traverse they’re your steps and handholds.

Bent steel staples set into a mossy rock face beside a shallow, clear pool with pale stones on the bottom.

A man in a blue helmet, green top and red trousers, with a blue backpack, holds the cable as he steps along the wall above a clear turquoise pool.

The grates

In a few places steel grates stick out from the wall over the pools. They’re big enough to stand or sit on.

A woman in a purple helmet and pink T-shirt sits on a steel grate with her feet over the shallow river, while a man in a white helmet and yellow top stands on the rock behind her, holding up a phone.

Ladders

Short ladders link the steps of rock along the traverse.

Looking down a short iron ladder at a man in a grey helmet and black T-shirt with his arms spread wide, above a clear blue pool with dark boulders on the bottom.

The wall

The traverse ends near the bridge at the foot of a pale limestone wall, and the cable turns straight up. From here it’s about 80 m to the top on iron rungs. Your legs do most of the work, but the wall needs some arm strength as well.

About 50 m up there’s a steel bench bolted to the rock, where you can sit down and rest.

A climber in a yellow helmet and black top steps up iron rungs on pale rock, with the turquoise river far below running down a deep green canyon between grey cliffs.

Near the top the rock leans out a little for a few moves, and the bridge is right above you. You come over the top beside it, a few steps from where you clipped in.

Looking up from below at a climber in grey leggings and white trainers on iron rungs beside the steel cable, with the concrete bridge overhead against a deep blue sky.

Your own photos

Your guide takes photos during the climb, and they’re included in the price, so you don’t need to carry a camera on the rock. After the climb we send you a link where you can download them. If you do bring your phone, keep it in a zipped pocket or on a lanyard, because anything you drop on the traverse ends up in the river. What else to bring and what to leave in the car is in what to wear for a via ferrata.

The route is described stop by stop, with prices and who can climb, in the complete guide.