Via Ferrata - History and Significance
Before moving on to the main topic of this post, first I would like to introduce a climbing discipline, which is highly popular in Alps (especially here in Austria), and is especially interesting for me because of its history. It is also related to the hike that I am going to write about.
This type of climbing called Via Ferrata ("Klettersteig" in German-speaking countries) takes use of fixed steel holds and ropes on the route. One does not need extra climbing shoes in order to climb a Via Ferrata. Most of the modern mountaineering boots are also designed for Via Ferratas. Of course extra safety equipment is also required. The complete gear necessary for Via Ferrata are: helmet, gloves, suitable shoes, climbing harness, and a special "Via Ferrata set" used to connect the harness to the steel rope on the route, with two carabiners.
As far as I read, the history of Via Ferrata can be grouped into four different time frames:
(1) in the previous centuries there were already these kinds of ladders or fixtures (without any safety measures) between the huts on the mountains and the villages. These ways were mainly used for transporting the agricultural goods.
(2) In the year 1843, the first Via Ferrata was built on a route to Dachstein, the highest peak of the Styria in Austria. After that many other such fixtures were made on the mountains in Austria and Germany (Großglockner, Zugspitze, etc).
(3) The first modern Via Ferrata fixtures were made during first world war. In the war between Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy each summit in South-Tyrol mattered. Therefore in order to transfer the soldiers to protect the summits it was necessary to build these kinds of fixed ways on the mountains.
(4) The final phase of the Via Ferrata evolution starts around 1980's, when this climbing discipline becomes extremely popular in the Alps. Now the aim of the evolution is neither economy, nor war. This time in order to satisfy the tourists who strive for adventure, more extreme routes were built, with simple suspension bridges etc.
The difficulty of the Via Ferratas are graded from A to G. However it should be mentioned that there is only two F routes in Alps. And up to now there is no G-route in Alps, only one route in Gran Canaria island of Spain, which was opened first in 2012.
One of the most famous and historical Via Ferratas is at the border of Austria and Italy; "Cellonstollen". It is mainly an underground route, made during mountain wars in years 195-1917 by soldiers of Austro-Hungarian Empire, to fight back against the Italian soldiers who occupied the summit "Cellon". Because of elevation advantage of Italian soldiers it was not possible to directly climb the mountain.
This tunnel is now reconstructed and is used as a climbing route.
By the way, there are structures remained on the mountains of Italy and Austria from First Wold War, which are definitely worth visiting. They are on my list too!
The history of monutain wars during First World War is getting more interesting as I read stuff online. So maybe I will do more research about it and write a post here later. Let's go on to the main topic of this post.
Hiking to TAC-Spitze & Vordernberger Griesmauer
Location
The peaks "TAC-Spitze" (2019 m) and "Vordernberger Griesmauer" (2034 m) are two peaks located at the southwest of Hochschwab mountains. TAC-Spitze is named after the first group which did the ascent of this peak, Techniker-Alpinclub. Normally the two peaks can be climbed in one hike.
Hochschwab mountains are a part of Northern Limestone Alps (can be seen in Figure below with shown with blue color).
The official, marked route to these peaks start from Präbichl, a famous Ski resort. From Leoben (where I live) it takes 23 km to get there. A 20-min-drive with car, or a very exhausting ride with bike (because of 700 m elevation gain). Once I rode there with bike, and it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Hike
We started to hike from Präbichl at 8 am (20.06.2019). It was hot and sunny, with very slight clouds (the clouds were expected to increase during the day). We were 5 people: Jakob, Jonas, Matthias, Stefan and me.
The road is a very nice hiking way until Leobner hut. From there it goes on to Hirscheggsattel: a saddle on which if you turn left the route goes to Polster peak, and if you turn right the way goes on to TAC-Spitze and Griesmauer.
At the Hirscheggsattel, we could already see the beautiful rocky formations that were ahead of us. In my first visit of these areas, where I was running to the Polster peak, unfortunately it was foggy and the view was not this fantastic.
After some more hiking, we entered a rocky route. At some points on the route there was still snow. But was not so much to cause problems.
Via Ferrata
Following the marked route finally we reached the point where we had to follow a short Via Ferrata climb to reach the TAC-Spitze. The official name of the route is "Hubert-Wieser-Klettersteig". It is graded as A/B (easy).
It was going to be my first Via Ferrata, so I was not completely sure what is awaiting me. This means that I could not wait to get to route!
In the video below you may watch the complete climb, and see how slow I was!
I knew that for the hands it is better to have gloves on, however since the route was not too long, I didn't actually need them.
At the peak there was already many people, resting or having a "Jause" (a small cold meal, normally with bread and any kind of sausage). We decided not to waste too much time there. So after signing the summit book, and taking some photos, we started to descend.
Second Peak
After descending from TAC-Spitze, on the way back one can also climb Vordernberger Griesmauer (which can also be seen on the map above). It is possible to climb this peak by hiking, and for the people who love to have a selfie with a summit cross it is a good idea to be there, since there is no cross at the TAC-Spitze.
Two of us from the group decided to go on and hike to Vordernberger Griesmauer, while the rest preferred to continue to descend.
Descent
On the way back we joined the group. We stopped to have a "Jause" at the Leobnerhütte. It was really crowded.
We followed the same route back, and finished the hike.
The prize of this hiking was a nice steak at Präbichlerhof.
 |
| (https://www.mayrhofen.at/sommer/klettern-klettersteigen/) |
This type of climbing called Via Ferrata ("Klettersteig" in German-speaking countries) takes use of fixed steel holds and ropes on the route. One does not need extra climbing shoes in order to climb a Via Ferrata. Most of the modern mountaineering boots are also designed for Via Ferratas. Of course extra safety equipment is also required. The complete gear necessary for Via Ferrata are: helmet, gloves, suitable shoes, climbing harness, and a special "Via Ferrata set" used to connect the harness to the steel rope on the route, with two carabiners.
As far as I read, the history of Via Ferrata can be grouped into four different time frames:
(1) in the previous centuries there were already these kinds of ladders or fixtures (without any safety measures) between the huts on the mountains and the villages. These ways were mainly used for transporting the agricultural goods.
(2) In the year 1843, the first Via Ferrata was built on a route to Dachstein, the highest peak of the Styria in Austria. After that many other such fixtures were made on the mountains in Austria and Germany (Großglockner, Zugspitze, etc).
(3) The first modern Via Ferrata fixtures were made during first world war. In the war between Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy each summit in South-Tyrol mattered. Therefore in order to transfer the soldiers to protect the summits it was necessary to build these kinds of fixed ways on the mountains.
 |
| Soldiers in Dolomites. (http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/the-history-of-the-klettersteig-via-ferrata/) |
(4) The final phase of the Via Ferrata evolution starts around 1980's, when this climbing discipline becomes extremely popular in the Alps. Now the aim of the evolution is neither economy, nor war. This time in order to satisfy the tourists who strive for adventure, more extreme routes were built, with simple suspension bridges etc.
 |
| (https://www.catersnews.com/stories/amazing/huge-ladder-strung-between-two-mountains-looks-like-the-real-stairway-to-heaven/) |
The difficulty of the Via Ferratas are graded from A to G. However it should be mentioned that there is only two F routes in Alps. And up to now there is no G-route in Alps, only one route in Gran Canaria island of Spain, which was opened first in 2012.
One of the most famous and historical Via Ferratas is at the border of Austria and Italy; "Cellonstollen". It is mainly an underground route, made during mountain wars in years 195-1917 by soldiers of Austro-Hungarian Empire, to fight back against the Italian soldiers who occupied the summit "Cellon". Because of elevation advantage of Italian soldiers it was not possible to directly climb the mountain.
This tunnel is now reconstructed and is used as a climbing route.
By the way, there are structures remained on the mountains of Italy and Austria from First Wold War, which are definitely worth visiting. They are on my list too!
 |
| Italian soldiers during First World War (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/most-treacherous-battle-world-war-i-italian-mountains-180959076/) |
The history of monutain wars during First World War is getting more interesting as I read stuff online. So maybe I will do more research about it and write a post here later. Let's go on to the main topic of this post.
Hiking to TAC-Spitze & Vordernberger Griesmauer
Location
The peaks "TAC-Spitze" (2019 m) and "Vordernberger Griesmauer" (2034 m) are two peaks located at the southwest of Hochschwab mountains. TAC-Spitze is named after the first group which did the ascent of this peak, Techniker-Alpinclub. Normally the two peaks can be climbed in one hike.
Hochschwab mountains are a part of Northern Limestone Alps (can be seen in Figure below with shown with blue color).
 |
| Northern Limestone Alps are shown with blue. Hochschwab mountains are marked with number 18. |
The official, marked route to these peaks start from Präbichl, a famous Ski resort. From Leoben (where I live) it takes 23 km to get there. A 20-min-drive with car, or a very exhausting ride with bike (because of 700 m elevation gain). Once I rode there with bike, and it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Hike
We started to hike from Präbichl at 8 am (20.06.2019). It was hot and sunny, with very slight clouds (the clouds were expected to increase during the day). We were 5 people: Jakob, Jonas, Matthias, Stefan and me.
The road is a very nice hiking way until Leobner hut. From there it goes on to Hirscheggsattel: a saddle on which if you turn left the route goes to Polster peak, and if you turn right the way goes on to TAC-Spitze and Griesmauer.
At the Hirscheggsattel, we could already see the beautiful rocky formations that were ahead of us. In my first visit of these areas, where I was running to the Polster peak, unfortunately it was foggy and the view was not this fantastic.
 |
| At Hirscheggsattel |
After some more hiking, we entered a rocky route. At some points on the route there was still snow. But was not so much to cause problems.
Via Ferrata
Following the marked route finally we reached the point where we had to follow a short Via Ferrata climb to reach the TAC-Spitze. The official name of the route is "Hubert-Wieser-Klettersteig". It is graded as A/B (easy).
It was going to be my first Via Ferrata, so I was not completely sure what is awaiting me. This means that I could not wait to get to route!
In the video below you may watch the complete climb, and see how slow I was!
At the peak there was already many people, resting or having a "Jause" (a small cold meal, normally with bread and any kind of sausage). We decided not to waste too much time there. So after signing the summit book, and taking some photos, we started to descend.
 |
| On TAC-Spitze (from Matthias' phone) |
Second Peak
After descending from TAC-Spitze, on the way back one can also climb Vordernberger Griesmauer (which can also be seen on the map above). It is possible to climb this peak by hiking, and for the people who love to have a selfie with a summit cross it is a good idea to be there, since there is no cross at the TAC-Spitze.
Two of us from the group decided to go on and hike to Vordernberger Griesmauer, while the rest preferred to continue to descend.
 |
| View of TAC-Spitze from Griesmauer |
 |
| View of Polster and far behind Eisenerzer Reichenstein from Griesmauer |
 |
| View of Hochturm from Griesmauer |
On the way back we joined the group. We stopped to have a "Jause" at the Leobnerhütte. It was really crowded.
We followed the same route back, and finished the hike.
The prize of this hiking was a nice steak at Präbichlerhof.
My backpack: one sandwich, 2 litres of water, 2 protein bars, buff, hat, raincoat, gloves, polar, important first aid equipment.
I didn't have my poles with me, as it was not necessary for the most of the hike, although it would be helpful from Hirscheggsattel up to the start of the Via Ferrata.
I tried for the first time my Salomon trekking socks, and they were OK.
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