Via Ferrata

This week we had a meeting and a campout.  The skill session was about climbing which was appropriate since we were doing via ferrata, a type of climbing, on the campout.  Via ferrata is climbing horizontally across a rock face with the help of rebar.  We went to Torrent Falls near Red River Gorge to climb and camped at a public campground nearby.  I t was a three hour drive to the campsite.  Torrent Falls has six sections that we could climb on.  Section 1 and 2 were easy, section 3 was intermediate, section 4 and 5 were advanced, and section 6 was expert or black diamond rated.  Most of the Scouts started on section 2 because it was supposed to be the easiest.  Almost everyone climbed in the morning then we drove back to the campsite and had lunch.

 After lunch you could either go on a 5 mile hike or climb some more.  Most of the new Scouts went on the hike because they needed it for a rank advancement requirement.  Two groups went climbing: one group was planning to do sections 1-3 and the other group was planning to do sections 4-6.  Section 4-6 also included doing the bridge and the bird wire. The bird wire is like a tight wire with two wires about head high that you clipped into when crossing the bird wire, while the bridge was just a rope bridge.  The bird wire and bridge spanned two gaps in the rock face.  Four Scouts, Justin H., Justin D., Will S. and Joe S., and two adults, Avery R and Mr. Todd completed the entire course.   The weather was great and everyone had a good time.