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Via ferrata is available to book online, either as an open session (which includes a mixed group) or as a private session with your own instructor. We have made a few changes to all our activities and how we operate to keep our instructors and guests safe during these times – please get in touch with our team if you have any questions.

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Visitor traversing the Via Ferrata wires above How Stean Gorge.

Via Ferrata in Yorkshire

Challenge yourself on our high-wire climbing trail, set into the rocks to allow you to ascend the gorge’s cliffs.

The only via ferrata in Yorkshire and one of only three via ferrata in the UK, our incredible aerial course of cables, ladders and beams crosses through How Stean Gorge’s stunning limestone gorge and passes right underneath our glass-floored cafe! We follow it up with a spectacular abseil that takes you right back onto the via ferrata, where you’ll be swinging over the fast-flowing water of the gorge as you do the course in reverse.

Multi-Experience Days

Our via ferrata is also offered as a key part of our multi-experience days. Our full How Stean Experience includes via ferrata as well as an abseil into the water and a gorge walk that gets you to see sections of the gorge not even visible from the tourist paths!

If you’re ready to push yourself and get your adrenalin pumping, why not try The Big 5? You’ll start the day on our via ferrata climbing course and follow it up with abseiling, gorge walking, caving and canoeing.

 

What to Expect

Expect to be thrilled as you scale the gorge’s steep walls, with water thundering underneath you! But what does a Yorkshire via ferrata experience actually involve?

What’s included?

  • All safety equipment
  • A friendly, highly qualified via ferrata instructor
  • Briefing
  • Practice session
  • Completion of the via ferrata course
  • Free hanging abseil

Who can do via ferrata in the UK?

Anyone who is over the age of seven and meets the minimum height requirement of 1.4 metres (or 4’6″) is welcome to participate – we have to ensure that all participants will be able to reach all parts of the course! Our Yorkshire-based via ferrata is always a popular choice for:

Via ferrata climbing is also available as a residential or school day trip activity. Please see our educational package details for more information.

Read our detailed guide on everything you need to know about via ferrata to learn about the sport’s origins, what it involves, how you stay safe and more.

Via Ferrata

Why choose How Stean Gorge?

How Stean Gorge is a spectacular limestone ravine that continues to be carved out by water flow and is the perfect location for outdoor activities like via ferrata, gorge walking, caving, rock climbing, canyoning and abseiling. It is geographically unique, as it’s one of the only places in the UK where you can comfortably enjoy both rock sports and canoeing – in a single day. It is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Nidderdale and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – why choose anywhere else?

When doing via ferrata with us, you will be safely guided by our professional, experienced instructors, who use How Stean Gorge for activities daily and are very familiar with the activities and area.

 

Personal Development

There are several personal development benefits to gain from via ferrata in Yorkshire, particularly if you’re trying it as part of a school trip or team-building activity.

  • Improve your communication- listening and being receptive to instructions are extra important at a height!
  • Put your faith in others– it takes a lot to trust that you’re harnessed securely while moving across a high rope course, which is great for team working skills.
  • Become more confident– moving between ropes at a height and abseiling are effective ways to develop self-belief and confidence to try new and scary things, overcome fears and build resilience.
  • Look back and reflect– evaluating your own and others’ experiences will help you spot your strengths and weaknesses to build on next time!

 

Booking last minute?

If you cannot see any available space on our bookings calendar, please contact our team on 01423 755666. Online bookings close seven days before the activity, but we can normally still fit you in.

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  • Itinerary
  • Video
  • Gallery
  • FAQs
  • Medical Consent
  • Kit List

Yorkshire Via Ferrata Itinerary

Our sessions start at 09.30 am and 1.30pm daily. Please arrive approximately 30 minutes before your start time with completed electronic medical forms (these will be sent alongside your booking confirmation).

We’ll start the experience with a safety briefing, and then we’ll get kitted out with a climbing safety harness and helmet.

Next, we’ll take you out on the practice course, where you’ll learn the necessary skills to keep you safe, including the buddy system, which will enable you to work effectively with your fellow adventurers.

When you’re ready, we’ll move on to the real thing, and your newfound skills will be put to the test!

First, we cross the beam over the gushing water below. Next, we traverse the gorge walls using a network of metal cables, and we’ll finish off with a number of aerial cables spanning the gorge. There are three different styles of cables.

  1. The Postman’s Walk has one top cable and one cable to walk on.
  2. The Burma Bridge has two cables for your hands and one foot cable.
  3. The Tyrolean Traverse is a top cable with a pulley, like a horizontal zip wire.

Once you’ve cracked the via ferrata we can up the challenge with an abseil from the bridge. This takes you back onto the high wire course – which we can now reverse!

Via Ferrata FAQs

  • Do I need any experience?

While you will need a basic fitness level to complete our via ferrata climbing course, you don’t need to have done it before. However, if you would like to learn the basics to be more confident at via ferrata and even complete a basic via ferrata by yourself, consider our Learn to Via Ferrata course – it is a full-day experience and includes everything from the equipment you need and how to use it to different key techniques, hazards, how to plan a route and what to do if things go wrong.

  • How much does it cost?

Our open sessions cost £65 per person.

  • Can I take the whole family?

Of course! Anybody aged seven or over can take part, with a lower height limit of 1.4 metres or 4’6″. Those who don’t wish to participate can watch from the bridge, explore the gorge and caves tourist attraction or enjoy relaxed refreshments in our onsite café.

  • What is the minimum number of people I can book?

All groups and individuals are welcome to tackle the via ferrata climbing course. There’s no minimum number to book, but booking in advance is important. If you want to book within seven days of the activity’s date, you will need to contact our team as the online booking system will not accept bookings later than that.

  • Where do we meet?

At How Stean Gorge – you’ll meet the instructors in our reception area. If you’re driving in, the postcode is HG3 5SY.

Please complete your consent form before arrival by clicking the ‘View Required Documents’ tab on your booking invoice; this will allow you to complete the forms online.

Completing before hand will mean we can get straight out on activities without delay.

If you are organising a group booking, you can send a consent form directly to all participants via email or by copying your unique link by clicking the ‘share’ tab. The group organiser can share this link on any social media platform Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Viber etc

For a young person (under the age of 18), this needs to be completed by a parent or guardian.

What do I need to bring?

We recommend you wear comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and trainers. You will be brushing the gorge walls during the activity so get ready to get dirty. Please bring along a waterproof coat and trousers just in case of rain. You can use our hot showers and changing area afterwards so don’t forget a towel. We supply all safety equipment.

A definite tick off my bucket list! He (the instructor) was great fun and a credit to the company. After completing the incredible Via Ferrata, we immediately went into the abseil from the bridge followed by the gorge walk. Both were fantastic experiences I'll never forget. I cannot recommend How Stean enough. Lea Hudson

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