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.
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:
- Adventure hen and stag dos
- Corporate team-building events
- School groups
- Family trips
- Groups of friends
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.
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.