The School of Rocks

	David Bear, Daniel Nagin and Gatan Waddell at the overlook above the via ferrata and Nelson Rocks.

Since I'm not a rock climber or someone particularly given to high acrobatics, overcoming my rising sense of panic required some effort. But I took a deep breath, put my trust in the steel cable to which I was tethered and moved on along the edge of the precipice, feeling with my foot for the next rung on this half-mile-long course.

Welcome to the via ferrata.

Italian for "iron road," a via ferrata is essentially a fixed rock-climbing route defined by cables attached to a cliff face every few feet to provide protection from serious falls. Climbers wearing a harness around their waists and legs attach themselves to the cable with two carabiners, or climbing clips, allowing them to slide along the route with a relative degree of safety. U-shaped rungs drilled into the stone ease the difficulty of the climbing on steep stretches of the route.

Although the via ferrata concept has been around for more than a century in Europe, particularly in Italy's Dolomite Alps, they are new to North America. Built in 2002, the Nelson Rocks via ferrata is only the second in the nation, the first being in Torrent Falls, Ky.

This route over the rocks is the creation of Stuart Hammett, a former Washington-area lawyer and committed rock climber. Back in the mid-1980s, he was drawn to the Seneca Rocks area of east-central West Virginia, which has been famous for decades as one of the East's premier rock-climbing sites. Through the climbing community, he learned about Nelson Rocks, an anticlinal formation, twin vertical fins of hard Tuscarora sandstone that jut hundreds of feet from a gap in the same slumping mountain ridge in the North Fork Valley.

Separated by a deep corridor 200 feet wide, the Nelson Rocks fins offered hundreds of challenging routes for experienced rock climbers. But unlike Seneca Rocks, a national park, Nelson Rocks was on private property, and it remained a relative secret among the climbing community. In 1997, when the 142 acres that included the rocks came on the market, Mr. Hammett snapped them up.

"The locals say I paid too much for some steep real estate," he said, "but I saw it as an unbelievable opportunity."

He established Nelson Rocks Preserve as a private recreation area for serious rock climbers. Two years later, Mr. Hammett heard about the Kentucky via ferrata, drove down to have a look and realized the possibilities of opening the sport to more people.

"It was a new concept that offered beginners a sense of where rock-climbing can take them," he said.

On the ride back north, he laid out the climbing route in his mind. Actual execution of the idea took considerably longer.

With a collection of local climbers working as laborers, he started building the route in March 2002 and completed it four months later.

It's definitely a high-quality version. Rather than galvanized steel components, Mr. Hammett decided to use stainless steel throughout because it would last longer and not discolor the rock. Completing the route required nearly a mile of cable, hundreds of bolts and 185 rungs fashioned from 3/4-inch stainless steel rod. Holes were drilled in the cliff face, and the rungs glued into the rock, each able to support 9,000 pounds. Ripples were welded across the top of the rungs to provide better traction.

My friend Daniel Nagin and I had driven from Pittsburgh the previous evening, an easy three-hour journey south on Interstate 79 and east on US 33 through Buckhannon and Elkins to Seneca Rocks, where we stayed in the rustic Yokums Motel. An experienced rock climber, Daniel had been more than a little skeptical of the notion of a tethered climb, calling it an ersatz experience. But his curiosity got the better of him.

We were both a little skeptical about our prospects when we rose that morning. It had been raining off and on for the better part of the week, and the dark clouds and heavy mist hanging over the North Fork Valley didn't look promising. As a steady sprinkle driven by a stiff, cold wind began upon our arrival, I wondered whether this was a good day for my first rock-climbing experience.

No problem, Mr. Hammett assured us after he arrived, giving us our brief orientation to the via ferrata, its gear and climbing techniques, as well as how Nelson Rocks Preserve came to be. That opinion was soon seconded by Gatan Waddell, a 22-year-old who calls Ambridge home even though he's spent several years working and rock climbing in this part of West Virginia. A so-called "lifeguard" on the via ferrata, he would show us the route's ropes, or cables as it were. I couldn't help noticing that in contrast to my hiking boots, he was wearing a pair of sports sandals.

The via ferrata begins near the base of the left fin and climbs a rung ladder straight up the rock wall for 80 feet to the notch at the top where I experienced my first alarm. Following my climbing partners up, I soon got the knack of reclipping my pair of carabiners along the cable section, but I was glad I was wearing a pair of half-fingered gloves.

From the top notch, the route leads along the fin's upper inside ledge for maybe 100 yards and up through a narrow gap to a point where a 200-foot-long, 150-foot-high cable bridge has been strung between the two fins. There's an escape route for people who reach this point and decide they don't want to cross the bridge. I admit that walking across the swaying, open-slatted span would have been far more terrifying had I not been tethered to the overhead cable. I even had the peace of mind to appreciate the view of the tree tops far below my feet as well as the fact that it was no longer raining.

Once on the right fin, we continued climbing to its upper edge and over the top, where the whole vista of Germany Valley spread out below us. Climbing steadily, we reached another vertical rock face known as the headwall. A pair of side-by-side rung routes lead straight up for more than 100 feet. One side is the up route, the other the down.

This is clearly the via ferrata's high point and its most exposed section. Because the wall tilted back slightly over the vertical, I had to hold myself close to the rock and make sure I kept breathing. It took only a few minutes to reach the top, although it seemed much longer. I felt a sense of accomplishment as we caught our breath on the top ledge and contemplated the view as the sun broke through the clouds.

After that, swinging my feet over the edge of the precipice and climbing back down didn't seem nearly as difficult, although my arms were starting to ache as I reached the bottom of the headwall. From there, it was a relative cakewalk along the fin's ledge to the via's upper terminus and then down the circuitous side trail to the parking lot far below.

Completing the via ferrata circuit had taken us about three hours. My only injuries were some skinned knuckles and several leg bruises caused when I must have dragged myself over rocky obstacles. But the experience had certainly lived up to its thrilling billing. Even Daniel the skeptic was willing to admit he'd enjoyed the climb.

We'd both go back again, especially on a sunnier day.

The Nelson Rocks Preserve via ferrata is suitable for anyone fit enough to handle rugged trail hiking. It's open to children as young as 10, although anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. While there are plenty of potential dangers in addition to falling -- rockfalls, lightning, even snakes -- there's been only one significant injury among the approximately 5,000 people who have climbed the via ferrata in the four seasons since it opened.

Nelson Rocks Preserve is located on West Virginia Route 28, a quarter mile south of Judy Gap and the village of Riverton, 12 miles from Seneca Rocks. It's open by appointment from May through October to individuals and groups. The cost, which includes a climbing harness, lanyard and helmet, is $30 on weekdays and $35 on weekends and holidays.

For information, visit www.nelsonrocks.org. For reservations, call 1-304-567-3169.

Thanks to reader Mary L. Pretz-Lawson, associate director of technology planning at Carnegie Mellon University, for tipping us off about Nelson Rocks. If you know about a unique attraction or travel adventure in the Tri-State area, please send me a message.