Via ferratas have been popular for decades in Europe, where over 300 routes are open to the public, but are relatively new to North America. That’s because via ferratas were first built to transport troops in the Dolomite mountain region of Italy. Troops would battle ferociously for mountaintops because of their strategic importance and therefore needed via ferratas to transport troops across the mountains.

Interestingly, the 10th Mountain Division used Nelson Rocks to prepare for mountain warfare in the Apennines of Italy, long before the idea of a Via Ferrata ever came into existence. Another rock face that was used was Seneca Rocks.

Seneca Rocks is located about 15 miles north of the NROCKS Welcome Center, and is one of the most popular crags on the East Coast. In fact, many guides at NROCKS started their climbing careers at Seneca and Seneca Rocks is what initially brought Stu Hammett, the builder of the NROCKS Via Ferrata to the North Fork Valley.