T.S. Eliot wrote “In the mountains, there you feel free.” Metaphorically, it is the tops of mountains that epitomise a human understanding of greatness. ‘Top of the world.’ ‘Moving mountains.’ ‘The climb.’ At the top lies success, self-actualisation and happiness. But, as Eliot’s poetry paints, the mountains are a landscape to be immersed within, explored in their entirety. The only way is not up. Mountain Trip takes you across, by way of the Telluride Via Ferrata.

To traverse a mountain is to move laterally across it, to move within it, cradling the rock, up close and personal with the face of it. Traversing via ferratas offer the perspectives lesser known and Mountain Trip is here to show you the way with their guided exploration of the Telluride Via Ferrata. Offering an unforgettable journey through Colorado’s fall foliage and the pristine peaks of the San Juan Mountains, Mountain Trip is Telluride’s only accredited AMGA guide service showcasing the free verse of this alternative, iron-clad adventure.

“Via ferrata” is translated from Italian as “iron path”: a climbing route that features the use of steel cables, rungs, or ladders fixed to the rock face. These marked trails allow climbers to secure themselves and expand the opportunities to reach difficult peaks safely, encountering the rock less travelled.

Dating back to WWI, the original via ferratas were developed on the Italian/Austrian border to move troops through exposed mountain terrain and now, over 1000 currently exist to be retraced in the European Alps. Unlike its European ancestors, the Telluride version was not constructed for any other reason than a bit of alpine fun. Inspired by a piece of wartime history and brought to the ancient, rocky cliffs of southwest Colorado’s high country, the Telluride Via Ferrata trip has been credited amongst the Trip Advisor 2022 Traveller’s Choice Awards.

The route traverses rock-face up to 600ft above the forest floor, reaching new heights and vistas only passable with the fixed cables and holds that line the way. Boasting spectacular views of Bridal Veil Falls, the highest free-falling waterfall in Colorado, the town of Telluride in the distance and surrounding San Juan peaks, this trail places you in the heart of its stunning landscape. Becoming part of the mountain as you scale its edges, the exposure is breathtaking.

Beating the midday sun for an early start, trekkers gather at the Bridal Veil Falls Trailhead at 8 am to commence their journey. With all the necessary equipment provided, from helmets to harnesses, all that is required from you is a little bit of faith, focus and, as you scale the route, to simply remember to look around. Whilst watching your grip and footing is vital, the real, visual feast casts out in front of a more lifted gaze.

Following a narrow ledge system along a cliff edge, this picturesque panorama of the treeline and rugged rocky range does not come at a cost of prior climbing skills, but it is safe to say that a degree of comfort with heights is certainly preferable. However, just over two miles long, only 30% of the route is protected with the steel cables, leaving the majority of the way as a single-track trail. Led by your expert guide, you will traverse the Via Ferrata from East to West, momentarily descending off-route to venture along the hiking trail into the Marshall Creek Drainage.

Leading expeditions since 1973, Mountain Trip has built itself a reputation for promoting the highest standard of guiding. Leading more Denali expeditions than any other guide service and the only Telluride-based company permitted to guide both the Telluride and the Ouray Via Ferrata, trust is paramount in this business and only earned through such vast experience. These guides not only know the terrain, but they know how to get the best experience out of it for every group. Of course, the technical know-hows and experience in safety procedures are a given, but their words of encouragement and the group elation upon completing a climb together are galvanising.

Leading the way, co-owner, Todd Rutledge now serves on the board of the Telluride Mountain Club to throw his wealth of guiding experience behind the advancement of education and environmental stewardship in the San Juans. The other half of Mountain Trip, Bill Allen also sets an example, having climbed all ‘Seven Summits’ multiple times and leading an amazing thirty on Denali alone. With over fifty more guides now in tow, this group are regarded as some of the most experienced guides in North America, well versed in the world’s, let alone Colorado’s poetic mountain-scape.

Not only guides of the Via Ferrata, but considered friends of it, Mountain Trip and other guide companies have embraced the role of stewardship in their regular contribution to maintenance and conservation costs. For every guest participating along this route, Mountain Trip donates $5 to the Telluride Mountain Club to support the Telluride Via Ferrata Sustainability Fund. It is also due to their efforts to reduce human impact on the mountain that trips have been reduced to half-day, one-way trips. As poetry succeeds as a preservation of memory and emotion, this mountainous route is equally producing of once-in-a-lifetime experiences that Colorado’s climbers and guides impressively strive to maintain.

An activity that is rewarding both in its physicality and picturesque surroundings, the Telluride Via Ferrata invites you to not to climb to the top of the mountain but to level with it. Traversing this landscape is to truly immerse yourself in the San Juan Mountains and it is there, as Eliot professes, that one can truly feel free. If humans tend to make metaphors out of mountains, then Mountain Trip endeavours to decode their true meaning, helping you to appreciate the stunning reality of this rock face.