National_Geographic_Traveller_India-May_2018

94 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | MAY 2018

THE DESTINATION

WANAKA

Clink clink clink. I snap

the two carabiners on my

harness like a crab clicking

its pincers. Nearby, climber

Michael Rooke lays down the

rules. “Always, always attach

both carabiners on the guide

wire, the second you climb

a metal rung. They’re the

only things that’ll keep you

alive on the highest waterfall

via ferrata of the world,” he

squints at the 1,000-foot

Twin Falls lashing down a

granite crag.

Wanaka’s laid-back,

lakeside location belies how

outdoorsy it is. An hour’s

drive from Queenstown,

the resort town doesn’t play

second fiddle in the punch

department—it lies in the

Southern Alps and is the

gateway to Mount Aspiring

National Park. A 20-minute

drive brings me and six

novice climbers to a cliff

face fitted with metal rungs,

metal wires, and bridges of—

not metal—just rope.

We scale a boulder for

practice. Heave yourself up

a rung, clip one carbiner

on the wire—“don’t forget

the second carbiner!”—and

repeat. “Real” rock climbers

might snigger, but via ferrata

demands a newb’s steadfast

attention. The cliff is near-

vertical, and climbers rise

hundreds of feet with only

iron rods for company.

I develop a cautious

rhythm of clip, climb, unclip;

clip, climb, unclip. I’m forced

to be present and think only

of the next rung, no further.

It’s meditative—there’s even

a misty waterfall for ambient

music. I take a peek at the

ground; it is farther than I’d

like it to be. I move on.

Apart from booming

encouragement, Michael tells

us how it took them seven

years to glue the rungs into

A LL-T I M E

HIGH

Clambering the Southern

Alps on a via ferrata is just

one of the many thrills in the

resort town of Wanaka.

the cliff. Did he say glue? I

pull at the rung above me,

breathing easy when he adds

that each can hold several

tonnes. I am only doing an

intermediate climb, but I

can’t help think of how via

ferrata (‘iron path’ in Italian)

was born in the Dolomites of

Italy to help WWI soldiers

cross the terrain.

Over the next three hours,

I scale over pools formed in

rock gaps and cross wobbly

plank bridges. Sigh-worthy

scenes are everywhere; deer

scampering on grasslands

below, the Alps at my eye-

level, wearing toupees of

clouds. At times I freeze

because I can’t see a way out,

but there always is. Some

fellow climbers do better: one

couple takes tons of romantic

photos; a scrawny college kid

moonwalks—moonwalks!—

across the ominous rope

bridge between two crags. He

then goes back to swing on it

like a spider monkey.

Munching sandwiches at

the top, Michael tells me how

leading a via ferrata climb

is about reading people. “Go

easy on the cautious ones.

Watch the moonwalkers

closely, and don’t let them

know,” he winks.

(www.wildwire.co.nz;

intermediate Wild

Thing climb

NZD249/`12,000.)

PHOTO COURTESY:

WILDWIRE WANAKA

(CLIMBER)

FACING PAGE: PHOTO COURTESY:

SOUTHERN ALPS AIR

(PLANE), PHOTO COURTESY:

MARK ORBELL/RIDGELINE ADVENTURES

(WOMAN),

MATTEO COLOMBO/DIGITALVISION/GETTY IMAGES

(LAKE)