Via Ferrata Bat in Dalmatia makes for a true mountain adventure

John Clayton is a UK citizen who has been living in the coastal city of Rijeka for over 15 years. A very active chap, he has previously written for Visit Croatia on topics such as Is Croatia a cross-country skiing paradise? Almost!, Croatia: cycling heaven, and also cycling hell and Open Water Swimming in Croatia. In this new post, John goes climbing in Dalmatia on the Via Ferrata Bat with his teenage daughter…who also has a say about their adventure!

Out of the door and I’m on the road by 8am with my 13-year-old daughter Ellie. It’s a beautiful morning, perfect for a mountain adventure, in this case, Ellie’s first-ever Via Ferrata. For those who don’t know, Via Ferrata is a sport very similar to climbing, but with less equipment and faster, as everyone can climb at the same time. There is a fixed cable which you clip into, so there is no need for a rope and a sack full of carabiners.

8am!! and on a weekend!! I’m a teenager, it may as well be the middle of the night. I am keen to try Via Ferrata but 8am is insanely early. Fine if it keeps my dad happy I’ll try not complain too much. I know he’s frustrated that we can’t get there by public transportation so I’ll try not to fuss too much (just enough to be a little annoying)

It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Rijeka to the small Dalmatian town of Gračac, inland from Zadar, just a couple of miles from the start of the Via Ferrata Bat route up the mountain of Crnopac.

I don’t feel great on the drive and I can’t wait to get out of the car. I don’t dare eat breakfast before driving so I’m getting hungry, but I won’t eat breakfast until we stop driving... Oh look there is good music on Radio 101.

Starting the Via Ferrata Bat and climbing info

We park, and we’re soon hiking up to the start. The route we’re attempting is called “Bat”; I’m not sure why it’s called that. I don’t think it has anything to do with bats. It’s one of the few Via Ferratas in Croatia, the rest mainly being south of Split. The information on the route is a little sketchy, but it seems it’ll take us about two hours. We should be back to the car in time for a late lunch.

The path to the start is vague, weaving through the forest, over boulders, and irritatingly it keeps going down as well as up. I’m longer feeling sick but can’t wait to get onto the rock, this battle through the jungle is tedious. Why is it taking so long? I did warn that I was going to complain just the right amount didn’t I?

One of the best things about Via Ferrata is that our packs are relatively light. The only equipment we need to carry is climbing harnesses and helmets, so much lighter than rock climbing, mainly as there’s no rope needed. After 45 minutes, we spot the cable marking the start of the route. Ellie has been climbing plenty of times, so it doesn’t take long before we’re buckled up, clipped into the first cable and on our way upwards.

The grade of the route is B+/C, so not the easiest, which would be ‘A’, but certainly far from being an ‘E’, which is the hardest. As difficulty is so subjective, it’s impossible to know in advance how hard the route will be. However, it’s going well so far, and we’re making good progress, mixing easy scrambling and the odd harder move. Although there is always a cable to clip into, the gaps between the anchors can be several meters. You really wouldn’t want to fall off if at all possible. Most is straightforward, but a few of the moves are not straightforward and need concentration. I prefer to stand below Ellie in case she slips.

The climbing is a little scary at times but worse I end up in knots, at each anchor I have to unclip one carabiner on the end of a leash and then clip it into the cable above the anchor, and then do the same with the second one to ensure we’re always clipped in. It seems simple enough and we practiced at home but somehow my two leashes keep getting twisted and tangled. I need to stop every five minutes to untangle them.

Up, up and up

After an hour, we have the sensation of being high in the mountains. We look down towards Gračac and the mountains of Bosnia on one side and over Zadar and a wide, beautiful view over to the islands on the other.  The sky is mainly blue, but darker patches of cloud are swirling around us. The occasional hail shower puts me a little on edge. While the climbing moves are not so difficult, it’s an unforgiving landscape, and a retreat would be tricky.

It was clear by now that the two hour estimate was wildly unrealistic, after two hours we’re barely half way up and it turns out that our only supplies consist of a packet of Jaffa Cakes and a bag of Smoki (the best Balkan savoury snack, try them). The car, with our lunch, is way below in the trees somewhere far beyond, hidden from humanity!

However, the sky is clear when we reach the steepest part of the route. As is often the case on Via Ferratas, the steepest part is rarely the most difficult, as there are plenty of artificial handholds and steps. In this case, there is an easy ladder to climb, much easier than some of the sloping slabs we’d already crossed lower down without any artificial aids.

The situation is truly dramatic and spectacular. We’re climbing up and over vertiginous rock ridges, finding our way through the spires and across mini-canyons. We stop briefly for some snacks, but I’m keen to keep moving. The top is in sight but still some way to go, however, the angle has eased, and it’s clear that if necessary, we could now scramble around the harder moves.

3 hours after we first clipped in, we finally arrived at the summit.

Phew!!!!! I loved the ladder part, steeper but easier but now I’m starving! Finally it’s time to eat.

Time to head back down

Having finished the last of our Smoki and water we start the descent. It is steep and slow going, while not as hard as the ascent, there is no cable despite some precarious moves. The trail is marked by the usual painted red and white circles. I lose the trail a couple of times, but know from experience that it is essential to go back and find it rather than to attempt any alternative route. It is like fighting through a rock jungle, and the route is far from clear.

A very long hour later, we found ourselves on a real path. We also meet the first other people we’d seen all day, a couple from Bihać in Bosnia. They had also done the same route just ahead of us.

The way down is harder than the way up! It certainly feels very remote and wild. It truly is a maze of rock, with tricky downward moves, always harder than going up. I’m very happy when we finally reach a proper path – hurray, we’re saved, I’ve survived my first Via Ferrata!

The easy path winds its way through the forest, past the start of the route and to the car, six hours after we’d left it. It may have been a much longer day out than anticipated, but it was genuinely a magnificent mountain day. I think we deserve pizza, and a cold beer for me, so we head down to the coast to find a campsite near the national park of Paklenica, the most famous rock climbing cliff in Croatia, which we will explore tomorrow.

What an amazing day!

What an amazing (and hungry) day!

Practicalities for the Via Ferrata Bat

The Via Ferrata Bat is open to anyone and is free. It certainly demands some climbing experience. If you can climb French Grade 4a you should be fine. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to rent equipment, so you need to bring it with you.

From the north of Croatia, a car is the only realistic option. Gračac can be reached by bus and train, but it’s very slow and complicated. However, from Split in the south, the train could be a feasible option. It’s about 2 miles/3km from the town to the start.

Thank you very much to John and Ellie for this highly entertaining and informative piece!