On a via ferrata you save energy by keeping your arms straight and climbing from the legs. Learn the straight-arm technique step by step and safely.
How do you get up steep via ferrata sections without your arms giving out? The honest answer: with the straight-arm technique. You keep your arms mostly straight, hang from the steel cable or rungs like on a hook, place your feet high on footholds and push your body up from the legs. The Alpine Club says it clearly: an economical climbing technique on mostly straight arms combined with good stepping technique saves an enormous amount of energy [1].
That is no small thing. The "block" through exhaustion, meaning you can neither go on nor back halfway, is according to the Alpine Club the most frequent emergency on via ferratas [1]. In Austria, over 10 years, more than half of the 1,684 via ferrata emergencies involved no injured person: most got stuck through exhaustion or overestimating themselves [2]. The share rescued uninjured was highest on hard routes (grade D and E), 59.9 % and 62.7 % [2].
I found no studies on arm-force biomechanics on a via ferrata. The technique rests on the Alpine Club's recommendations and practice. Expect several tours until you step up from the legs automatically.
The legs carry, the arms guide. Before you move the hand on, the foot stands securely on a foothold. You place feet high (about hip to knee height) and push yourself up from the leg instead of pulling up.
Milestone: you climb 10 metres of via ferrata where the legs audibly do the main work.
Straighten the elbows and let yourself "hang" in the cable, with hands on the cable or rungs. The body stays close to the wall, the hips slightly away so you can see footholds. Bend the arms only briefly for reaching.
Milestone: you notice when your elbow is bent and deliberately straighten it again.
When clipping the set through, you can hang from the cable anchor with one arm to save energy [1]. Always be secured by at least one lanyard arm [1]. Switch calmly and one after the other, not both carabiners at once.
Milestone: you clip the set through while your weight rests on your feet and one straight arm.
Look for ledges or large footholds to rest and shake out your arms. Some sets have a rest sling with carabiner for clipping in at breaks and traverses [1]. Rest before the pump, not after.
Milestone: you plan breaks before your forearms burn.
Before a new tour do the arm test: on the ground hang 30 seconds with straight arms from a beam or stick and watch whether the shoulders "sink in". That is the posture you need on the route. Train it if you cannot yet do it (practice).
The arms stay mostly straight, the feet stand high on footholds and you step up from the legs. The Alpine Club recommends it as an energy saver [1].
Mostly because you pull with bent arms and work too little with the legs. Exhaustion is the most frequent trigger for emergencies on via ferratas [1].
Choose a tour that suits you, plan time and escape routes [1], step up from the legs and rest. More than half of the via ferrata emergencies in Austria ended without injury, triggered by blocks and overestimation [2].
No, the technique saves strength [1]. Basic strength and endurance help, but technique and choice of tour decide.
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