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Report nowA video is making headlines in Italy. You can see it: Parents climbing unsecured along a rock face - together with their children.
Climbing around the Cima Uomo peak (3010 meters above sea level) in the Italian Dolomites is not for inexperienced mountaineers. The rock faces are too steep, the routes too challenging.
One couple obviously doesn't think much of this risk assessment: a video shows them climbing the Ferrata Bepi Zac unsecured - with two children, one of whom is a toddler.
The Ferrata Bepi Zac is a category C/D via ferrata. Complete climbing equipment including helmet, climbing harness, carabiner and, in some places, a safety rope is recommended. The family filmed by hikers had none of this with them.
The video, which the page "Noi Soccorritori" ("We rescuers") published on Facebook, is currently going viral on Italian networks. It shows a woman helping a boy in sneakers to climb up a steep rock face. He is only secured by a steel cable driven into the mountain.
In another scene, a man carries a little girl in his arms as he climbs down the narrow rocky path. He is not wearing mountaineering boots and is also unsecured, just like the toddler.
The outcry in the Italian media is huge. Maurizio Dellantonio, President of the Italian Mountain Rescue Service, told the online portal "il Dolomiti" that it was an incident "bordering on crime". Christian Ferrari from the alpine association "Società Alpinisti Tridentini" adds: "The fact that the parents took such a risk cannot be justified."
According to Dellantonio, the Bepi Zac is not a trivial via ferrata, some passages are complex. He hopes that the person who shot the video also provided support.
According to "il Dolomiti", the family's mountain adventure ended safely and without incident. Nevertheless, Walter Cainelli, President of the Trentino Mountain Rescue Service, warns: "Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to underestimate the risk." The right preparation and equipment are crucial for climbing routes like this. And if you struggle along the way, Cainelli advises: "You must not be afraid or ashamed to give up and turn back."
