The Royal Gorge Company of Colorado plans to open a new major attraction — a Via Ferrata on the south wall of the Royal Gorge.
Via Ferrata is Italian for “Iron Path” or “Iron Way.”
The Cañon City Council on Monday approved the use of a sinking fund, which was established in the bridge and park’s lease to help build a “major new attraction” at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.
“This is the right time to do an attraction like this,” said Jeremy Boswell, the vice president of park operations.
In a written request for approval for the Via Ferrata by Brent Hargrave, COO of the Royal Gorge Company of Colorado, Hargrave states that a Via Ferrata is a protected climbing system that uses steel cable and iron rungs installed to the rock surface to aid a person in rock climbing.
He said the system is becoming one of the most popular new attractions for the recreational tourism industry.
Telluride has a system, and Arapahoe Basin plans to open one during the summer season.
“We feel that what sets us apart from these potential competitors is our vertical foot advantage to our proposed system, as well as out lengthened season,” the proposal letter states, adding that rain, wind and snow do not affect the use of this system.
Utah, Wyoming and California have these systems, which cost about $160 to $200 per person for a two- to four-hour experience. However, the price point for the Via Ferrata at the Royal Gorge likely would be closer to $80 to $90 per person because of the ease of access to the system and the likelihood to handle significantly more volume.
The proposed system would developed in two separate phases on the north facing wall and will have multiple routes tailored to different skill sets for the user. A practice area also would be available for customers to utilize to get comfortable with the system before setting out with a guide.
The project is estimated to be $650,000 total with the city’s portion of this to be $325,000 from the “Sinking Fund.” Reimbursement of the city’s amount would be in the form of proceeds generated from the new attraction.
Based on the company’s projections, this would increase the city’s annual rent by $175,000 in the first year if the project is completed by May.
Kalem Leonard, a local resident and outdoor adventure enthusiast, said he was excited to see this project proposal, but he recommended that it be available for general public use, not just for commercially-guided use.
“If you are targeting the mountain bike crowd, myself included, I think there is a certain number that are very guide-adverse, and we like to have adventures that are more organic, more scrappy, more ‘do-it-ourselves,'” he said.
He said if the system is strictly commercially guided, a certain subset of that would be lost.
“By doing both, you could have a commercial subset where our average guest would be very excited about it, but you would lose a certain portion of people like myself who aren’t willing to pay $80 for that experience,” Leonard said.
However, he said he’d be more than happy to drive to a community like this, buy his own gear and go on the adventure on his own. He said he also has a number of ideas on how to connect this system to downtown.
Boswell said the company has a responsibility to the community to negate the city’s liability.
“I think it’s a great anchor, it’s not another zipline tour, and it will be a draw for people to go out and explore (Fremont Adventure Recreation) and other parts of our community — bike tours and other rock climbing faces,” he said. “Via Ferrata can be the leapfrog into becoming a guide and becoming doing it on your own.”
Carie Canterbury: 719-276-7643, canterburyc@canoncitydailyrecord.com