About This Resource
Jacob's Ladder in Telluride, Colorado is a via ferrata (protected climbing route) featuring iron rungs, ladder steps, and cables attached to cliff faces. The route gains significant elevation with dramatic exposure, crossing bridges and climbing near-vertical sections. This represents the extreme end of stair-like infrastructure, where metal rungs and ladder steps provide passage on terrain too steep for traditional trails. Via ferrata routes originated in the Italian Dolomites during WWI and have become popular adventure tourism activities. They blur the line between hiking and technical climbing, using permanent installations to make extreme terrain accessible to non-climbers with proper equipment and guidance.
