Italy shares a mountainous border with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
Mountain ranges include: The Mont Blanc Range (or Monte Bianco in Italian), the Pennine Alps, the Bregaglia, the Dolomites and the Julian Alps. The Apennines form the spine of Italy, and both Sardinia and Sicily have mountain ranges of their own. Much of the rock climbing is on limestone, but in the north the mountain crags are granite.
Via Ferattas were invented in the Dolomites as a means of moving troops around during WWI, and arguably the area is still home the the world's best Via Ferratas.