| OUTLINE
ITINERARY
DAY
1 - Fly to Lourdes
The best way to get to the eastern Pyrenees
is on a Ryanair schedule to Loourdes. We pick you up from
there in our minibus and drive you to the start of the tour
at Vernet les Bains. You meet up with your guide in the evening
for a drink and a briefing.
DAY
2 - Col de la Joue
The week starts with a simple climb up to our first refuge
- the Refuge des Marialles. We aim to get to the hut early
so that we can leave gear here and head out to climb to one
of a number of nearby peaks to warm up and get our ski legs
back.
DAY
3 - The Canigou (2785m)
The Canigou is the objective of our first day and we set off
early and with light packs. It's a long, but not too difficult
climb, and you can see as far as the Mediterranean on a good
day. We
ski back to the Marialles hut for a second night.
DAY
4 - Guillem to Mantet
We cross to the remote village
of Mantet today. Setting off the Marialles hut we climb to
the summit of the Guillem (2460m) before skiing down to the
hamlet of Mantet. We spend the night in a small Gite d'Etap.
DAY
5 - Mantet to Pic de la Dona
We cross from French Catalonia to Spain today. We set out
from Mantet on a climb to the Pid dela Dona (2702m) and from
there ski down into Spain to Ull de Terr. From there we continue
to the La Pastoria chalet / refuge.
DAY
6 - Nuria
On
the sixth day of our tour we climb to the Pic de la Vaca (2860m)
and then ski down to the little village of Nuria at 1600m
where we stay in the small Hotel de l'Aliga.
DAY
7 - Ski then back to France
The last day of the tour is left open for you to plan with
your guide. There are lots and lots of options but your main
challenge is to catch the famous Train Jeune back to Vernet
les Bains (last one goes at 4.00pm!) and your hotel / rendezvous
with PMT transport.
DAY
8 - Fly back to London
You are transferred back to Lourdes Airport or Lourdes SNCF
to connect with transport back home.
Please
Note: This itinerary may be altered if conditions, weather
forecasts or the overall fitness of the group are judged to
put the safety of the group at risk. Pyrenean Mountain Tour
Guides reserve the right to make changes to the itinerary
without notice. These changes will be explained to the group
as and when they occur.
EQUIPMENT
AND CLOTHING NEEDED FOR THIS TREK
We
recommend that people joining this trek are equipped with
the following:
Technical
equipment
Ski Touring Skis with Touring Bindings
Ski Poles
Skins (with good glue!)
Ski Crampons
Crampons
(please note: you do not need to carry an ice axe on this
trip)
Ski Strap (for tying top of the skis together when carrying
on rucksack)
Clothing
suggestions
Thermal underwear- 1 set as a base layer
Fleece
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof over trousers
Warm hat
Warm gloves
Warm walking socks
Sun hat or peaked cap
Sunglasses/Goggles
Other
useful items
40-60 litre rucksack (needs side straps so that you can carry
skis)
Sun block for face and lips
Personal First Aid kit (plasters,compede, paracetamol)
Water bottle or Platypus
Penknife
Optional
items
Change of clothing to include: underwear,tracksuit bottoms/
long-johns,dry shirt, spare socks.
Camera and film
Paperback novel
Maps
Snack bars/dried fruit/chocolate
Ski
Touring Equipment Hire
Pyrenean Mountain Tours offer
a full equipment hire pack. You can hire everything you need
for this tour or individual items at the costs shown in the
table below. We are unable to provide equipment "last
minute" so you need to book what you need well in advance.
| Items |
Description |
Costs |
| Ski
Touring Pack |
includes:
skis, skins, ski crampons, poles, ski touring boots |
£140 |
| With
Own Boots |
includes:
all of the above but no boots |
£110 |
| Avalanche
Transceiver |
|
£40 |
| Climbing
Harness |
not
required for this tour |
|
| Boot
Crampons |
to fit ski touring boots |
£40 |
| Ice
Axe |
not needed for
this tour |
|
Please
remember to carry as little gear as possible. A heavy rucksack
will make the trip hard work and less fun.
|
Ski trips and more throughout Europe and beyond
Don’t let our name fool you: as well as Pyrenees
trips, we can take you to the Alps, South Tyrol, Dolomites,
Tatra Mountains and even further. In France, Spain,
Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, Slovenia…even
Mongolia.
Downhill skiing, alpine skiing, off piste, telemark
skiing, ski tours, ski touring snowshoeing, trekking,
mountaineering, expedition training, motorcycle tours,
expedition training, walking, activity holidays, canyoning,
mountain biking, white water rafting, road touring,
cultural tours and study – chances are we have
just what you’re looking for. We can also arrange
all accommodation, from a hotel or B&B to a self-catering
apartment or gite.
Can’t see what you’re after? We’d
be happy to arrange a bespoke trip for you.
Pyrenean
Mountain Tours
2 Rectory
Cottages, Rectory Lane, Wolverton,Hants,
RG26 5RS, UK
tel and fax: (0044)(0)1635 297209, web: www.pyrenees.co.uk
(Pyrenean
Mountain Tours is a trading name of European Mountain
Holidays Ltd.)
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| .....background
preparation |
| Maps
and Guidebooks
Your guide will carry all the maps
that the group needs but if you would like to
carry your own these are the best sheets to have:
IGN
maps:
sheet 2250 ET Bourg Madame and sheet 2349 ET Massif
Canigou
Editorial
Alpina maps:
Puigmal- Costabona 1/50000
Puigmal-Nuria 1/25000
The best general guidebook for this area
of the Pyrenees, even though it doesn't cover
ski touring, is:
Walking in the Pyrenees, by Kev Reynolds,
(published by Cicerone Press)
But
also very useful are the Rough Guide to
the Pyrenees (published by the Rough Guides
Series) and Trekking in the Pyrenees
(published by Trailblazer)
For
a specific ski touring book read John
Harding's Pyrenean High Route, published
by Tiercel Publishing.
You
can order maps and books online at: www.mapsworldwide.co.uk,
www.amazon.com,
or buy them at Stanford books in London.
Fitness and Skiing Standard
This tour requires that you should
be able to walk uphill for up to 4 hours a day
over quite varied terrain, gaining an average
of 1000 metres. Ski descents are varied but there
are one or two steep sections of 25 degrees or
so. You will need to walk on crampons on two or
three days to reach summits.
Group
Size: 1 group of 7 people.
DAF Scale:D2:A2:F2
Questions
about this tour ? Email Simon
for help.
Mountain Guides and
Leaders
This tour will be led by one of our
guides with several years experience of the Pyrenees.
They are experts on local Flora and Fauna as well
as mountain craft and leadership.
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| .....travel
details & costs |
| Departure
Dates & Flight Details
We recommend
that you use the following flights:
Depart 13th February, 2010
Sat 13th Feb, FR2356, at 09.50 from London Stansted
to Pau; returning on Sat 20th Feb, FR2357, at
14.00 from London to London Stansted
Go
to www.ryanair.com to book your flights.
What
your Holiday Will Cost
£850
per person
£75 single supplement (payable
if you want a single room for the nights in a
hotel)
Is
this your first ski tour ?
This year we are trialing
a new discount scheme for people trying ski touring
for the first time. If you book an Introduction
to Ski Touring course and a ski tour in the
same year we will reduce your overall bill by
£80.
Toured
with us Before ?
If
you have been ski touring with us twice or more
before you are entitled to a £30
discount. Please
remind us when you book!
The Diary Discount
We
know that lots of you keep diaries of your ski
tours and we want to publish some of them ! Our
aim is to have a link on each of our ski touring
itinerary pages to a previous years diary of the
trip. If we publish yours we'll pay you £15
(in the form of a discount on a PMT trip of course)
for your trouble.
Transfer
Arrangements
We
collect you in our minibus free of charge if you
arrive on the flights we have recommended
above. If you choose a different flight you will
be responsible for your own transfer to the start
and from the end of the tour, but we will pick
you up free of charge at Lourdes SNCF station.
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| .....more
details |
| Accommodation
Quick List
Day
one: TBC
Day two: Marialles
hut
Day three: Marialles
hut
Day four: TBC
Day five: Pastoria
hut
Day six: Hotel
Aliga
Day seven: TBC
Please note: accommodation changes may have to
be made if weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances
make it necessary. We try to ensure that hotel rooms
are twin bedded with en suite facilities but this is
not always possible. If you pay a single supplement
but do not receive a single room , then your money will
be refunded on your return to the UK.
Included
in the Price
-2 nights half board
at hotel
-5
night full board accommodation in huts and gites
-mountain guiding fees and expenses
Not
Included in the Price
-International air
travel to France
-Hiring of equipment from the equipment list specified
for this trip
- Drinks and snacks at huts and hotels
- packed lunches
Spending
Money
Please
bring all money in local currency (Euros), as there
will be little opportunity to go to a bank en route.
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