Six days on the high level route in the Pyrenees

Back and forth across the French/Spanish border

Ascent of classic peaks La Grande Fache and Le petit Vignemale

Option to climb the glacier to the Vignemale, the highest in the French Pyrenees

The first person known to have walked along the spine of the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean was a Frenchman called Frederic Parrot. He completed his traverse in 53 days in 1817 thus laying the foundations of the modern Haute Route Pyreneene footpath (the HRP as it is known in France). The trail weaves its way roughly along the border crest of Spain and France at moderate to high altitudes. We offer two weeks of trekking along the High Level Route and you can book these as individual weeks or as a continuous two week trek. Every night is spent in a different mountain refuge.

This six day trek covers one of the most spectacular sections of the trail from the Pic du Midi d’Ossau past the Balaitous to the summit of the Vignemale.

HOLIDAY ITINERARY
DAY 1 - Fly to Pau Pyrenees
The best way to get to the Pyrenees is on a Ryanair schedule to Pau. We pick you up in our minibus and drive you to Luz St. Sauveur, in the French Hautes Pyrenees. In the evening we meet up for a briefing in the bar.

DAY 2 - Past the Pic du Midi d'Ossau
The first day on the HRP takes you from a small lake above the village of Gabas past the stunning Pic du Midi d'Ossau. Local people refer affectionately to this mountain as Jean-Pierre. The first recorded attempt to climb to the summit was made in 1552 by Francois de Foix, the Bishop of Aire and a team of surveyors who sought to determine the exact height of the summit. They failed in their attempt. More than 130 years later the geographers Reboul and Vidal from the university of Toulouse encouraged a shepherd to find a way to the top. His name was not recorded but he managed to place a triangulation cairn on the summit. We trek around the mountain to the Pombie refuge.

DAY 3 – Onwards to the Arremoulit and Balaitous
We follow the HRP east down through the woods before climbing back up to open mountainside and the Arremoulit refuge a short distance from the Balaitous (3144m) .
The Balaitous was first climbed by the military surveyors Peytier and Hossard. However they did not disclose their ascent and the route to the summit remained a secret for 37 years. In fact it was not even known that the mountain had been climbed until the Pyrenean explorer and historian Charles Packe set out on his second attempt to find a route in 1864. When he finally found a way to reach the summit he found that a cairn had been placed there.


DAY 4 – Criss-cross from France to Spain to France From the Arremoulit we cross over to Spain by the Palas mountain before heading up past the Embalsa Respumoso and climbing over steep mountainsides to the Col de la Fache. It was through this col that many allied pilots escaped Nazi forces during the Second World War but it was also the col through which Republican forces fled from Franco in the Spanish Civil War. From the col fit walkers with some scrambling experience can reach the summit of the Grand Fache before walking down to the Marcadau forests and the Wallon refuge.

DAY 5 – From the Wallon to the Oulettes
You cross the border again as you trek up the Arratille valley and back to Spain at the Col d'Arratille. A short climb brings you back to France at the Col des Mulets. As you descend from here down to the Gaube valley you get a first glimpse of the north face of the Vignemale, whose summit is two days away and the climax of your trek.


DAY 6 –Oulettes to the Baysellance and the Petite Vignemale
Day six is the shortest day on the walk. You climb up to the Horquette d'Ossue and then walk up steep and slightly exposed slopes to the Petit Vignemale before walking down to the Baysellance - the highest guardianed refuge in the Pyrenees.

DAY 7 - The Vignemale Summit 3298m
The Vignemale is the highest peak in the French Pyrenees. The first ascent of the mountain was made via the Glacier d’Ossue by Henri Cazaux and Bernard Guillembet in 1837. They had a rough time of it and fell into a crevasse on the way up. Then in 1838 Cazaux led Miss Anne Lister, ‘a spinster from Halifax’, on the first recorded tourist ascent of the Vignemale. But it was the Irish-French Count Henry Russell who made the Vignemale truly famous when in 1889 he purchased a 99 year lease on the mountain from the town hall of Cauterets.

You are met at the Baysellance hut early in the morning by an additional local UIAGM mountain guide (the only professionals qualified to lead on glaciers) who will be responsible for leading the glacier sections of the ascent on the Vignemale. The guide will make sure you are equipped with crampons and will teach you how to use them if you have no experience.

It takes about six hours to reach the summit. Then you walk back down the glacier and out towards Gavarnie and a rendez-vous with our transport back to Luz.

NB. Attempts on the Vignemale summit are dependent on good weather and the guide’s assessment of the group’s mountain ability.

DAY 8 - Fly back to London
You head back in our minibus to Pau Airport or Lourdes SNCF to connect with transport back home.

A FOLLOW ON WEEK ?
You could extend this trip and join our second week on the HRP heading from Gavarnie over into Spain and the hugely impressive Ordesa Canyon, back through the Breche de Roland before heading on Eastwards to continue the High Level route proper. There will be a rest day between the two trips... and a £100 discount!

Please Note: This itinerary may be altered if conditions and weather are judged to put the safety of the group at risk, or if they indicate another route would be preferable for the group’s comfort. Pyrenean Mountain Tour guides and instructors reserve the right to make changes to the itinerary without notice. These changes will be explained to the group if they occur.

EQUIPMENT AND PACKING IDEAS
We recommend that people joining this trek are equipped with the following:

Technical equipment
Comfortable walking boots (3 or 4season)
Walking pole if you like them
Walkers' ice axe (depending on season)

Clothing suggestions
Fleece
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof over trousers
Warm hat
Warm gloves
Sun hat or peaked cap
Sunglasses
Shorts and T-shirts
Good quality walking socks

Other useful items
40 - 50 litrer rucksack
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,dry shirt, spare socks
Camera and film
Paperback novel (light!)
Snack bars/dried fruit/chocolate
Sheet sleeping bag liner (if you like them....)

Additional items for Unguided Groups
Compass
Altimeter / GPS