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giovin
May 25, 2008, 10:05 AM
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Registered: Oct 18, 2006
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Hi everybody, I'm planning for a week of climbing, beginning of July, in the area of High Pyrenees, NW of Zaragoza - Lescun, Aspe Valley.
Anybody has any recommendation on places to go, and climbing guidebooks?
I'm going w my gfriend, we'll look for moderate climbs and treks.
Cheers!
Filippo
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tisar
May 26, 2008, 1:28 PM
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Registered: Jul 1, 2004
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Hi.
Since it's his area, I'd go and ask thomasribiere. Otherwise you might wanna post to the Eurofreaks blah blah thread, it get's much more traffic than the forum itself.
Good luck!
Daniel
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giovin
May 26, 2008, 9:19 PM
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Ciao Daniel, thx for the hint, i'll post there too!
How's going?It's been a while since val di Mello saw us there, we should think about it =).
It's been a while also for me - busy with back country skiing.
Cheers!!!
Filippo (aka Spandex king)
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tisar
May 27, 2008, 1:24 PM
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Haha! Wouldn't have known it's you, what a surprise. 
Yeah, I miss the valley  Been pretty busy lately there's little chance I get back for a while. Gotta stick to closer areas (which are a few) and a short trip to Norway in July. Still I hope there's something in for me this fall. Never been to Finale, so that might be an idea. Will post up for sure when I know my schedule.
Say hi to whoever you see of the others. Haven't heard anything of T&P the whole year 
Have fun!
- Daniel
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zarcillo
May 27, 2008, 2:41 PM
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Registered: May 19, 2005
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Hi, i´m from Zaragoza, but now i'm not living there.
If you want clean climbing, in Aspe valley, you can climb the "arista de los murcielagos" in the Aspe pic (no bolts there/level more or less 6a). Near of here but in France next to the border line you have the Midi d'osso pic (the most).
Riglos is next to there too, if you can climb there, you never forget it. 300m routes ( clean or sportive) with surplombs in a rock with bolos (big potatoes).
if you want 1 pitch routes you can go to Rodellar, is a paradaise. And there are a lot off places more, but i haven't time to explain.
good climbing.
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giovin
May 30, 2008, 1:32 PM
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Thanks for the info!!!!
Filippo
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Maxx640
Jun 4, 2008, 9:10 PM
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Registered: Mar 28, 2008
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Hi,
I live near the Aspe Valley so I'll try to give you tips.
A good book is "Passages Pyrénées" by Rainer Munsh, it has lots of medium to hard routes in the area.
I'll proceed in three categories: treks, trad and bolted. I know the french side better so won't talk about Spain.
1: Bolted: You have two great sites in the valley. La Mâture is close to the Somport tunnel, and is enormous. It has tons of routes from 4a to 7c, it is a beautiful place above a fort. Picture here:  and the guide here: http://www.puiseux.name/...e/ch91-93.htm#mature
Then you have Pène d'Udapet that is further down the Valley with routes very safely bolted between 6a and 6c but multi-pitch.
2. Treks: Above the Cirque de Lescun you have stunning walks, if you go towards Pic d'Annie that you can't miss. You should do Lescun-Ansabère-Annie. At the foot of the Pic d'Annie you have a giant natural stone labyrinth. You could go towards the old Volcano, pic du Midi d'Ossau too.
3.Trad: On every single mountain you can see in the area are trad routes. You should check out routes on the Ansabère tower: 
There are some not too hard routes on that but the rock is rather crumbly.
You could try nice ridges in 3 and 4 grade around Balaïtous, you can link three of them with bivouak on a ledge. At last you have the Orgues de Camplong that are beautiful but quite hard:
There is so much stuff to do in the area though, it's not a week you need but years 
Don't hesitate to contact me for more specific information.
Max
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giovin
Jun 6, 2008, 8:45 AM
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Registered: Oct 18, 2006
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Wow! Thanks Maxx, also for the pics. Now i'm getting even more excited to come and see the place!!!
Since i'll be there for less than a week, I'll probably have to cut the sport climbing, in order to see more places. Treks and long scramblings sounds great. What about that Balaitus ridge link? That sounds intriguing. Thx for the info about the guidebook, i'll try to look for it.
Uh, what about camping/lodging? Any recommendations?
Filippo
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Maxx640
Jun 10, 2008, 8:29 AM
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Registered: Mar 28, 2008
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Hi Filippo,
No problem, I like to be told the good spots when I go somewhere, so I try and help out when I can.
The Balaïtous mountains are a little east to the Aspe valley, but it's not a long drive, about 1h30. You will be in a parallel valley. I'll still give you the information as it is really exceptional.
Balaïtous is the first 3000m peak going from the West. The rock is granite. To get there, you must go to a village called Arrens then walk to Larribet refuge. From there the ridge is 1h30 away on foot. It is grade III and IV up to the summit, so it can be called scrambling. The first ridge (Arête Nord-Occidentale) takes 5 hours, it is 500m long.
The rest is more interesting as you are going along a saw: up and down teeth.
The second ridge (Arête de Costérillou) is accessible from under the summit, so you go down a little to join it. It is longer than it looks. There is one pitch of IV and the rest is three but you need constant attention, with the emptiness on each side. At the end of this 5 hour ridge, you can find a place to bivouak, enjoy the beautiful scenery and watch the stars...
The next day, or the same if you are fast and very fit, you attack the last ridge(Crête du Diable: crest of the Devil), that is a continuation of the second ridge. It is grade IV. This one is about 4 hours and finishes with one rappel down and a 2 hour walk to the car.
If it interests you I can scan the guide, but it is in French.
For a nice scramble you can also do the ordinary route on Pic du Midi d'Ossau, the symbol of the area, an old volcano. It is closer to Aspe valley.
As for camping or lodging, I can't advise you anything in particular. It would be a good idea to stay at the entrance of the valley in Oloron Sainte Marie as access to everything would be easier, but for a beautiful place, try Lescun village higher up. The other villages are a bit gloomy in the closed high-sides valley.
Voilà, don't hesitate for any other questions!
Max
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elwood54
Mar 10, 2009, 4:12 PM
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Registered: Jul 8, 2005
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Hey guys,
My girlfriend, another friend and I are planning on heading to the Pyrenees for a little under a week at the end of June. I have come across some information on this website:
http://www.climb-europe.com/spain/RockClimbingPyrenees.htm
and plan on purchasing their guidebook:
http://www.climb-europe.com/RockClimbingShop/Pyrenees-Rock-Climbing-Guidebook.html
but until that comes in, I have a few questions to help make our plans! We will be flying from Mallorca, and we are trying to figure out which of three airports in Barlcelona to fly into. Our problem is that we are not sure which of the areas on the map are the best for moderate (4+ - 6a+) single-pitch sport climbs.
According to the map above, there seems to be two clusters to choose from where we can spend our time:
---#1 & 2: Sadernes & Montgrony
OR
---#9-12: San Llorenc de Montgal, Tartareu, Santa Linya, Camarasa
We plan on being in the area for five days, climbing for three of these, and any advice that you can offer would be great. If we know where we are heading, we can begin to look for the plane ticket and for a place to stay. Any other advice is more than welcome!
Thanks again,
Michael
(This post was edited by elwood54 on Mar 10, 2009, 4:15 PM)
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