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Copyright © 2002 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

Nov 1 - 3, 2002

Once Again Through Ice and Snow

On Detours to Aneto

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: Spain, Pyrenees, Campo, Castejon de Sos, Benasque, Monte Aneto, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

Monte Aneto Ascent Summary

There is a Southern and a Northern Route to Aneto. The Southern Route is 1h 30min less to walk, there is less glacier to cross, but the access via dirt road is some 10km longer. The approach to the Southern Route is from the South. Total ascent time is 4h 20 min. Total ascent is 1470m of altitude. This is all I know about the Southern Route. The rest of this travelogue discusses the Northern Route.

Day 1: (Northern Route)

• Approach by car
  • Campo, follow C-139 road
  • Castejon de Sos
  • Benasque, 1138m
  • 11km after Benasque on right hand side: take paved dirt road towards Llanos de Hospital, also called Hospital de Benasque (hotel, restaurant, services)
  • 13km after Benasque you reach Llanos de Hospital
  • in winter: park here
  • in summer: drive 3km more until you reach the end of the road (16km after Benasque). The parking lot is called "Besurta", 1890m.

Day 2: (Northern Route)

• Fact Sheet:
  • Totel Ascent Time: 5h 40 min
  • Total Ascent: 1550m of altitude
  • Total Descent Time: 4h
• 00h 00min: Besurta Parking Lot (1890m) (suggested departure time is 7a.m.)
  Up to Rencluse refuge are good yellow and white markers. The route is easy to find and is partially rock-paved (in Roman style).
• 00h 40min: Rencluse Refuge (2140m)
  From here on there are no more markers until the peak. It is easy to get lost here. 5min after the refuge a meadow and medium steep incline towards a colored pole starts. Do not take it. It is wrong. For the correct way, 5min after the refuge you stay as much to the left (South East) as possible. 5min after the refuge the correct trail starts climbing directly into the boulders.
• 02h 40min: Fork
  You reach a fork. It is usually not visible. But the trail splits here. Don't get lost. Most people go incorrectly straight (South). This leads towards a pass higher up and further south. I would not recommend it as it is not crossable during winter. When you get to this fork, at the last moment a gap should appear in the mountain chain, the ridge. This gap is narrow, only some 10m wide in the narrowest spot and very steep. This is the gap/pass that you should take. So make a sharp right turn towards East, and climb steeply uphill towards this gap. When you reach the top of this chute, walk some 5min south to find the second chute. The second chute is also narrow and steep. This second chute -- some 150m long -- ends at the pass.
• 03h 10min: Portillon Superior (Upper Pass) (2908m)
  This is the pass. If you reach a rain measurement cone or cylinder, then you are wrong. The correct pass/gap is to the North of this rain measurement cone/cylinder. After you have crossed the pass, the trail goes downhill some 100m and then reaches the glacier. From the pass you see for the first time the Aneto peak. You will not loose sight of it until you stand on the peak. You follow the glacier uphill towards the peak.
• 05h 00min: Col de Coronas (Crown Saddle) (3198m)
  You can step up to the ridge here and look down the other (Eastern) side. Most people stay some 20m below the ridge. It is not essential that you climb to the ridge. You stay on the glacier. In some parts the glacier is steep. You need crampons. Ice axe might be helpful sometimes. Rope is not essential but should be brought just in case.
• 05h 35min: Passage de Mahoma (Passage de Mahomet, Mahoma Passage) (3398m)
  5min before reaching the peak it gets a bit difficult. This is the most dangerous part. A 20m passage must be crossed. This 20m passage is very exposed. In other words, to the left and right it goes downhill nearly vertical. Unskilled people or people afraid of heights should not cross. It is usually done without rope, but a rope would provide additional safety. Falling here would most likely mean death. No rock climbing skills are needed. Hand and footholds can be found. In winter this passage is usually crossed in crampons.
• 05h 40min: Aneto Peak (Cumbre de Aneto, Pic d'Aneto) (3404m or 11165ft)
  You have reached the top. You are on the highest peak of the Pyrenees. There is a cement cylinder and a metal cross at the top. The panorama view is as follows: Posets W; Vignemale WNW; Perdiguère, Pic du Midi de Bigorre NW; Maupas NW; Sauvegarde N; Crabère NE; Mauberné NE; Mont Valier NE; Montardo E; Bessiberri E; Ballibierna S; Turbon SSW; Cotiella SW.
• 09h 40min: Besurta Parking Lot (1890m)
  You walk the same route back again. From the peak to the Besurta Parking Lot it takes about 4h.

Options:

• You can split the 1-day trip into 2 days.
• You can spend the first night at the Rencluse Refuge (2140m). It fits 110 people and is open from June to September, and during weekends in the skiing season. Phone: +34 974 552 106. Web: www.fam.es/refugios/renclusa.htm
• Bring a tent and you can camp near the refuge or in a snow camp up in the glacier after crossing Portillon Superior.

Dangers:

• You should have basic skills of walking on ice and snow with crampons and ice axe
• On last 5 min easy climbing is required (two hand- and two footholds are available for every move)
• Difficult climbing not required (hand- and footholds are not missing, does not requires rock climbing techniques such as hand jamming)
• The most dangerous spot: Mahoma Passage (20m)

Weather, Temperatures, Etc.:

• Best time of the year: June through July
• Most crowded time of the year: anytime, August
• Temperature: expect temperatures below freezing point on the peak at any time of the year; but the sun can be strong in summer.

Things to Bring:

• The usual: crampons (a must), ice axe (useful), rope (bring it and decide on the spot if needed)
• Helmet is not required
• Head-mountable flashlight (especially in winter time)
• Sleeping bag will not be necessary

References:

• Renclusa Refuge: www.fam.es/refugios/renclusa.htm
• Maps and Description: http://www.pyrenees-team.com/pteam/randos/aneto/1

Photos:

• In Webs like www.peakware.com
• In http://www.pyrenees-team.com/pteam/randos/aneto/1

Now to the details.

Aneto and Back

Unlike on our usual hiking adventures it was required to get up early. It was late in the year, winter already. The summer round-trip time was officially some 10 hours. Now in winter it would take longer and there is daylight only from 7:30 a.m. till 6:30 p.m. We had some 11 hours to walk in 11 hours of daylight. Hence, getting out of the sleeping bag at 6 a.m. was unfortunately unavoidable.

At the first daylight we were at the Rencluse Refuge. For a mountain refuge it is not a pleasant sight. It is being remodeled and old bricks, sandbags and other construction garbage was littering the place and surroundings. We headed SSW towards a colored pole and ascended gently through a meadow. This was our first mistake on our ascent. Of course, at this time we didn't know that yet. An hour later as we reached more altitude we spotted many hikers further east. Obviously we -- and the 20 others that had followed me -- were wrong. It was time to correct our mistake. We cut across some rocky terrain to reach the area where we had seen the people.

Now that we had hooked up with the other people we followed the crowd. Given that it was November I was surprised by the amount of people. Instead of the expected dozen we found ourselves surrounded by 30 people in the immediate distance and certainly there were some 60 to 100 people on the mountain in total. Amazing. Being the highest peak in the Pyrenees it is a very popular destination, at any time of the year it seems.

At 2200m we started running into snow and ice and we had to put on the crampons early. Some 3 hours into the hike we had reached the point where to the east a gap becomes visible in the ridge. According to the guide book and the route instructions this is where the mountain needs to be crossed. However, everybody headed south instead of eastward towards the pass. Out of the 20 people in our vicinity only 2 had chosen the route towards the pass as described in the route. I talked to the people here because there was no obvious choice. When someone told me that his friend had been here before and is also heading south I assumed that they must know something that I do not know. This was a mistake of course. Once again, we chose the wrong path and once again we would get temporarily lost. But like before it would take us another hour to find out that we were walking into the wrong direction.

The sun was coming out but luckily we were still on the western side of the ridge and hence in the shade. I was hot enough burning energy to climb up the snowy slope. I didn't need the extra heat from the sun. As we slowly got closer to the ridge we got surprised. People were coming back! Quickly the news spread. At the ridge it was impossible to get down into the area of the glacier. In other words the ridge was not passable here. I am skeptical by nature and don't believe everything people say. Something that is not passable for some people might be perfectly passable for other people. But more and more people came back, including people that had the looks of mountaineers with ice axe and rope on their backpacks. Slowly I got convinced and realized we had lost the way for the second time on our ascent.

Knowing better now that we should have followed the description in the guide we headed downhill again, but towards the ridge to find a shortcut to the pass. We did find that pass heading down close to the ridge. Instead of from below we entered the pass from above. We lost some time but at least it was not necessary to go all the way back to the beginning of the chute that leads up towards the pass.

As we crossed the pass we saw the peak for the first time. Between us and the peak lay a large glacier. Unlike other glaciers this one didn't seem to have any ruptures. No crevasses and no big cubes of ice were in sight. Just smooth snow and ice.

It looked all very easy from here. The book talked about some difficult part at the end but from here none of that was in sight. The footmarks led a clear trail through the glacier. The snow was clean and white and sparkling in the sun. There was little time to enjoy the scenery as we were under time pressure. We had lost valuable time getting lost twice and not keeping a good pace we would have to walk in darkness the last piece back to the car. At a steady pace without breaks we moved uphill through the glacier. In a few areas it is steep, but nothing in comparison to the incline at Monte Perdido. Closer and closer we got to the top. We could already see some 30 people all standing close together near the peak. Still, however, there was no sight of the difficult part that the book talked about.

Only as we reached the crowd the situation got clear in my mind. The actual peak is separated from the main mountain by an exposed passage. All these people were enjoying their triumph on the secondary, lower peak and only a few ventured across the passage to the real peak. We joined the crowd that had now grown to 50 people on the secondary peak. Here we rested 5 minutes to have better concentration for the crossing. The passage called "Mahoma" or "Mahomet" in French is only some 20m long but very exposed. In other words, to the left and right were vertical walls. Some rock boulders covered in snow and ice had to be crossed here. Slipping here is not recommended as it might be your death sentence.

Carefully we crossed. It took less than 5 minutes and we were on the real peak. A cement column and a steel cross marked the highest point of the Pyrenees. Aneto Peak, 3404m or 11165ft. The weather gods once again had mercy with us, because it was a splendid day. Sunshine, no clouds, relatively warm given that it was winter, and great visibility. The weather report had predicted rain at the end of the day. From up here that looked unlikely. It was time to take the camera out and take pictures of the cross from all angles. The snow was sticky and heavy here on the top from the sun. The peak is a tiny island and there is little to explore. I found a metal plaque some 10m below the peak. First I thought this is commemorating some accident, but it turned out to be just a cheerful note of a mountain club.

After rest a few minutes I checked the time. It was 2 p.m. 7 hours had passed since we left the parking lot. Given the fact that we had lost the trail twice that was not even bad. We could relax a little bit now on the way back and walk with less time pressure. If nothing out of the ordinary happens we should reach the car again just at dusk.

The way back was a bit boring. This time we didn't get lost and hence got to see a few short stretches that were new to us. Especially the two chutes leading down from the Portillon Superior pass were uncharted territory for us. I was kind of glad as we finally left the snow behind us as we reached the 2200m altitude line. After 8 hours it was pleasant to take the crampons off again.

Our timing and finish was perfect. We got to our vehicle at 6 p.m. which gave us some 30 minutes of twilight before the absolute darkness set in. These 30 minutes we could use to take off the boots, take a quick cat shower and perform other typical post-hiking activities. Next was a 15 minute drive to reach the hotel and restaurant at Llanos del Hospital where the dinner -- inside the van, well noted, not inside the restaurant -- formed the concluding highlight of a long day.