UKC

Anyone been to the Pyrenees in April before?

If so what have the conditions been like, i.e weather, snow/ice conditions, glaciers etc.

And does anybody know of maps of the area other than the Editorial Alpina (which don't show cliffs, terrain, the Sierra Nevada map completely misses out a 2200m peak...) maps, which are extremely poor compared to French IGN, OS ?

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

I haven't been in April, but I've experienced proper winter conditions high up in June in the past. I'd have thought there could be significant snow many years.

I'll have a look at what my maps are when I get home. They might well be the Editorial Alpina ones, but the ones we got last time (which is probably 10 years ago before kids arrived) were certainly a whole load better than on earlier trips, even if they weren't up to IGN standards.

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

I think I have IGN maps of Spain, but not 100% sure. They're still not great if you using OS maps as a comparison though.

We had snow overnight when I was in Benasque in August once.

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

Often the best part of the ski mountaineering season.

Editorial Alpina maps are very poor, there is a series at 1:50 000 which are not bad (Rando Edition)

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

Late April and May are usually excellent for avalanches Ski or snowshoe approach needed for most routes.Depending on your aims you can usually get by with the Alpina maps Plenty of choice of local maps + gear available from Barrabes in Benasque (although still not close to OS standards)

http://int.barrabes.com/shop/search.asp?cSearch=map

http://int.barrabes.com/icc-catalunya-aneto-_-posets/p-14910

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

I've been twice at the beginning of April.

Glaciers should be well covered, tonnes of snow (snowshoes could well prove useful), the sun is pretty high in the sky by April, so often only very high shaded routes and gullies might be safe and in good nic (eg Couloir de Gaube, Le Taillon North Face). Great time for mountaineering.
Maps - French side is fine with IGN 1:25,000 and Carte De Randonnees 1:50,000. The Spanish side is more tricky, but 1:50,000 Rando Editions number 23 is best for Benasque.
Weather - could be a big late dump of snow anytime. Can be very settled and getting warm. Cold nights.

In reply to Jamie Hageman:

Thanks for the info! In your previous trips, has the snow been powdery or névé?

What sort of routes were you doing at that time of year? Am thinking of trying to do some gullies and the ridges running from Pico Posets, although it's hard to know what's available without a map.

Any decent kit shops in Benasque? 'Rackandruin' mentioned Barrabes, looks ok on their online shop....?

In reply to The Ghost Rider: Barrabes is one of the biggest on line retailers in Europe and the shop is 3 floors worth of sparkly shiny goodies ! Theres also a couple of other smaller gear shops in Benasque.
Snow conditions could be anything from powder to neve at that time
Worth keeping an eye on this
http://www.alberguesyrefugiosdearagon.com/webcams.php

The Renclusa winter hut is already half buried

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

I've done several of those ridges in summer. The SE Ridge of the Posets is pretty good (Grade 3 scrambling, maybe II/III under snow?) and the Cresta Bardamina Paul to the SE of it is absolutely brilliant! About a mile of arete, mostly quite sharp, with towers at about Mod. The Gourgs Blancs on the north side of the Vall d'Estos is excellent too (Alpine III in summer, probably Scottish IV or so in winter?). Barrabes is excellent, with a good supply of guidebooks to browse or buy, and there are lots of other gear shops (mostly clothes ones though). Hotel El Pilar is friendly & good value & will look after kit while you're up on the hill. Not much English spoken in most places. I found the Alpina 3000 map fine, despite not showing crags - just assume anything steep is rocky and you won't be far wrong. Had a late march/early april trip to the north side one year too, lots of soft powdery snow low down (and one very big storm) but decent frozen stuff in the mornings above 2500m and the ridges got blown clear fairly quickly. It's a magic area, have fun.

Iain

In reply to Doug:


Having had a dig around in the cupboard, I think that's what I've found - this one has Benasque pretty much in the middle
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aneto-Posets-Maladeta-mapa-excursionista/dp/2841821...

Look very similar to IGN mapping, and definitely mark crags though obviously a limit to the detail at 1:50,000

Benasque was well supplied with decent gear shops - expensive to visit

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

In April, fresh snow can consolidate quite quickly in the strong sun, fluctuating temps and long days. I've had good neve on open slopes and in gullies, deep powder in forests (absolute nightmare). Best bet is to sus out conditions on some easy/smaller peaks first. I haven't climbed Posets but it looks superb by the normal route (from the south). The northern route looks to be a little harder with access to the north ridge by a slanting ramp (could be scary in dodgy snow?).
I was climbing peaks solo generally by their normal routes - still challenging and included climbing and down-climbing grade II winter. Pics in my gallery for Lescun, Gavarnie and Cauterets areas.
Bagneres du Luchon is hopefully next on my places to visit. The peaks on the frontier ridge look pretty good (just north of Benasque).
I've got a collection of books by Basque author Miguel Angulo, called 'Pyrenees 1000 Ascensions'. They're hard to find now, but you might be lucky in Benasque. Great books with very fine sketch maps and detailed route info on all the major peaks of the whole range. If there's a particular route or peak that interests you, I can always scan the relevent section. It's in French but you can always Google Translate it.
Another very useful book is 'Pyrenees Courses Mixtes, Neige et Glace' by Francis Mousel - generally higher grade stuff, but inspiring and all good research.

In reply to Carolyn:

Thats the map I've used for the last couple of visits, much better than the Edicion Alpina maps of the same area even though they are at a larger scale. Although you do get a small guidebook included with many of the Edicion Alpina maps (in Spanish).

In reply to The Ghost Rider:

Editorial Alpina for Benasque region is not that bad. That said, if you go with a GPS as primary navaid - have a look at TopoPirineos ( http://topopirineos.blogspot.fr/2012/08/descargas-de-la-version-61.html )- the free and very good map made by a private person based on OSM and spanish official data. The webpage is in Spainsh, but the map is simply great.

As for the conditions, as other said - it's high ski-touring season on Aneto with a lot of transformed snow making a nice base in early hours. The gullies are normally in great conditions.

Apart from Barrabes you have a whole load of shops in Benasque.

For accomodation in the town, I recommend the Spanish School of Mountaineering - decent hut-like accomodation with a parking, climbing wall and relatively small (6pax) rooms.: http://www.alberguesyrefugiosdearagon.com/refugio.php?id=13

Cheers
RS

In reply to Iain Thow:

We traversed Posets last summer, great outing from the Estos Refuge to Angel Orus.
We possibly did the Cresta Bardamina- highly enjoyable scrambling/easy climbing on juggy rock. We started it by a gully mentioned in the Kev Reynolds book- not recommended!

In reply to The Ghost Rider:


It's the best gear shop i've ever been in (and i've been in a few)

In reply to BelleVedere:

They have also an outlet in Huesca (some 2h drive from Benasque), so on rainy day this may be worth a visit too...

RS