UKC

Hi all,

I'm going to be staying in Benasque in September and am looking for a challenging (ideally >3000m) one day climb in the area.  I'm a beginner, decent fitness and have previously completed Aneto with a guide, have essential gear and a car.

Happy to get up very early, but looking for a physically challenging but straightforward and non-technical route.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Simon

I'd suggest buying a guide book.

NB a walking guide - not a climbing guide!!±

One thing I would add is that in September, the risk of difficulty from any remaining snow is extremely small, to the point of being negligible, so certainly don't plan on taking any winter equipment. However, while the weather is usually very stable in September, nights can be pretty cold at altitude by then, so do make sure you're suitably equipped if there's any chance at all of being benighted.

Hi mate,

If you're looking to put yourself through some pain you can do Pico de Posets in one day, doing it via the normal route.

I made a video on a different route (called Espadas-Posets) on Posets that's a lot more challenging (link below of video I made on it), but they share the same starting point, and both routes pass by the refuge.

youtube.com/watch?v=Lva8MDkp82E&

I'll give you some info and advice on the normal route.

You'll have to drive 5 minutes from Benasque to the Village of Eriste. The most important thing is to then drive to the carpark called Parking Espigantosa, next to a beautiful waterfall with the same name. The drive up to here will save you 2 hrs of walking, a mistake I made when I actually walked from Eriste because of the dirt track. The road to the waterfall is half asphalt half dirt, it's actually alright, I just got scared of it initially.

Alltrails worked a charm for me on Posets, I'll leave the link for the normal route below.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/spain/huesca/pico-de-posets?mobileM...

Take a powerbank and cable for your phone, have plenty of food and water and grab a torch!

You won't need crampons or an ice axe, the most difficult thing you'll encounter is scree in the last part of it. The challenging part is the duration, expect the day to be anywhere from 12 to 14 hours.

Go and smash this and drop me a comment later if you did it!

Sorry to hijack, but what do people think about doing the Col des Tentes to Bréche de Roland in mid August with a 10 year old with no poles or spikes? She's a fairly competent scrambler.

Do you mean via the Refuge de Sarradets ? If so from a little above the refuge to the breche is snow/ice although how much will vary between years. Its not particularly steep but not sure I'd want to try it without crampons/ski sticks &/or ice axe. Here's a description from a French site which seems fairly accurate,

Note the line "Cette randonnée particulièrement fréquentée est toutefois un peu délicate. Les passages du ruisseau et du névé peuvent être difficiles. Cette course n'est à entreprendre que par bonnes conditions météorologiques et surtout pas des personnes aguerries à ce type de randonnée."

https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-la-breche-de-roland/

Did the Grande Fache in a day from the road many years ago. It Just reaches 3000m I think. Thats was in September too.

Nice video and great looking route. Some of that ridge looks wild even with the lens distortion. 🙂

Yes, I think i do. I wasn't sure at first, because the refuge is also called Refuge de la Breche. That is the easiest way from Col des Tentes, isn't it? Is there a way without snow involving going on the Spanish side? I'm starting to think that we can go up and see what it's like. We'll have a few sticks between us, so who knows. To get to the snow field involves going through a bit of waterfall anyway, doesn't it? That could be exciting enough. 

Thanks

I've walked up to the breche from the Refugio de Góriz & there was no snow although there is a short section with cables, etc although they are not really needed. We then went up Le Taillon & I think we did end up on some snow either on the ridge or descending by a more direct route but we had ski sticks & the snow was soft as it had been in the sun for several hours. That was in late September.

That's really useful, thanks. If anyone's doing the Taillon, it'll only be me as the others will refuse. Cables on tricky sections sounds fun for them. I don't think I can be bothered with the faff of real via ferrata, but that kind of thing will add a little something

A quick glance at relevent guidebooks will reveal that around the Pyrenees there are a fair number of 3000m peaks accessible easily in a day with walking or easy scrambling. I have done many such and Pic de Campbiel, Grande Fache, Pic de Garmo Negro, Taillon and Petit Vignemale all come immediately to mind. However the Benasque area is not particularly suitable - doing peaks from the valley is a long slog, though perfectly possible for the fit and keen. Personally I have always used huts in the Posets and Maladeta to take the edge off the climb. There are more options for straightforward one day ascents to 3000m around Panticosa, Gavarnie or Neouvielle.

Thank you mate, that video is awesome and I think we're going to give this a shot.  Exactly the sort of thing we are looking for.  Many thanks and I'll report back!

Simon

Thanks you, we have a second day so will have a look at some of these for secondary routes, cheers

Simon