Mountain Lifestyle: Big Slab Climbing at Troumouse

Today we really got a mega holiday day out in the mountains. It was fantastic to spend the day surrounded by new views and dramatic mountains. It might just be that we are a bit 'pre-season', but one thing that we've both noticed so far is that the Pyrenees are not busy! We had some real mountain solitude today, that started with a long and winding road up past the village of Gedre. There is a 5 euro toll to drive the final section of switchbacks, which seemed reasonable compared with the unappealing alternative of having to hike up.

Having parked on the corner of one of the many hairpin turns, we located the faint climber's path that led up towards the slabs that our guidebook recommended. It said it was only a half and hour walk, but it looked miles away.

Judging by the vagueness of the path, the place doesn't see many visiting climbers (especially many who have travelled all the way here from Wales!), but we managed to follow up past a few big waterfalls without incident.

Very soon the panorama opened up further and the van looked a long way down! You can just make it out on one of the corners.

There were alpine flowers everywhere and loads of Edlewiess.

In just over the allotted thirty minutes, we arrived at the base of the slabs of 'Dalle du Maillet'. Given the situation, it looked as though we might have hiked for three hours to get somewhere so remote feeling.

The climbing itself turned out to be a mixture of water-worn runnels and smooth slabs. Some pitches were almost too easy and could be padded up without effort; others were steeper and relied on friction and nerves. The route was bolted, but we carried a couple of cams and wires to add in where we could.

We got to the top in five long pitches. It was hot, but a cooling breeze made the temperatures ok. Every now and then, a raft of cloud would lift up from the valley, but there was nothing threatening about the weather.

After four long abseils we arrived back at the base. We had to be quite careful with our ropes as we descended as there was a lot of loose rock lying on the easier angled slabs. Instead of throwing the ropes down, we had to carry coils to avoid tangles and rockfall. We were both very hot by the time we got to the base and my feet were sore from the tight rock shoes. As luck would have it, nearby was a deep plunge pool that we were able to cool off in!

We had a couple of dips, with some food in between, while watching some huge birds (Egyptian Vultures I think) circling around us. At one point I counted 18 in the air! It was a magical sight. Every now and then, pair would traverse the hillside at eye level with us, passing by only 15 metres or so away. They were enormous, with wing spans of easily more than two metres! What a treat!

Refreshed from food, water and our natural jacuzzi, we set off back down the mountain.

We drove the van up to the end of the zig-zags to the Cirque du Troumouse, which was stunning. As more cloud floated slowly past, we sheltered in the shade of the van and had a brew.

The were some impressive rock faces all around. None of which were even mentioned in our guidebooks!

We finished with a short walk around the classic alpine meadows, complete with will cows with bells. It was unbelievably tranquil and still hot in the sunshine, considering it was 7pm at this point.

Eventually we decided to head back down into the valley, which was now filling up with clouds.

It was over a 1000m of descent back to the pad in Luz, and the journey took us right through a thick bank of cloud and out underneath it, to where food, showers and bed awaited...