The South Ridge of the Pène Sarrière is a real knife edge affair. A stunning fin of rock up on the hillside above the ski area of Gourettes. Despite its outrageously exposed faces, the climbing on the ridge is actually quite amenable. In fact, the Guidebook suggests that one should not rush and savour the airy positions.
We'd decided the night before that we'd go for a team ascent. We went up a little behind Barney and Sinead, who were kind enough to take a few photos of us as we snapped some of them. They'd just started moving onto the ridge proper when we got up there (about an hours walk from the van).
The first section looked terrifying! Barney was perched with a leg either side of the ridge as he belayed.
We got roped up and psyched up ready to follow! Would it really be as easy as the book suggested?...
Clare set off first along a traversing section above a huge drop, which you can't see in this photo.
I carried on past her to a bolted belay. Usually this would be a good thing, but the bolts looked very old and didn't inspire much confidence!
There are several peaks to surmount along the way and thankfully the climbing was all very straightforward (as long as you don't look down much!).
At times we could climb, at times we shuffled and every now and then just walked along the crest.
We'd got about half way along, when the clouds started rolling in.
Usually this would be the cause of massive concern, worry and increased speed, but today we knew it was just non-threatening mists. And we also knew that it wasn't far to the end of the ridge too. It merely added to the ambiance.
Soon the entire valley was filled with cloud - every now and then we'd get a glimpse of the neighbouring peaks.
As we continued to traverse, the sun would break through periodically and we'd be treated to a Brocken-spectre show, with our silhouettes encased by a rainbow. Magic moment stuff.
As instructed, we took our time and celebrated each summit as they passed!
The longest and final pitch took us up onto the last summit, from where we could walk back down the valley. Barney and Sinead had finished ahead of us but had waited for us to walk down to town together (thanks guys!) which made for a great finish to the day.
The ski resort if Gourettes has nothing much going for it at this time of year, so we went back to the campsite to relax over a brew and compared notes from the route.
It had been a brilliant day. As it was still only late afternoon, we decided to make a move and head over the boarder to Spain to check out the other side of the Pyrenees, while the others headed beachward...
Pène Sarrière:
South Ridge, AD***
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