Vignemale from Bujaruelo. Ascent via the Moskowa corridor and the Lady Lyster pass and the crown route (8 three-thousanders).

Pyrenees and mountains 📩

This week we are going on a route to the Vignemale or Comachibosa, the massif with the most alpine character in the Pyrenees. A two-day route following the steps of the first ascensionists through the Moskowa corridor and the col of Lady Lyster, where we will crown eight 3.000m peaks: Pico Central, Montferrat, Espalda Chausenque, Punta Chausenque, Piton Carré, Pique Longue, Clot de la Hount and Cerbillona.

THE VIGNEMALE MASSIF

The Vignemale massif is unique in the Pyrenees. Its north face, with the Pique Longue in the centre of the wall, plunges 800 metres towards the Oulettes, and some of the most emblematic routes in the Pyrenees, such as the legendary couloir de Gaube, have been traced along its walls and corridors.

The high part forms an elegant crown of three-thousanders inside which is the Ossoue glacier, the only glacier with a tongue in the Pyrenees and the second largest (32 hectares in 2009, sixteen hectares less than in 2002). The complete route of the ridge is a must for collectors of three-thousanders. Up to 16 can be linked in a single day, as described by Miquel Capdevila in his mythical book of the 212 three-thousanders in 30 days.

The south face, which looks impregnable, was the only place where the first ascensionists found a feasible place to climb, and it is here, along the key section of the original route, that our route runs.

SUMMARY

From the Bujaruelo refuge we will follow the GR11 up the course of the Ara to the Cerbillonar refuge, where we will spend the night. The next day we will climb up the left side of the Labaza ravine (right bank) to the Labaza snowfields to go up the Moskowa corridor and come out at the Lady Lyster pass. From here we climb to the right following the ridge to the nearby Pico Central (3,235m) and then to Montferrat (3,219m). We descend to the glacier and climb up to Espalda Chausenque (3,154m) to continue along the ridge to Punta Chausenque (3,204m) and Piton Carré (3,197m). Back on the glacier, we will climb the normal route to Pique Longue (3,298m), the highest point of the massif. Continuing along the ridge we crown Clot de la Hount (3,289m) and Cerbillona (3,247m) before reaching Lady Lister col again. The descent, by the same route, is already familiar.