Pyrenean Triple Crown. A large-scale adventure

Editorial: From Travesía Pirenaica, we are excited to share this adventure signed by Geert van Nispen, one of the European references in self-sufficiency and long distance in the mountains. His challenge: to join GR10, GR11 and HRP in a single trip. Here is his account, in first person.

This article is an authorised translation of the original published by Geert van Nispen on his website: Pyrenean Triple Crown aircraft. Een avontuur van formaat

There are moments in life when something begins to tremble deep inside you. A whisper, a call that you cannot ignore. That's how it began for me: the call of the Pyrenees. It is as if these mountains, ancient and wise as the earth itself, wanted to say something. Their silence has a voice, their shadows a history. And that story has become mine. My Pyrenean Triple Crown adventure was born.

Pyrenean Triple Crown Adventure

I call it my Pyrenean Triple Crown adventure. A great adventure as a present to myself for my fiftieth birthday. A large-scale trek through the Pyrenees, through a world that is as wild as it is breathtaking. An adventure that takes me along three routes that together form the backbone of this mountain massif: the French GR10, the Spanish GR11 and the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne, the HRP. Three lines through time, three ways of reading the mountains. Together they form a whole, a path of fire, stone, silence and infinite horizon.

📋 The "Pyrenean Triple Crown is a concept inspired by the renowned "Triple Crown"The Triple Crown is a challenge to complete three of the most iconic long-distance treks in the United States. The American Triple Crown is a challenge that involves completing three of the country's most iconic long-distance routes: the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Appalachian Trail (TA) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). These trails total more than 12,000 kilometres through some of the most breathtaking scenery in North America. HERE ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROUTE.

A rock artery

The Pyrenees are more than just mountains. They are a border, a wall between two worlds. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea they stretch like an artery of rock. Their peaks rise above three thousand metres. Its valleys whisper stories of ancient peoples, of adventurers, of struggle and resistance. Romans walked here, fugitives took refuge, monks prayed in monasteries that seem to be fused with the rock. Everything breathes history. And when you are there, you feel like you are part of something much older than yourself.

I don't want to just climb those mountains. I want to live in them, disappear in them, breathe in them. Movement is not a sport for me, but a form of existence. Every step, every breath is a conversation with the world. When I walk, I feel alive. The ground beneath my feet, the smell of the damp earth after the rain, the rhythm of my breath merging with the rhythm of the mountain. That is the language in which I find myself again.

At the limit

Why this adventure? Because I want to know how far I can go. Not in kilometres, but in strength, in will, in commitment. I want to test my body, but perhaps even more my mind. To look for the limit where tiredness turns into rest, where fear turns into focus, where silence is not empty, but full of meaning. Because only there, at that edge, I feel I live.

There is something mystical about the Pyrenees. There is an air of magic, as if each valley holds a secret. Sometimes you walk through the all-engulfing mist and feel as if the world ceases to exist for a moment. Then, suddenly, the sun breaks through the clouds and everything seems to be reborn. In that constant change lies its power. You can never own the mountains, you can never understand them. You can only merge with them, respect them, let them in. And maybe, just maybe, they will let you in too.

Small, almost insignificant

I will make this journey, like all my adventures, self-supported. Everything I need I take with me: tent, sleeping system, clothes, food. No luxuries, no certainties, just the bare necessities. Sometimes I will sleep in mountain huts or in my tent. But most of the time, under the stars. The sound of running water will be my lullaby, the whisper of the wind my companion. The days will be long, the paths endless. Sometimes I will get lost. Sometimes I will doubt. And there I will find myself.

Mountains know no compassion. They demand respect, discipline, humility. Sometimes the weather will change without warning. Thunder in the distance, rain that turns the paths into rivers. The sun that burns your skin or the night cold that slowly penetrates your bones. And then, the realisation: here I am small, almost insignificant, but at the same time part of something immeasurably big.

The truth of simplicity

Nature in its purest form teaches you the truth of simplicity. Finding water becomes a ritual, eating a gift. Every step takes on meaning. And in between all these physical challenges unfolds another journey, the inner journey. The confrontation with yourself, with your thoughts, your fears, your tiredness. But also with your desire, your perseverance, your drive to keep going, even when it becomes difficult.

The Pyrenees are a world unto themselves. Forests that smell of resin and humidity, valleys where marmots whistle, eagles circling high in the sky. And when night falls, the mountains become still. Then a peace descends that can be found nowhere else. The air becomes thin, the colours fade, the sky opens up. Thousands of stars appear and the realisation comes that here, in this place, you are part of something eternal.

Every journey begins with a first step. But this adventure begins with a promise. A promise to myself to dare to embrace the unknown. To not give up in the face of cold, fatigue or doubt. To listen to what the mountains have to tell me. Because this adventure is not just about walking, running or covering distance. It's about letting go. About trusting. About rediscovering simplicity in a world that often spins too fast.

The human being in its purest form

I love these mountains. Not only for their beauty, but for their honesty. They do not lie. They give what they want to give and take what they must take. Their strength is raw, indifferent and at the same time comforting. Because in their silence hides a truth that we often forget: that we don't need to fight to exist. That breathing, moving, being present can be enough.

The Pyrenean Triple Crown adventure is more than a crossing for me. It is a symbol. Of dedication, of passion, of the desire to feel what it means to be human in its purest form. I want to cross these mountains like water flows: without rushing, without forcing, but following. To let myself be guided by the lines of the landscape, by the breath of the wind, by the rhythm of my heart.

Imagine: the first sunrise over the Aneto, the air gently lighting up, the cold stone under your hand, the smell of pine trees and snow. An eagle soars, the sun casts its first light over the valley. At that moment everything stops. No hurry, no aim, just presence.

That's what I'm looking for. Not the peak, but that feeling. That infinitely small moment of calm in the midst of chaos. There, between heaven and earth, between breath and silence, that's where I live.

My Pyrenean Triple Crown adventure is not a competition. It is an ode to life. To the mountains and to nature. To movement and the courage to listen to the call of something bigger than yourself. And who knows, if you read this, maybe you too will hear that call. Perhaps not from the Pyrenees, but from your own mountains.

Dare to respond. The road awaits you.

The beauty of the Pyrenees in all its splendour.