The Pyrenees XL

This mountain range in Southwest Europe is approximately 430 km in length, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Biscay. Standing 3,400 tall at the Pic d’Aneto, the Pyrenees form a border between France and Spain. On the French side, the range crosses two regions and six departments. On the Spanish side, it crosses seven provinces and four autonomous communities. Three long-distance hiking paths meet here: the GR10, the GR11 and the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne. Traditionally the mountain range is divided into three sections: the Atlantic Pyrenees, Central Pyrenees and Eastern Pyrenees. There are 129 main summits and 83 secondary summits in total exceeding 3,000 metres in altitude. The geological points of interest in the area include the Brèche de Roland (Roland’s Breach), a 40 m-wide and 100 m-high natural gap in the cliffs situated above the Cirque de Gavarnie. Although the term “alpinism” has become synonymous with sporting achievement, “pyreneism”, which appeared in the late 19th century, considers the physical experience of the mountains as inseparable from the aesthetic and cultural emotion that they arouse.