Pyrenean Alpine Skills Course France

The French Pyrenees offer a wonderful alternative to Alps or Scottish highlands for the aspiring winter mountain traveller. The vastness of these mountains and its many unvisited valleys passes and summits in winter successfully relay an experience of true wilderness. Be it whether you aspire to trek and climb in Scotland or have your sight set on Himalayan size peaks. A more ideal playground to learn the basic requirements for winter mountain travel would be hard to find. By undertaking a closely supervised mountain journey, our introductory course is structured towards increasing your knowledge and confidence in being in the winter mountain environment.

Winter skills

The course covers the learning of such skills as:

» Safety in the winter environment.
» Snowshoeing.
» Assessing avalanche hazard.
» Basic navigation.
» Ice axe and crampon work on varying terrain and conditions.
» Building snow and ice anchors and belays.

Moving together over snow and ice. Construction of snow holes and weather forecasting. A greater understanding of expedition travel will be gained as further skills such as expedition nutrition clothing and winter camp craft will be demonstrated on the journey phase of the course.

Day 1

Arrive Luchon. Settle into guesthouse/hotel. Course briefing covering essential information for the following days and sort out food, personal equipment and group equipment. Local walk on snowshoes. Weather forecasting.

Day 2

Transfer to Mountains. Snowshoe into venue area. This area will always be spectacular but will vary according to local weather and conditions forecast. In the past they have included the Hospice de France, Valle de Benasque and the Vignemale areas. Today we concentrate on learning the use of ice axe and crampons (including ice axe arresting and perhaps a spot of ice climbing) and we do practical assessment of avalanche risk.

Days 3-5.

Mountain journey and ascent of a local mountain(s) in winter conditions.

Emphasis on mountain safety, weather, snow/ice conditions and a chance to fully learn the skills taught on the previous days. We generally stay in a mountain hut but at least one night will be snow holing.

This week will be run every from Saturday (arrival day) to the following Saturday (departure day) for all the winter weeks (mid-December to mid March).
This program is conducted by experienced mountain professionals whose focus is to maximise your experience and enjoyment. The basic premise of this course is to increase your understanding of this fantastic environment and to build your confidence to be able to move in winter conditions safely and independently.

Grab some friends and find out what adventure is all about!


Day 6.

Snow shoe out...

For Accommodation and Luchon valley information see: www.papilio-luchon.com


Cost: £300 per day for up to 4 clients. (Guiding fee only)