The Pic du Midi: An Observatory at 2,876 Metres and a Dark Sky Reserve
Occitanie, France
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Pic du Midi Observer
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375
XP
+100 France
= 475 total
2 days
The Pic du Midi: An Observatory at 2,876 Metres and a Dark Sky Reserve
375 + 100 XP
The Pic du Midi de Bigorre rises to 2,876 metres in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Weather readings began in 1873 at the col de Sensours, 500 m below the peak, and the first earthworks at the summit itself followed in 1875. The Société Ramond began building the observatory in 1878 and in 1882, when the cost outran it, handed it to the French state. Work done here mapped the Moon for the Apollo missions; in 1965 Pierre and Janine Connes's infrared spectra of the atmospheres of Mars and Venus led James Lovelock to conclude that neither planet had life; and Saturn's moon Helene was discovered from the summit in 1980. The two-stage cable car up from La Mongie at 1,745 metres opened in 2000, and the Baillaud dome has held the museum since the same year. In 2013 the International Dark-Sky Association made the Pic du Midi an International Dark Sky Reserve, the sixth in the world and the first in Europe.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Ride the cable car up from La Mongie, changing at the Taoulet station on its own 2,341 m summit, and look up at the two track cables held apart by cavaliers — the only arrangement of its kind in France, which lets this line run in 70 km/h winds where others stop at 50, and buys the summit 35 more working days a year; on the second stage, count the pylons, because there is only one, a hundred metres short of the top
2
of 4
In the Baillaud dome — 8 m across, put up in 1908 and out of service since 2000 — find the full-size model of Bernard Lyot's coronagraph, then take a seat in the 45-place planetarium installed under the same dome in 2016, and outside find the Gentilli dome that holds the 106 cm telescope NASA paid for in 1963 to photograph the lunar surface for Apollo
3
of 4
From the summit terraces, pick out the Bernard-Lyot telescope, France's largest at two metres across, standing on its own 28 m tower deliberately set apart from the other buildings so their heat and turbulence cannot spoil its seeing, and then walk out onto the Ponton du Ciel over the drop
4
of 4
Park up after dark inside the core zone of the Pic du Midi dark sky reserve, the area that carries no permanent lighting of any kind, let your eyes adjust for twenty minutes without a torch, and trace the Milky Way from horizon to horizon — the reserve was the sixth in the world and the first in Europe when it was labelled in 2013
Ride the cable car up from La Mongie, changing at the Taoulet station on its own 2,341 m summit, and look up at the two track cables held apart by cavaliers — the only arrangement of its kind in France, which lets this line run in 70 km/h winds where others stop at 50, and buys the summit 35 more working days a year; on the second stage, count the pylons, because there is only one, a hundred metres short of the top
In the Baillaud dome — 8 m across, put up in 1908 and out of service since 2000 — find the full-size model of Bernard Lyot's coronagraph, then take a seat in the 45-place planetarium installed under the same dome in 2016, and outside find the Gentilli dome that holds the 106 cm telescope NASA paid for in 1963 to photograph the lunar surface for Apollo
From the summit terraces, pick out the Bernard-Lyot telescope, France's largest at two metres across, standing on its own 28 m tower deliberately set apart from the other buildings so their heat and turbulence cannot spoil its seeing, and then walk out onto the Ponton du Ciel over the drop
Park up after dark inside the core zone of the Pic du Midi dark sky reserve, the area that carries no permanent lighting of any kind, let your eyes adjust for twenty minutes without a torch, and trace the Milky Way from horizon to horizon — the reserve was the sixth in the world and the first in Europe when it was labelled in 2013
Before you go
The long nights from October to March give the darkest skies.
The whole site shuts in November and again for about six weeks in spring between the winter and summer seasons: check the operator's opening periods before you plan the drive to La Mongie. Even in season the day's opening depends on weather and on technical checks, posted each morning on the operator's site, and the cable car stops running above 70 km/h of wind. The summit is at 2,877 m and cold in any month; take a warm layer whatever the valley temperature. The cable car takes a midday service break, so a late-morning arrival can mean a long wait.
The Pic du Midi runs two seasons with a shutdown between each: the summer season is continuous from 30 May to 1 November, then the whole site closes for maintenance through November and reopens in early December, running to mid-April before closing again for about six weeks. So November and most of May are blank, and the day itself still depends on the wind — the cable car stops above 70 km/h — with the morning's decision posted on the operator's site.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
375 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
475 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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