Mont Valier: The Ariège Summit and the Freedom Trail
Occitanie, France
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Chemin de la Liberté
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400
XP
+100 France
= 500 total
2 days
Mont Valier: The Ariège Summit and the Freedom Trail
400 + 100 XP
Mont Valier stands 2,839m over the Couserans in the Ariège and takes its name from Valerius, the legendary first bishop of Couserans, who the story says climbed it in the 5th century; a later bishop had a marble cross put up there in the 1670s. These same mountains carried the Chemin de la Liberté, the escape route named in 1994, over which 782 people got out to Spain between 1940 and 1944.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Start up the Riberot valley from the Pla de la Lau car park at Bordes-Uchentein, the one standard way in, and follow it towards the col de Faustin on the south side
2
of 5
Sleep at the refuge des Estagnous at 2,246 m, and if you have the gear and the head for a route graded D, take the via ferrata built in 2000 between the refuge and the étang Long — 1,200 m of it, 620 m equipped, hanging over the étang Rond
3
of 5
Reach the 2,839 m summit and find the cross standing there now, inaugurated in September 2012 after the granite one of 1987 was smashed by vandals in 2011 — the latest of a line that is said to start with the bishop Valerius and includes the marble cross Bernard Coignet de Marmiesse raised in the 1670s
4
of 5
Walk a stretch of the Chemin de la Liberté where it crosses the Valier massif, and from high ground pick out the line it takes from Saint-Girons towards the col de la Pale de la Clauère and over into Catalonia at Esterri d'Àneu — the way 782 people got out between 1940 and 1944
5
of 5
From the summit ridge look down the north-east flank onto the glacier d'Arcouzan, the most easterly glacier left in the Pyrenees — about 2.8 hectares in 2013, lying between 2,350 and 2,500 m
Start up the Riberot valley from the Pla de la Lau car park at Bordes-Uchentein, the one standard way in, and follow it towards the col de Faustin on the south side
Sleep at the refuge des Estagnous at 2,246 m, and if you have the gear and the head for a route graded D, take the via ferrata built in 2000 between the refuge and the étang Long — 1,200 m of it, 620 m equipped, hanging over the étang Rond
Reach the 2,839 m summit and find the cross standing there now, inaugurated in September 2012 after the granite one of 1987 was smashed by vandals in 2011 — the latest of a line that is said to start with the bishop Valerius and includes the marble cross Bernard Coignet de Marmiesse raised in the 1670s
Walk a stretch of the Chemin de la Liberté where it crosses the Valier massif, and from high ground pick out the line it takes from Saint-Girons towards the col de la Pale de la Clauère and over into Catalonia at Esterri d'Àneu — the way 782 people got out between 1940 and 1944
From the summit ridge look down the north-east flank onto the glacier d'Arcouzan, the most easterly glacier left in the Pyrenees — about 2.8 hectares in 2013, lying between 2,350 and 2,500 m
Before you go
There is no road and no lift: the summit is reached on foot only, and the source is blunt that this is for experienced, properly equipped walkers. The refuge des Estagnous is guarded in season and booking is compulsory — do not set off expecting a bed. The via ferrata from the refuge is graded D and needs a harness and a kit.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
400 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
500 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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