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Snow
report and events now on News |
News and special offers
* Pyrenees Haute Route HRP trek: now 4 weeks available * Video by one of our guests:Snow shoeing on the Youtube site * UPDATED 2009 : Read our visitors' true comments from the last 8 seasons... |
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New slide shows: of |
News
& Happenings
*Photos from
July
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August 16th - 2010 The village fete last night was a lively event, with Rob being press-ganged into joining the Betpouey team (Bareges already having plenty of representatives) in the inter-village games. Things got off to a slow start with the tarmac-skiing event, but Rob's muscle came to the fore in the splash-pool tug-of-war, where Betpouey took the lead. In an unlikely marriage of local "Toys" and English, Betpouey won the tournament after triumphing in the water-pool ping-pong ball mouth-retrieval event. The sun is out this morning,
although the air is chilly with a hint of autumn on the way. We are
looking forward to paragliding and canyoning today, with mountain
biking scheduled for tomorrow. This is our penultimate multi activity
holiday of the Summer, returning to guiding walking during September.
Next week Rob is off to the Eastern Pyrenees to guide stage 4 of our
Pyrenean Haute Route trek, HRP, as they set out into the Ariege and
Andorra. It should be a challenging but spectacular trip. |
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Meadows
at Gavarnie |
Shady baby - lacs de
Glere |
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Gedre canyon
toboggan |
Jenny's first swim |
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Canyon
de Viey, late July |
Timotei advert! |
Weather forecast - last updated 16th August
Sunshine and clear skies on Monday and Tuesday, with hazy sunshine on Wednesday. Rain on Thursday clearing for a fine, warm weekend. The cool temperatures at the beginning of the week will warm steadily, reaching the mid twenties by the end of the week.
Baby Jenny
Our daughter, Jennifer Helene Mason was born on the 19th November weighing just over 8.5lbs. She now has two bottom teeth, and is starting to say a few "words". The next challenge will be crawling. She is already on her knees, but can only go backwards at the moment!
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Jenny
Mason, 5 days old |
Leaving
the hospital |
Snuggling
up after a bath |
Off
for a walk with Daddy |
Tour de France fever
The 2010 Tour de France was a massive event for us, with the Tour celebrating the 100th passing of the Col du Tourmalet. Our guided cycling trip filled up within two days of the release date of the centenary route in October, and we had a really fun week with a multi-cultural group of cyclists here to view the local stages and ride the route for themselves.
The Tour passed through Bareges twice, first on Tuesday 20th July on its way to the Pau finish, and then again on Thursday 22nd for the Col du Tourmalet finish. Despite the wet weather for the finish, there was a record turn-out on the Col, where our group huddled in a tent to view the heroic riders. Adding to the excitement, the "Etape de Tour" for 9000 amateur riders also came through Bareges on the 18th July. The 2011 route has not yet been released, but you can find details of our local stages on the cycling holidays page of our website.
Winter 2010 round-up
Winter 2009/2010 was an interesting one for us, as we got used to the trials and tribulations of parenthood - the main trial being not able to get out skiing every day! Baby Jenny did get one outing up to Laquette in January, but it will be a few years until she is on skis of her own....
The season began early again, with massive snowfalls at the start of November. At 9 months pregnant, I couldn't resist putting on my skis for a photo shoot, but of course I wasn't really skiing fresh powder 2 weeks before having a baby! The ski resort opened on time on the last weekend of November, for some excellent early season conditions. Although things were a little worn by late December, fresh snow on Christmas Eve gave us a magical snowy Christmas - much appreciated by the young family staying with us that week, who celebrated with a pony sleigh ride on the Plateau de Lienz.
January was quiet, and again blessed by heavy snowfalls. We had one perfect day of powder in Laquette, with barely another soul on the slopes, and acres of untracked snow to play with. Thanks to Granny Todd for that morning of babysitting! The slopes remained in great shape through the busy February holidays, with one adventurous family tackling the Contade off-piste route during half term.
The end of the season was one of extremes, with the terrifying "tempete Xynthia" of 28th February (maximum wind speed of 238 kph was recorded on the Pic du Midi) leaving scores of trees down in Laquette and Lienz, and damaging several chairlifts. The following week the snow returned along with bitterly cold weather. Temperatures reached minus 17 degrees, with a windchill of minus 20 and below making it virtually impossible to stay warm on the slopes - but the skiing conditions were superb. By mid March though, the weather shifted to bring sunshine and temperatures in the high teens. Although the snow was soft in the afternoons, the cover remained good on the slopes, and a fresh top up at the end of March left us with nice conditions up to the closure of the resort on the 5th April.
Meanwhile, our season continued with our annual "introduction to ski touring" week 3-10th April. New snow over the weekend made for some powder skiing at the beginning of the week, settling to classic "spring" conditions for the end of the trip. Our intrepid group set out for two refuge expeditions - exploring the snow-filled bowls of the Neouvielle Nature Reserve above the Refuge de la Glere, and culminating with a night at the Refuge de la Breche before topping the Pic du Taillon at 3144m.
Winter has been reluctant to relinquish its hold this year. Glorious Spring sunshine through April was replaced by bitter cold and 80cm of new snow in the first week of May. Snow right down to 800m left the spring lambs quivering in the meadows, and the first wildflowers in shock! By the middle of the month though, the sunshine returned along with the first wild flowers to herald the start of Summer.
Winter 2010-2011 is already on our minds, with the school holiday weeks filling up fast. We are expecting another action-packed season of downhill skiing, snowshoeing, off-piste and ski touring. Please do get in touch if you have a trip to propose, and would like to join the fun.
Any questions about the Pyrenees or us you would like answering? Please mail us.
A selection of photos from Winter 2009-2010
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First
snows in November - Emma on skis at 9 months pregnant |
Rob
buried in early November |
The
village smothered in early December |
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Eric
the berger's cabane, December |
A
rare outing - Castillon chair |
Perfect
powder, Laquette in January |
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Beautiful
Laquette in late January |
Rob
outside Chez Louisette |
Skiing
home to Bareges in January |
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Top
of the Coume Lounque buttons |
Rob
at the halfway station, February |
Nappies
drying on the line in March |
Here
is a short video from our off-piste skiing week at the end of January
2009, and another of Rob on New Year's day - both films were taken in
the Neouvielle Nature Reserve: |
.... and photos from action-packed Summer
2008
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Flippers
at the ready! |
Lounging
in Rio Vero canyon, Spain |
Tour
de France passing the Col in July |
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The
new Via ferrata route |
Hydrospeed
on the Gave de Pau |
Lazy
river - canyoning, Sierra de Guara |
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Mountain
biking with a view |
Paragliding
from the Col du Tourmalet |
Team
Hamish - Canyon de Viey |
.... and from several of our favourite walks from May to September 2008
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| Adventurous walkers - Cirque d'Estaubé | Refuge
Goriz - Gavarnie & Ordesa trek |
Pic
d'Ardiden (what we do on our day off!) |
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HRP trek
- Spanish lakes |
HRP - Dinner
beside Lac d'Arremoulit |
HRP - above
the Pineta canyon |
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Spring
flowers, Plateau de Saugé |
Snow crossing,
Cirque de Gavarnie |
Getting
wet at the Grande Cascade |
We are now taking bookings for Summer 2010. The Pyrenees holidays with a blue background are PROPOSED but not fixed. Holidays with a green background are CONFIRMED. Our calendar is flexible, so please don't hesitate to contact us if you have your own itinerary or dates to suggest. Drop us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with all the information that you need.
**Accommodation-only for independent holiday makers is available throughout**
| Dates 2010 | Euros p/p | Activity | |
| May | 29 | 490 € | Gentle guided walking - FULL |
| June | 5 | 680 € | Intermediate guided walking - FULL |
| 12 | 665-975 € | Accommodation-only | |
| 19 | 680 € | Intermediate guided walking | |
| 26 | 925 € | Intermediate guided walking - Val d'Azun special - FULL | |
| July | 3 | 680 € | Intermediate guided walking - 1 space left (male share) |
| 10 | 680 € |
Intermediate guided walking - |
