Balaïtous

The Balaitús or Pic du Balaïtous is a granitic massif of the Pyrenees, located right on the border between Spain and France.GeographyBalaitús marks the starting point of the High Pyrenees. Its height is 3144m AMSL, and it is the nearest mountain to the Atlantic coast to surpass 3000m. Its name may come from the Occitan words "vath" (valley) and "leitosa" (milky). Another Spanish name for the mountain is Pico de los Moros (Moors' peak).It separates the Spanish Tena Valley (Sallent de Gállego) from the French Val d'Azun.Climbing historyThe first ascent was of the peak was made in 1825 by French geodesic technicians Peytier and Hossard. The second ascent was made in 1864 by Charles Packe.RoutesThere are several ascent routes to the summit, none of them are easy, mainly because of the vertical drop of 1500m from all directions.From France the most frequent route goes through Las Neous glacier starting from any of the refuges nearby: Larribet (2,060 m), Balaïtous (G. Ledormeur) (1,970 m) or Arrémoulit (2,305 m).From Spain the route starts at La Sarra car park, near Sallent de Gállego, climbing via the Arriel lakes or the Respumoso lake.