Advice on Aneto (Pyrenees)

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DomBPT1 28 Mar 2018

Thinking of climbing Aneto this year starting the ascent from Renclusa. Just looking for some advice on the ascent from anyone who has previously summited ? Is it possible without ropes ? The mahoma crossing looks risky but I've heard it is possible without equipment. Will be aiming for a summertime trip (June/July) so hoping i won't need crampons and axe, but yet again i'm not 100% on that. Any advice is appreciated. Cheers

http://benasque.org/benasque2/hiking/aneto.pdf - The planned route

 Doug 28 Mar 2018
In reply to DomBPT1:

Although I've walked & skied in that part of the Pyrenees I've never climbed Aneto. But I have seen several accounts on here in the past, including comments by frequent poster Toby Archer (Toby A). Try searching for Aneto + Toby & see if that finds anything useful.  Looking at the route from a distance I would have expected the glacier approach to need crampons in normal summer conditions

 shantaram 28 Mar 2018
In reply to DomBPT1:

I have climbed Aneto many times via this route, but last time was around 15 years ago. Crampons and ice axes were necessary then for the glaciated section, but crevasses were insignificant so a rope was not essential for the glaciated section. However the final ridge section to the main summit is easy, but very exposed climbing so you might want a rope for this section if you weren't confident soloing Mod/Diff terrain.   

In reply to DomBPT1:

I soloed it about 4 years ago in late July. Perfectly fine. Bivvied an hour above the hut. Bit tricky to find the correct slot through the rocky ridge to the glacier but no great mischief if you can't. The groups coming out of the hut will show the way.  The mahoma crossing is fun if you like scrambling above a big drop and its not iced up. 

I found the glacier fine solo. But its up to you, obviously. I had an axe and crampons. 

In reply to DomBPT1:

I did the glacier crossing without crampons as a foolish youth (I didn't own any). It's steep at the end. I'd strongly recommend crampons, even mid summer. 

A rope on the glacier would be up to you, but in dry conditions on a nice day most people would probably consider it overkill. As others have said, the rock ridge to the summit is exposed but easy. I'm not sure it's even as hard as Moderate. If you're confident on high grade UK scrambles and it's not snowy/icy then I would not consider it particularly risky. Don't fall off, obviously...

It's a great day out

 

 Jasonic 28 Mar 2018
In reply to DomBPT1:

You can hire crampons/axe from refuge, no crevasses 4 years ago, top section to summit is an easy but exposed scramble.

redsonja 29 Mar 2018
In reply to DomBPT1:

We climbed Aneto from the other side (Coronas) in august. We camped beside the lakes above the refuge. It's a lot quieter this side and we didn't see many people until we reached the ridge and met everyone coming from Renclusa. We needed ice axe and crampons and used a rope on the final ridge, but it's not that hard if you are confident without one and don't fall off! It's a fantastic mountain and well worth climbing. Enjoy!

 Rafan 23 Apr 2018
In reply to DomBPT1:

Not really any need of rope as the glaciar has little to no crevasse dangers... In "el paso de Mahomma" you may want to set a rope up if you're not comfortable with that amount of exposure though...

I'd recommend going up the glaciar de la Maladeta and climb the Maladeta, traverse the ridge and rappel down to the glaciar del Aneto (there's your excuse to take a rope), traverse the glacier and finally cross el paso de Mahomma up to Aneto. That way you'll take to very nice summits for the price of one and you won't feel bad for carrying the rope if you don't feel you need it at el paso de Mahomma. Furthermore, Maladeta has probably one of the most beautiful sights in all of the Pyrenees...

Depending on the amount of snow you could also forget about el paso de Mahoma, bivy in Collado Coronas and climb up the Corredor Estasen: a nicer and least frequented route.


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