Vignemale and Vallee de Gaube

 The biggest mountain in the entire French side of the range (at 3,298m), with fine walking in the surrounding French and Spanish slopes ? in particular in the Vallée de Gaube to the north ? and an ascent of the mountain itself.

Really magnificent scenery to the north (think granite, wildly lakes, high broken ridges and the huge Vignemale with its cliffs and glaciers), with views straight onto the mountain?s sheer north face with its surviving glaciers from the refuge in the bowl at the head of the Gaube Valley.

Some of the best walking in the Pyrenees, with lots to do besides the glacier-walking ascent to the great peak itself: ascend Petit Vignemale (3,032m, easy but vertiginous), or Point Chasenque (3,204m). 

Or pass across or out of the Gaube Valley via spectacular cols as part of a longer circuit, which can take you to the Marcadau Valley  or down to pleasant Torla in Spain along the empty Ara Valley, thence if you want on to the Ordesa Canyon and even Garvarnie via the Breche de Roland and round back to the Gaube.