The 3rd stage of The Mountain ACademy took place from the 25th October until the 1st of November on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and in Tarn, France. For this 3rd stage we wanted first of all to include the candidates in the choice of the spot and also to have different possibilities of mountaineering and climbing. The Pyrenees arrived naturally as one of the best solutions. So we decided to face the mountains and not to run away to some sunny exotic place.
All Photos: Manu Ibarra
The first 2 days started with mountaineering and a bivouac in the Aneto massif. Huge valleys covered by pines, clear waterfalls falling from the top and grey to red rock ridges above these beautiful peaks...Welcome in the wild mountains! For the ascent of the Pico de Alba, we managed it in "alpine style". The climbing was interesting for many reasons: all the team together on the needles, one sunny side with wonderful granit rock, one dark side on snowy pitches with gloves...After this first day, we managed a collective bivouac, 13 people on few ledges. This experience provided us a real pleasure and a strong reason to be there, all together under the stars.
The day after everybody managed to reach the Punta de Alba with a big smile... As from Tuesday, the sun didn't seem to like us anymore. Snow, fog, wind...since the weather forecast was very bad for all the week in Spain we decided to move and Les Gorges de la Jonte and du Tarn, near Millau, France seemed to be the only area in Europe where the weather was not too bad. Good thing, since this area is one of the most famous place for free climbing.
The candidates were there able to improve their level in rock climbing, in some caves, protected from the snow.
The guides had also the possibility to teach them the bases of aid-climbing: how to use ladders, hooks, micro-nuts, short pitons...A very positive aspect to be organized with the gear and efficient in different adventure playgrounds!
The weather then began to be more cold than wet so the team went climbing in different routes in Gorges de la Jonte, where you can find some cracks and pillars of 120 meters high.
But what impressed us the most was the laughs during climbing, and the cohesion that really exists between all the candidates. Team spirit is now very strong. These young people are really motivated, and spent a lot of time at night, discussing about climbing techniques with the guides. The Mountain Academy candidates are also now used to taking pictures and they really improved their level on how to film their partners. They start to show more and more their experience and their vision of the adventure as a team.
A very positive week again, despite the fact that we had all the seasons (!) in one week and that the team was missing one member, Benjamin, the Austrian candidate, who's still recovering from his broken leg. But he'll be ready for the next stage in L'Argentière la Bessée, France (4th-11th January), focused on ice climbing.
