I’m planning a motorbike trip to the Pyrenees, leaving sometime in the week after Easter, for upto three weeks (I am looking at the long-term forecasts, to try and make sure I get the best weather I can)! I’m probably going to take my IC-705, GRP Mast, Slim-G and Sotabeams 20/40m linked dipole and will look to do some SOTA summits, but…!
…as I’ll be loaded up with camping gear, clothes for a few weeks and all the other paraphernalia I’ll need, there won’t be any space for hiking gear at all (no ruck-sack, walking boots etc.). I’ll be damned if I’ll walk up a mountain in biking leathers and boots! So, I’m looking for any knowledge or advice for summits in the Pyrenees (or nearby) that are considered drive-ups (or ride-ups, in my case). Any summits throughout the middle of France are also probably fair game too, as I’ll be using the Channel Tunnel to cross into France and ride down to the Pyrenees over a couple of days.
Any knowledge of suitable summits would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll definitely look into getting one of those backpacks, which would be handy for using on the bike trip for more than just radio excursions! What radio/antenna’s do you use with that backpack? It looks like many summits are activated using the 40 meter and 20 meter bands. Does anyone use 2 meters at all?
Re-appraising my radio kit, I might just take the KX2 if VHF is dead in the mountains.
I have friends who live 1 hour south of Toulouse and I’m planning to stay with them for several nights, which looks to be only about an hour away from yourself. I’ll ping you once my travel plans start to firm up and see if you are available.
I was also wondering if there are any summits accessible by ski-lifts? I know of several in the Alps, but I was expecting (or at least Hoping!) that the same would possible around some of the skiing resorts?
Those bags are very usefull when traveling, I just drop my mountain backpack / motorcycle lugages and walk / shop in the cities with one of those.
I never tried 2m activations. I think there is extremely few people in the range of this band, when there is even a line of sight …
No.
Ski lifts are usually not even running at this time of the year. The summits above ski resorts will be fully covered with snow and require alpine equipment to climb. Only summits below 2000m altitude will be accessible with summer shoes.
One has a lift though, it’s Pic du Midi, F/PO-044, where there is an astronomical observatory. Here a webcam shot from 2 days ago when we still had sun:
If you can’t fit at least a pair of running shoes, shorts, and a small backpack, I’m afraid you won’t be able to activate anything. Maybe a few 1-pointers, but it would be a shame to come all this way just for a couple of molehills.
One additional thing to consider is that most iconic high mountain roads are still closed at this time of the year in central french pyrenees (col du tourmalet, col d’aspin, Neouvielle, gavarnie …) .
I’ve not toured the Pyrenees before, and I couldn’t find any reliable sources for when the roads open. I’ve toured the Alps extensively, and most of those roads open at the beginning of May, but can still be affected by weather of course!
In your experience, do the roads start to open again at the beginning of May?
The unpronounceable summit! (Ortzantzurieta). Good memories, I activated that with Ignacio EA2BD and Jorge EA2LU in 2019. There was something familiar about your photo and I just had to look it up! Easily accessed by a motorcycle.
