Book description
Essential guidebook of walks and climbs in the Pyrenees, with over 170
day walks, multi-day walks, climbing routes and mountaineering ascents.
Covers all valleys and peaks on both sides of the border with France and
Spain, with through routes and peaks to bag, as an introduction to one
of Europe's finest mountain ranges. Now in full colour, with redrawn map
and new photos, the guide now includes three new districts - Lac d'Oô
and the Circque d'Espingo; Vallées de la Pique and du Lis; and Haute
Vallée du Garbet - and several new routes. The active walker, trekker
and climber is spoilt for choice. There are exquisite valleys and passes
to wander day after day, and summits of 3000m and more within the reach
of most hill walkers. The landscape is full of diversity and contrast,
with Alpine-style peaks, small glaciers, deep gorges and more than a
thousand mountain lakes. The range is also known as the 'flower garden
of Europe', and the wildlife includes various species rarely seen
elsewhere on the continent. Since the first edition appeared in 1978,
Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees has become accepted as the
authoritative guide to the range, and this new edition incorporates many
changes and additions to reflect the boom in interest in the area. For
centuries the Pyrenees basked in the mystery of the unknown.
Unaccountably dismissed as holding little of importance to the climber,
mountain walkers ignored them almost completely. But all that has
changed and the Pyrenees have now become the focus of attention for
mountain activists of all degrees of commitment. Not just walkers and
climbers, but parapente enthusiasts, mountain bikers, white-water kayak
buffs, bird-watchers, butterfly and flower lovers, cavers and canyoners.
As an arena for outdoor adventure the Pyrenees fulfills so many dreams.
Kev Reynolds is a freelance writer, photojournalist and lecturer whose
first title for Cicerone Press (Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees)
appeared in 1978. He has published many books on the Alps, a series of
trekkers' guides to Nepal and, nearer to home, several guides on walking
in southern England. A member of the Alpine Club, Austrian Alpine Club
and the Outdoor Writers' and photographers' Guild, he is also first
honorary member of the British Association of European Mountain Leaders.
