Maladeta
The cursed mountain, 3 308 m
Aneto's little brother, which gives its name to the whole massif. The glacier on the north face can be seen from Plan de la Besurta and La Renclusa. Less visited than Aneto but every bit as alpine.
Ascent
- Height
- 3,308 m
- Massif
- Maladeta
- Country
- Aragon, Spain
- Grade
- PD · Hard
- Days
- 2 days
- Season
- late June–September
- Starting point
- Plan de la Besurta (1 900 m), above Benasque
- Mountain hut
- Refugio de La Renclusa (2 140 m)
- Elevation gain
- approx. 1 170 hm from the hut
- Time
- 4–5 h up
- First ascent
- 1817 – Friedrich Parrot with the guide Pierre Barrau
The name means 'the cursed one'. In 1824 Pierre Barrau, who had led the first ascent, fell into a crevasse on the Maladeta glacier. The glacier only gave up his body in 1931 – and by then the local people had long regarded the massif as cursed.
How to get up – the normal route step by step
- Day 1: as for Aneto, up to La Renclusa.
- Day 2: from the hut across the boulder fields towards the glacier and up the Maladeta glacier.
- Below the ridge there is often a deep bergschrund that has to be crossed. Then you climb up onto the ridge and follow it to the summit.
- Descend the same way.
SafetyGlacier route with the same gear as Aneto. The bergschrund below the ridge can be tricky late in the season.
42.6472° N, 0.6394° E
Nearby
Aneto2 km · The highest peak in the Pyrenees, 3 404 m
Llanos del Hospital5 km · Valle de Benasque, Huesca (Aragon)
Cerler11 km · Valle de Benasque, Huesca, Aragon- Vallée du Lys & Cascade d'Enfer12 km · The valley of waterfalls near Luchon
Superbagnères13 km · Gondola or bike up from Luchon
Lac d'Oô14 km · A mountain lake with a waterfall near Luchon
Val d'Aran14 km · Catalonia's valley on the Atlantic side- Bagnères-de-Luchon16 km · Spa and mountain town, often a TdF finish