Cirque de Troumousse

Approach

See the main page of La Munia.

Route Description

Trailhead: summit of La Munia (3,134m, 3h 45min).
Total time: 10-11 hours (including the time to climb La Munia).

After the climb of La Munia (french or spanish side) you can continue to the others three-thousands of the cirque (generally the peaks of the western side are forgiven and only the peaks of 3000 meters of the eastern side are climbed in the "tour" of the cirque).

Initially we climb the easy summits of Pequeña Munia (3,096m) and Sierra Morena (3,090m) following an easy ridge and the wide shoulder of the last peak (4h15min). After the summit the fall it's great in a wall with rock-climbs of grade II+ and III-. You must to use the metallic anchorage making a rappel of the wall (if you're a good rock-climber you can to descent with the hands but it's dangerous). The people who begun the cirque in the other side can to climb more easily the wall of Sierra Morena (but in the descent it's another thing).

In the little col we see the great rocky ridge of the Pic Troumousse but it's not than complicated that it seem (grade II-). The summit of Pic Troumousse has a metallic construction (like the peak Balaitous) with a magnific view of the lakes of Barroude (and the route to climb this peak from there).

The ridge from this peak with 2 "not summits" of more than 3000 meters (Puntas Barroude and Aires) has a bad rock but the steps do not overcome the degree I+. The fall is a bit spectacular in some steps along and people with dizziness must to avoid it. The ridge it's better under the peak Heid (3,022m) that we reach after a little climb (5h30min). This summit is a good place to rest, to eat and to enjoy the spectacular image of the ridge that we have crossed untill now.
From here the route it is getting down more with a path indicated with cairns that it moves away from the ridge except to approach the small summit of the Petit Pic Blanc (2,957m). The route leave definitively the edge of the ridge and descent for a good path between the small rocks of the hillside. Under the peak Gerbats we reach the exit of the cirque, the impressive and vertiginous Paso de Gerbats (step-crossing of Gerbats). The pass is a narrow path of 30-40 centimeters of width over a great fall of 400 meters of the walls of the cirque in the left side under our feets (never, never, climb this path with rain or wet rock, it's deadly fatal). After the three steps we can breathe and enjoy because the rest from here is a simple decrease for a path in the hillside. It what stays is long still up to the parking (2h) but though it could lose the path, the direction in the valley under the cirque is always clear.

Essential Gear

Helmet, harness, two ropes of 30 meters or one rope of 60 meters.

Miscellaneous Info

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Images

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