We had a brilliant snowshoeing holiday earlier this month, and our group of six intrepid guests had absolutely perfect conditions! It was one of those magical weeks where it had snowed all of the week preceding the trip, and then the day the guests arrived, the sun broke through and we had fantastic weather all week along with great snow underfoot. Don’t we wish the weather would always behave this well!

The itinerary was split between two different areas with the first half of the week spent in the Valle de Tena before moving on to Canfranc Estación in the Valle de Aragon. This gives us a great choice of snowshoeing routes to choose from.

Our first day took us to a frozen Ibon de Piedrafita. Many of our guests will have hiked up to this lovely lake in the summer, but it’s really special to see it frozen over in winter with the kilometre-high cliffs of the Sierra de Partacua towering above it. Pablo walked right to the middle of the frozen lake, but I have to say I wasn’t brave (or foolhardy!) enough.

The next couple of days headed up to two excellent summits just on the French side of the border, Cuyularet (2285 metres) and Pico Canal Roya (2231 metres). Both are fantastic peaks and reached under blue skies. All of the group reached the summit of both peaks which was an excellent effort.

The following day we spent the morning at the lovely roadhead of Baños de Panticosa and the group tried their hands at cross-country skiing. It’s only a small resort, but in a beautiful location and is perfect for beginners. The lake here was also frozen over and the army were training there, scuba diving under the ice! Everyone got on well with their skinny little cross-country skis. We had a tapas lunch at Panticosa before heading round to Canfranc to continue the trip there.

On Friday the group headed to the Astun ski station and took the chairlift up to almost 1900 metres – it’s great to start snowshoeing so high up. We did a lovely route with great views, passing by a frozen lake and then crossing into France. There are always great snow conditions up there and there was plenty of lovely powder snow. In the afternoon, our luck with the weather ran out and the mountains reminded us of what winter conditions can be like with high winds, a blizzard and a whiteout!

The final days route was one of my favourites, heading up to Ibones de Estanes. The route climbs through woods before emerging into the snow-covered meadows above. You get fantastic views of the north face of Pico Aspe which looks really impressive covered in ice and snow.

Thanks to the guests for coming on the trip – we hope you enjoyed what was the first experience of snowshoeing for most of you. Also a big thanks to our guides, Pablo and David, for taking such good care of the group. Why not come and join us next winter and experience the beauty of a snow-covered Pyrenees.