Thirteen years after discovering the Sorrosal Via Ferrata, I return to Broto to relive that first day that sparked my passion for the mountains. This time, together with my friends, we combine the ferrata with a canyon descent: waterfalls, abseils, jumps, and a story dedicated to the person who, without knowing it, started almost everything.
Our fourth and final day crossing the Pyrenees began with very little sleep, plenty of doubts, and several options on the table for getting down to the Ordesa Meadow. What looked like a simple exit day turned into one of the most spectacular days of the whole trip: the Brecha de Roland, the Faja de las Flores, the Carriata clavijas, and an endless descent back to the cars. Tired, sunburnt, and with our knees begging for mercy, we finished the route the same way we had started it: messing around, pushing on together, and confirming that this rope team had something special.
After an unplanned second night at Tucarroya, Monte Perdido woke up wearing a cap of cloud and gave us every reason to be cautious. But the forecast opened a window, and we took it: a rappel out of the refuge, a snowy push to the Collado del Cilindro, a slog across soft snow, and finally the summit via the Escupidera. It was a day of heavy packs, stubborn optimism, marmots, beers at Góriz, and the kind of ridiculous happiness that only comes after earning every step.
Our second day crossing the Pyrenees took us towards Monte Perdido’s North Couloir full of motivation, moving well, and still hoping to reach the summit. But the mountain changed the script: soft snow, loose rock, poor communication, and a retreat that left us with a lesson we won’t easily forget. We didn’t summit, but the four of us made it back, and that day that was the only thing that mattered.
This is how the first day of our 4-day traverse through Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park went. Starting from the Pineta Valley, our goal was to reach the Tucarroya free shelter.
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