Garrett Fisher

Author, Pilot, & Adventurer

Email subscription form header
Subscribe
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
Powered by FeedBlitz
  • Writings
  • Documentary & Interview
  • Press
  • Economics
  • Maps
  • Flying Videos
  • TEDx Talk: Forget Economics
  • About Me

Powered by Genesis

Flight: Spain, Andorra, France: Pyrenees Snowstorm

February 12, 2017 by Garrett

I seem to keep filing the latest increase in the presence of winter as the first “real” snow. The problem is, I have been presenting multiple iterations of the “first” snow in the Pyrenees, dating back to the first one in mid-October. It’s time to give up the “first” bit, even though it feels like it every time.

This particular event involved higher elevations getting slammed with snow with mid elevations getting a good dose. The valley missed out, though the sheer quantity that was visible from the airplane, particularly along the Andorra-France border, was rather remarkable. I would estimate three feet at the peaks, with less as elevation descends, and also less depending on the particular configuration of terrain relative to lift and incoming moisture.

The first half of the flight (Masella, Cadí-Moixeró, Pedraforca) was fantastic. The second half (Andorra, hardcore Pyrenees) had me wondering if I was on crack, as the terrain seemed a bit extreme. Don’t worry, I flew there again a few days ago, in crazier terrain, with more wind, and a hell of a lot more snow, and it seemed fine. I guess tossing snowshoes in the back in the event of an emergency landing in the backcountry makes all perception of risk disappear.

La Masella ski area
IMG_0038 (38 of 1547)

Snow drifts on Tosa d’Alp Mountain (same mountain that La Masella is on).
IMG_0199 (199 of 1547)

Southwest ridge of Tosa d’Alp – mildly rugged.
IMG_0233 (233 of 1547)

Cadí Tunnel. While the highway is pretty in this photograph, that bastard costs €11.64 each way.
IMG_0236 (236 of 1547)

Winter and autumn.
IMG_0294 (294 of 1547)

Pedraforca
IMG_0465 (465 of 1547)

Pedraforca, again.
IMG_0516 (516 of 1547)

Cadí-Moixeró
IMG_0569 (569 of 1547)
IMG_0604 (604 of 1547)

Trees with snow on them.
IMG_0711 (711 of 1547)

Andorra
IMG_0721 (721 of 1547)IMG_0815 (815 of 1547)

Andorra foreground (this side of ridge), France other side of ridge, Spain upper left on leftward sloping section of mountains. This is where I was wondering if I was on crack.
IMG_0885 (885 of 1547)

Ski area in northern Andorra. I am too lazy to look up the name, not that anyone cares, because its an over-glorified and artistically intriguing parking lot in a smug tax haven micro-nation.
IMG_0967 (967 of 1547)

Andorra, until stated otherwise.
IMG_1096 (1096 of 1547)IMG_1154 (1154 of 1547)IMG_1169 (1169 of 1547)

France is more or less on the other side of this ridgeline, not that anybody draws a line visible from the air.
IMG_1179 (1179 of 1547)

Back in Spain.
IMG_1463 (1463 of 1547)

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

  • Español
  • Français
  • Català

Blog Posts

  • Flights: Spain, Switzerland: A Crazed Aeronautical Bender…Seven Years Later January 25, 2023
  • Flight: France: Surfing the Wave December 19, 2022
  • Flight: Switzerland: A Mystery on the Eiger, 700,000th Photo November 16, 2022
  • Flight: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands: Losing My Flying-Over-Water Virginity October 24, 2022
  • Flights: Norway: Sognefjord, Longest Fjord in Norway September 24, 2022
  • Flights: Norway: Hardangervidda, Largest Mountain Plateau in Europe September 17, 2022
  • Flight: Norway: Galdhøpiggen, Highest Peak in Northern Europe August 20, 2022
  • Flights: Norway: Jostedalsbreen, Largest Glacier in Continental Europe August 7, 2022
  • Flights: Norway: Flyraseri ikke Flyskam July 17, 2022
  • Flight: Switzerland, France, Italy: 2,000 Hours & FL160 July 9, 2022
  • Flight: Day 4: Sweden, Norway: 56N to 59N July 6, 2022
  • Flight: Day 3: Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden: 53N to 56N June 27, 2022
  • Flight: Day 2: France, Belgium, Netherlands: 44N to 53N June 19, 2022
  • Flight: Day 1: Spain, France: 36N to 44N June 4, 2022
  • Flight: Spain: Rock the Casbah, Sierra Nevada, Africa on the Horizon May 8, 2022
  • Flight: Portugal, Spain: Promontorium Sacrum, Last Sausage Before America April 26, 2022
  • Flight: Spain, Morocco: Spanish Africa, Pillars of Hercules, Southernmost Point in Europe April 18, 2022
  • Flights: Spain: The Antipope, Package Holidays & A Clandestine Metropolis April 11, 2022
  • Flights: Days 2 & 3: France, Spain, Portugal: España Verde, Galicia, Aggressive Eucalyptus & Andalucía April 3, 2022
  • Flight: Day 1 of 3: Switzerland, France, Spain, Andorra: Alps, Mediterranean, Pyrenees & Atlantic March 30, 2022

Archives

  • January 2023 (1)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (1)
  • October 2022 (1)
  • September 2022 (2)
  • August 2022 (2)
  • July 2022 (3)
  • June 2022 (3)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (4)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (1)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (2)
  • November 2021 (3)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • September 2021 (1)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (3)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (5)
  • November 2020 (5)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (2)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (3)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (2)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (3)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (4)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (4)
  • October 2017 (4)
  • September 2017 (4)
  • August 2017 (5)
  • July 2017 (3)
  • June 2017 (4)
  • May 2017 (5)
  • April 2017 (4)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (4)
  • November 2016 (5)
  • October 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (6)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (4)
  • June 2016 (3)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (5)
  • March 2016 (5)
  • February 2016 (4)
  • January 2016 (6)
  • December 2015 (4)
  • November 2015 (5)
  • October 2015 (5)
  • September 2015 (8)
  • August 2015 (8)
  • July 2015 (8)
  • June 2015 (8)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (5)
  • February 2015 (3)
  • January 2015 (2)
  • December 2014 (10)
  • November 2014 (4)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (3)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • March 2014 (1)
  • February 2014 (3)