Superbagnères but not quite a super view

After the day before’s visit to Bagnères-de-Luchon for the Tour de France, we wanted to go up to Superbagnères, the ski resort above town where Stage 14 finished, and to take a walk amongst what were supposed to be amazing views.

We took the « Crémaillère Express » gondola cable car, which whisked us up to Superbagnères at 1,800m in only 8 minutes. The current gondola lift, which only opened in 2023, is named for the crémaillère or rack and pinion railway which linked the town and resort between 1912 and 1966.

There was however one snag. Despite the sunny and mostly clear skies in the Val d’Aran, Superbagnères was enveloped in low clouds. Every now and again the clouds parted to reveal the wonderful views, before closing once again.

We enjoyed our picnic lunch looking into a wall of cloud, with the clanking of cowbells on cows we saw once of twice through the clouds. Midway through the sandwiches we’d made that morning, we were approached by an American who was impressed at our sandwiches and wanted to know where we’d bought them!

After lunch, we found the location of the Stage 14 finish line, now marked by spray paint and advertising stuck to the road surface.

We started to follow the “Circuit des Crêtes”, which was described as having “exceptional views” of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The views appeared once or twice but were mostly absent.

As we continued along the ridge leading away from the resort buildings, the cloud grew thicker and more dense, but then in moment would clear a little, perhaps offering a glimpse of the views or at least allowing the sun to shine down. We did however see a raven flying around in the cloud, making its unmistakable “crinkle-cronk” call. It was, alas, too quick to capture a photo.

We returned to the beginning of the walk, with thick clouds all around, to the point that we could barely make out any of the surrounding buildings at all when stood in the middle of the car park.

We managed to find our way back to the gondola station to return to Luchon and the valley bottom, far below the clouds.Read more