Pica d'Estats

Pica d'Estats (Catalan and Spanish: Pica d'Estats, French: Pic d'Estats) is a 3,143-m-high mountain in the Montcalm Massif, Pyrenees. on the Spanish–French border.

In France, it is the highest point in the Department of Ariège. In Spain, it is the highest point of the autonomous community of Catalonia and of the province of Lleida.

Geography
The summit of this mountain is on the border of the Regional Natural Park of the Pyrenees of Ariége (). The Pica d'Estats is in a group of mountains that forms the Massif du Montcalm, and is the highest of the mountains in the East-Central Pyrennes.

The summit has three peaks, all very close to each other:
 Central peak, or Pica d'Estats, ( 3,143 m).
 Western peak, or Pic de Verdaguer, (3,131 m)
 Eastern peak, or Punta Gabarró, (3,115 m); here there is a triangulation station.

The group of three peaks runs north-northwest to southeast along the Spanish–French border.

Geologie
The summit of Pica d'Estats is made of granite.

Climate
Even with its altitude, the Pica d'Estats does not have much snow.

History
The first ascent of this peak was made by Corabœuf & Jean-Jacques Testu in 1827. Henry Russell climbed this peak in June 1864.Many articles (see other Wikipedias) say that Henry Russell climbed the peak together with his French guide Jean-Jacques Denjean but Russell wrote that Denjean stayed sleeping in a house and that he went up to Pica d'Estats with the owner of the house, an unknown "young man". In the same pages, he wrote that he had visited the region seven or eight years before but he did not say if he visited d'Estats at that time.

Notes

References

Other websites

  Altituderando: Pic du Montcalm - Pic d'Estats - Pic Verdaguer
  Camptocamp.org

Category:Pyrenees
Category:Mountains of France
Category:Ariège (department)
Category:Province of Lleida