Vignemale

The Vignemale (, , ) is the highest of the French Pyrenean summits, on the border with Spain (the highest in the whole of the Pyrenees is Pic Aneto).

The Vignemale is between the Spanish province of Huesca and the French department of Hautes-Pyrénées. It is the highest mountain in the French Pyrenees, the Occitanie region and in the Hautes-Pyrénées department.  The mountain is in the Pyrénées National Park (France) and in the Reserva de la Biosfera Ordesa-Viñamala (Spain).

Geography
The Vignemale is the name given to the mountain massif that is formed by several distinct summits; the main summits are:

 Pique-Longue or Grand Vignemale, ;
 Pointe Chausenque, ; and
 Petit Vignemale, .

The Pique-Longue can bee seen easily from other mountains and even from the city of Lourdes.

The Vignemale is also where is the second largest of the Pyrenean glaciers (after the one in Aneto): the Ossoue glacier with an area of around . The easiest route to climb the mountain, and the one most used, is across this glacier.

History
On August 1792, some shepherds climbed the Pique-Longue following orders from Louis-Philippe Reinhart Junker who was in charge of a team that was studying the French-Spanish border. But the names of those shepherds are not known.

The first known ascent of this peak was made 45 years later, on 8 October 1837, by Henri Cazaux, from Luz (now Luz-Saint-Sauveur), and his brother-in-law Bernard Guillembet.

References

Other websites

 Altituderando: La Pique Longue du Vignemale (3298m) 
 Camptocamp.org: Vignemale - Pique Longue 
 Randozone - Vignemale (Pique Longue) 

Category:Pyrenees
Category:Mountains of France
Category:Hautes-Pyrénées
Category:Province of Huesca