Punta Escarra

Overview

Punta Escarra is an interesting mountain for its conical and sharp form that it makes stand out from any zone of the surroundings. Of all the mountains of the Circo de Ip that the great Peña Collarada leads, it is the most remote and the one that closes the circus for the NE.
Its steep walls of rock, less dangerous and complicated of what it seem, discourage the tourists and encourage the mountaineers do it is not habitual to find company in the narrow top of this mountain. The normal route is PD- (Poco Difícil, low difficult, II) and for persons less experienced it’s interesting the use of the rope for the descent of the 2 chimneys (short rappel, 10 meters, funny for mountaineers).
The long itinerary and the great slope of all the mountains of this circus do, that in many occasions, the people prefers to realize the climb in 2 days, sleeping in the zone of Ip's damming. The remuneration of big sights of all the summits of the circus, specially prominent in Pala de Ip, Punta Escarra and Collarada, it’s a great reward.

The translation of the word “Punta”: generally it mean “Top”, “Point”, “Tip”. Generally it’s used in Spanish for mountains very sharps like Punta Agüerri (2444m, Canfranc, near Bisaurin), Punta Suelza (2973m, Bielsa), Punta de los Roques (2085m, Canary Islands)…

Getting There

Trailhead: village of Canfranc ("Canfranc pueblo" and not "Canfranc estación" that is at 9 km).

Airports: Zaragoza (164 km), Barcelona (381 km)

Road:
-From Zaragoza to Huesca (72 km), highway. From Huesca to Jaca for N330 and continue to Villanua and Canfranc.
-From Barcelona: highway A2 to Lleida (or Lérida). From Lleida take N240 in direction to Binefar and Monzón to Huesca.

Others access: train (company Renfe) and bus (company Alosa)
-Train Barcelona-Zaragoza. From Zaragoza to Canfranc in bus-see Alosa for hours.
-From Zaragoza to Canfranc in bus-see Alosa for hours.

Routes:
-Ibon de Ip: from Canfranc
-Canal de Izas: from Col de Ladrones (10km north from Canfranc)

Red Tape

No permits required.

In winter it’s an important climb with ice and rock, but it’s necessary the use of crampons, ice-axe, rope and harness.
In spring-summer it’s a good easy rock-climb but for some people it’s prudent the use of the rope for if they feel insecure.

When To Climb

Generally the best time is spring-summer (may-september) without snow in the rock.

Camping

The camping is allowed in the area of the Ip's damming. The free camping is not allowed.

Mountain Huts (Refuges):
-Refugio de Canfranc (Tel:974-373217)-Canfranc pueblo.
-Refugio Tritón (Tel:974-378281)-Villanúa.
-Refugio El Aguila (Tel:974-373291)-Candanchú.
-Refugio Valle de Aragón (Tel:974-373222)-Candanchú.

Hotels:
-Hotel Santa Cristina***(Tel:974-373300)-Canfranc Estación.
-Hotel El Reno (Tel:974-378066)-Villanúa.
-Hotel Candanchú**(Tel:974-372025)-Candanchú.

Campings:
-Camping Canfranc (cat2)(908-731604)

Free little huts
*Ibon de Ip:
-Hut before the ibon de Ip (1820m) with benths, 5 places.
-Two huts in bad conditions in ibon de Ip, 2-3 places, generally for an emergency.
-Hotel in ruins for an emergency in ibon de Ip (no walls in some places, bricks and tiles in the ground,...)
*Canal de Izas:
-Hut Izás (1620m), 1h from col de Ladrones, 4-6 places.

Mountain Conditions

For mountain conditions see I.N.M. (see province of Huesca and the village of Canfranc in “localidades”)

Map

Map and book “Canfranc” by M.Angulo and A.Faus.

External Links

• PirineoDigital
  route of North face (text in spanish)
  
• Picture at dawn
  great image of North face with snow
  
• Picture with snow
  interesting image of NE face
  
• Village of Canfranc
  Offical page of this village with a lot of information (spanish)
  
• Mendikat-P.Escarra great pictures of Punta Escarra (text in spanish).
  

Images

View Punta Escarra Image Gallery - 35 Images