With its links to the adjacent resort of LA MONGIE just over the Col du Tourmalet, Barèges claims to offer access to the largest skiing area in the Pyrenees. The beginners' runs finishing in Barèges itself are much too low (1250m) to retain natural snow, so beginners and intermediates usually have to start from the areas of Tournaboup or Tourmalet a few kilometres east. New chair lifts were installed in autumn 2000, and runs regraded to make the resort more competitive, but La Mongie over the hill, despite its hideous purpose-built development, offers higher, longer pistes.The GR10 passes through Barèges, on its way southeast into the lake-filled Néouvielle Massif, part of France's oldest (1935) natural reserve, and highly recommended as a Hiking area. A manic, eight-hour walking day would take you to either the Chalet-Refuge d'Orédon (tel 05.62.33.20.83; closed mid-Sept to mid-June), which serves superb meals, or the Chalet-Hôtel de l'Oule (tel 05.62.98.48.62; closed mid-Sept to mid-Dec & mid-April to May).
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