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EnglishThe Balaitus Massif is the westernmost massif in the Pyrenees, with peaks over three thousand metres high: Balaitous itself or Pico Moros (3,144 m), Frondiella or Frondiellas NE or Oriental (3071 m), Frondiella Central (3,055 m), Frondiella SO or Occidental (3,005 m), some spires and secondary peaks, and somewhat distant from the main core, the Gran Facha (3,005 m). It is also the massif that is home to the Néous Glacier, the westernmost of the entire Pyrenees mountain range.
During the Little Ice Age, with a surface area of 96.5 ha, it was the 8th largest glaciated massif in the mountain range, representing 4% of the Pyrenean ice.
Between 1982 and 1985, 3 active glaciers and 3 ice fields were catalogued, now reduced to a single glacier (Les Néous) and a small ice field (Pabat), both on the Occitan slope. The ice of the last remaining glacier on the Aragonese slope (Frondiellas Norte), became extinct in 2017.
96,5ha
Glacial extension during the Little Ice Age
It was the 8th largest massif in the Pyrenees in terms of surface area of glacier, containing 4% of the mountain range’s ice.
2017
The last remnants of ice on the Aragonese side of the Pyrenees disappear
The residual ice at Frondiellas Norte completely disappeared in 2017.
Situation of the north and west slopes of the Balaitous Massif in 2017
Néous Glacier (88) and its residual units (88-2) at the base of the Castérillou Ridge (7), and the moraine of the PEH (8). Pabat Icefield (89) and its moraine (8) under Cap Peytier-Hossard (9), on the Occitanie slope. On the right, on the Aragonese side, the extinct Frondiellas Norte (92) and Frondiellas Sur (93) glacial valleys. Balaitous Peak (1), Latour Breach (2), Frondiellas Norte (3) and Arista Wallon (10). (Jordi Camins).
Situation of the southern and south-eastern slopes of the Balaitous Massif in 2017.
The now-extinct glaciers of Brecha Latour (90) and Sureste Balaitous (91), with their respective moraines (8). Pico Balaitous (1), eastern slope of Brecha Latour (2). Frondiella Oriental (3), Contrafuerte Brulle (4) and Arista Bondidier (6). (Jordi Camins).
