A Winter Traverse of the Pyrenees (Video)

The Pyrenees are a familiar landscape to me. I live nearby, and over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring these mountains on foot, by bike, and in the air. But winter changes everything. Roads become quieter, trails disappear beneath the snow, and the weather can turn a familiar landscape into something much more demanding.

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I wanted to cross the entire mountain range in winter, from the Mediterranean coast to the Atlantic Ocean, carrying everything I needed on my bike. Not simply to ride from one end to the other, but to experience the mountains differently and let the conditions shape the journey.

The route covered around 750 kilometers, with 16,000 meters of climbing and 18 mountain passes. My bike weighed around 53 kilograms fully loaded. Food, camping equipment, warm clothing, and camera gear all had to fit somewhere. Every climb meant carrying that weight uphill, and every descent demanded concentration, especially when cold temperatures, ice, or snow complicated the route.

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Winter bikepacking is rarely just about the distance. Progress can be slow, plans change quickly, and sometimes the hardest part is simply finding a place to sleep out of the wind.

More Than a Bike Ride

I started near Argelès-sur-Mer, on the Mediterranean side of the Pyrenees, with the Atlantic as my destination. Between the two coastlines lay a succession of valleys, climbs, and mountain passes, each bringing a different atmosphere and a new set of challenges.

The bike was my main means of moving through the landscape, but I didn’t want the journey to be limited to riding. Whenever conditions and terrain allowed, I looked for opportunities to explore the mountains in other ways. Some days were spent almost entirely in the saddle, slowly gaining elevation. On others, the bike became a starting point for something else. I went ski touring twice, took five paragliding flights, and even walked a highline.

For me, adventure has never been only about covering distance or reaching a destination. I’m interested in the possibilities that open up when you move slowly and independently through a landscape. A loaded bike makes that possible. It allows me to connect places under my own power, carry the equipment I need, and change direction when something catches my attention. It also forces me to accept the limitations of the terrain rather than simply moving through it as quickly as possible.

Adding skis and a paraglider expanded those possibilities. The journey became less about following a fixed plan and more about adapting to what the mountains offered each day. The highline was another expression of that idea. Suspended above the landscape, I experienced the mountains from a completely new perspective.

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The Beauty and Discomfort of Winter

Winter brings a particular kind of solitude to the mountains. Traffic is scarce, villages are quieter, and entire valleys can feel almost empty. The landscape becomes simpler, sometimes stripped back to muted colors, dark forests, and snow-covered ridgelines. But that beauty comes with a price. Temperatures dropped to around -9°C at Col d’Aspin.

Bivouacking was an essential part of the experience. Sleeping outside meant staying close to the landscape rather than retreating indoors at the end of each day. It also meant accepting the discomfort that came with it: cold mornings, frozen equipment, and the effort of getting moving again when all I really wanted was to stay inside my sleeping bag.

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At times, the journey felt demanding for no particular reason other than the accumulation of small difficulties. The distance, the climbing, the weight, the cold, and the uncertainty all added up. Yet those same constraints were part of what made the experience worthwhile. With fewer distractions and a clear objective, my attention narrowed to what was immediately around me: the next climb, the changing weather, the light on the mountains, and the place where I might spend the night.

Bringing the Journey to the Screen

Photography and filmmaking are an important part of my adventures. This film, D’un versant à l’autre, brings together many diverse experiences into a story about crossing the Pyrenees in winter. The bike provides the backbone of the journey, while skiing, paragliding, and highlining offer other ways to engage with the mountains.

The film isn’t a guide to the route, nor is it a performance against the clock. It’s an invitation to follow a journey shaped by the terrain and the conditions, and to discover a familiar mountain range from a different perspective.

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After countless hours spent moving through the winter landscape, I reached the Atlantic at Biarritz. The crossing was complete, but what stayed with me wasn’t simply the distance covered. It was the feeling of having spent weeks immersed in the mountains, moving between disparate worlds while remaining connected by the same simple idea: keep going, stay curious, and see where the journey leads.

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The Route

Further Reading

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