Refugi de Certascan

Refugi de Certascan (French: Refuge de Certescans) is a staffed mountain refuge in the Catalan Pyrenees, located at an altitude of 2,240 metres on the territory of the municipality of Lladorre, in the Pallars Sobirà comarca of the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It sits on a spectacular balcony at the head of the Vall de Cardós, in the heart of the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, right beside the outflow of the Certascan reservoir — one of the largest lakes in the Pyrenean range. The building was originally erected by the electric utility FECSA in connection with hydroelectric works in the area, and it was inaugurated as a staffed refuge on 19 October 1975. Almost two decades later, in 1993, the Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya (FEEC), which owns and operates the refuge, carried out a major upgrade of the facility. Since then, thousands of hikers have passed through it every summer. The refuge is guarded in the high season and, depending on weather conditions, around Easter; in winter it retains a capacity of 20 people. It is reached by road from Llavorsí to Tavascan and then by track to the Montalto dam (parking at about 1,400 m), or on foot from Tavascan (about 5h15) or from the end of the Canelada track (45 minutes). The nearby Port de Tavascan (2,217 m) is a pedestrian cross-border pass towards the Ossèse valley in the French commune of Ustou. The massif crossed by these paths was used by Spanish Republicans at the end of the Civil War, by European Jews, and by those seeking to join Allied forces during the Second World War; some 80,000 people are said to have crossed the Pyrenees during the war, with the Port de Tavascan and, to the west, the Port de Salau among the preferred crossings of the central Pyrenees. Today the refuge is a stage on the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne (HRP), the high-mountain itinerary crossing the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. In 2004 the refuge's guardian designed "la Porta del Cel" ("the Gate of Heaven"), a loop linking Tavascan with the Graus, Certascan, Pinet and Vall Ferrera refuges; later the "Muntanyes de Llibertat" ("Mountains of Freedom") route connected the Graus and Certascan refuges with the French gîtes of the Presbytère at Aulus-les-Bains and l'Escolan de Bidous at Ustou. The nearby Pleta del Prat refuge (1,720 m) and the small Tavascan winter-sports station in the Mascarida valley also lie in the same municipality.

The building that now houses Refugi de Certascan was originally constructed by the electric utility FECSA in connection with hydroelectric works carried out in the area. It was inaugurated as a staffed refuge on 19 October 1975, on a spectacular balcony at the head of the Vall de Cardós, in the heart of what is now the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, beside the outflow of the Certascan reservoir — one of the largest lakes in the Pyrenean range. Almost two decades after it began operating as a refuge, the Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya (FEEC) carried out a major upgrade of the facility in 1993. Since then, thousands of hikers have passed through this emblematic building every summer. The massif crossed by the paths around the refuge has a deeper human history: it was traversed by Spanish Republicans at the end of the Civil War, by European Jews, and by those seeking to reach Allied forces during the Second World War. Some 80,000 people are said to have crossed the Pyrenees during the war, and the nearby Port de Tavascan, as well as the Port de Salau to the west, were preferred crossings of the central Pyrenees. In the modern era the refuge has become a stage on the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne (HRP), the high-mountain itinerary that crosses the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. In 2004 the refuge's guardian conceived "la Porta del Cel" ("the Gate of Heaven"), a circuit that takes hikers on a loop between the village of Tavascan and the Graus, Certascan, Pinet and Vall Ferrera refuges. Subsequently, the "Muntanyes de Llibertat" ("Mountains of Freedom") route was created, linking the Graus and Certascan refuges with the French gîtes of the Presbytère at Aulus-les-Bains and l'Escolan de Bidous at Ustou. The refuge is guarded in the high season and, depending on the weather, around Easter; in winter it retains a capacity of 20 people.

• 2004

  The refuge's guardian designed "la Porta del Cel" loop linking Tavascan with the Graus, Certascan, Pinet and Vall Ferrera refuges.

• 1993

  FEEC carried out a major upgrade of the refuge.

• 1975

  Inaugurated as a staffed refuge on 19 October, in a building originally erected by FECSA for hydroelectric works.

A high-altitude, FEEC-operated staffed refuge in the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, serving hikers on the HRP and cross-border Pyrenean routes.

• Staffed refuge accommodation

• High-season and Easter guarding

• Winter capacity of 20 people

• HRP stage

• Porta del Cel loop

• Muntanyes de Llibertat route

1. 1Refugi Certascan - FEEC - Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunyafeec.cat
2. 2Refugi de Certascan - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Refuge de Certescans - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org