Route: Haute Route Pyrenees (Spain, Andorra, France)

I (Matthias Ekman) will be attempting to set the self-supported FKT for the HRP, starting on Saturday July 14th. More info about my attempt can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/matthiasekman/running/hrp-fkt-july-2018

Hi Matthias, just checked your tracker and it seems that you stopped at l'Hospitalet pres l'Andorre after 17 days. Maybe interesting to know that Dutch adventurer and ultra runner Jolanda Linschooten is just one day behind you on the HRP, leaving El Serrat today and expected passing l'Hopitalet this evening on her 16th running day. Her Spot-tracker is not public, but she places daily posts on her Facebook page whenever possible. She was slowed down for two days in the first part of her trip due to illnes, but recovered well.

I completed the Ton Joosten HRP in 22 days 5 hours 51 min, starting in Hendaye on 2018-7-14 5:58 am and finishing in Banyuls on 2018-8-04 11:49 am (as you can see on my public tracker). I arrived in L’Hospitalet determined to stop there; I had run out of food, the local shop was closed and worse the outter sole of my left running shoe had come loose two days prior. I had sent 5 resupply boxes with food and gear to some locations I was going to pass by- unfortunately non of the boxes made it. The DHL track and trace page showed that the L’Hospitalet package was the only one that was delivered on time. However, upon my arrival at the gite I had to learn that also this last package wasn’t there. Somehow that was too much for me to handle in that moment. At that time I had traveled without maps, salt tabs, contact lenses for 13 days (all in the  resupply packages that never made it). I don’t remember what made me continue the next morning. Two days later I found some superglue to fix my shoes, that didn’t work for long, later I tried some tesa tape (the kind that kids use to wrap birthday presents); I must have looked like a clown. I certainly felt like one. Unnecessary to say that running at that point became quiet impossible. I’m still happy about the time; though I was hoping for something under 19 days. Will write and link a more detailed report here soon. Hope Jolanda finished safely and is all well. (don’t have FB on my phone to check). 

Congratulations, Matthias!! Looking forward to your report. It must have been a hell of a trip. You faced similar problems as Jolanda, with resupplies disappearing in the mail, worn out shoes (she was lucky to buy a new pair in Gavarnie), lack of food, a closed shop in l'Hospitalet etc. Jolanda finished save and well and is on her way back home. Make sure to get in touch with her once you're back.

Congrats Matthias!! Solid effort given everything you encountered. Really well done for pushing through the lows and hope the highs were all worth it! 

Can’t wait for the report!! 

I am excited! I just learned that I hold the unofficial FKT for the HRP than. I just finished the Route in 20 days and 12 hours from Hendaye to Banyuls but had not an FKT attempt in mind and therefore I did not carry a tracker. 

Not to put a downer on your Amazing effort - Congrats & well done!! - but do we not need to state our intention prior to the fact and have a live tracker for it to be considered official? 

Appreciate you have stated unofficial in your comment but it seems as though it has been recognised by the FKT website. 

Hi everyone ! I, Mike Coppock, am going to have a try at the HRP FKT starting Monday 13th September. I'll share my tracker with the good people here at FKT.com if you want to follow along, and I'll post updates (if I can) to my Instagram page as well (@mikerunshigher). 

I'll be doing it self-supported without using any dropbags and the route I've chosen is based on established HRP routes and variations to stay as high as possible in keeping with the concept of the HRP. 

Thanks to everyone on here for contributing useful information and reports which have been so useful for planning my trip. 

I walked the HRP in 1997 and can thoroughly recommended it. As I write this, I see that there is are two sub-14 day times posted, then the next one is 20 days. It took me 18 days - 16 days walking, I planned rest day and one unplanned day off with food poisoning. Used the G Veron guide in French and a load of paper maps. The Spanish maps were dreadful - one contour line saying 600m became the 800m one a bit further along, and other contour lines crossed...! A bivi hut marked on the map was eventually found 300m further up the mountain... All part of the challenge! Lots of up and down, averaging 2000m of ascent a day. My pack base weight was 8.5 lbs which was a bit marginal, these days it is more like10lbs as my gear is a bit more rugged.

Many afternoons, the clouds built up and in the evening there was a downpour as they dropped their load. Neither my waterproof jacket nor my bivi bag turned out to be so, so I have enduring memories of wet cold nights...

I plan to re-walk the route next Summer, so 25 years later. Won't be quite as fast!

Hello everybody, I would like to inform you that I will attempt to set a fkt on the HRP. My attempt will be supported by my one-man crew Wouter Gunst. 

You will be able to follow us through this link:

https://share.garmin.com/WannesCrivits

We are looking forward to the challenges ahead!

Hello everyone,

My name is Gerard Regí and I'm planning to do the HRP again this summer. I say again because I already did it in 2014 in 35 days, as you can read in this short regional article:

https://www.igualada.cat/ca/regidories/promocio-cultural-rel-institucio…

This time I want to try to do it with less weight and set it between 15 and 20 days. We'll see; many factors can change project plans.
So, I'll try to start at the end of June, I'll share my tracker here at FKT.com 

See you soon guys.

Hello again, everyone.

There's only one week left to start the challenge. Next Wednesday, June 25th, I'll leave Hendaye for Banyuls-sur-Mer, crossing the Pyrenees and following the Haute Route Pyrénéenne (HRP) route on a self-sufficient basis. However, it's essential to note that there are several variations of this route; just consult the topographic maps for details. In my case, I chose the main one, which, according to reviews, is the one most people follow. It's the one described by writer Sergi Lara in his book "Alta Ruta Pirenaica - Del Cantábrico al Mediterráneo" (ISBN: 9788498290233). Last but not least, it's the highest and most technical variant, which I followed years ago. Of course, I'll try to do it as quickly as possible without missing the beautiful landscapes.

Finally, all rides will be posted on Strava and Wikiloc. Live tracking will also be shared with the FKT organizers, and I'll try to share the tracking link every day on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerardregi/
See you soon, guys.

Hi everyone!

In 2 days (Sunday 13th July) I'm starting my supported FKT attempt of the HRP. I'll be following the route taken by Mike Coppock and others, starting in Hendaye and finishing in Banyuls-sur-Mer. I'm supported by a group of friends who will be driving along with camper vans and joining me on parts of the route to run along.

You can live track our adventure here: https://rab.equipment/eu/athletes/noor-van-der-veen?srsltid=AfmBOoorscr…-

And on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/40295245

Daily updates will be posted on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noor.vanderveen/

Hi everyone,

This Saturday, July 19th at around 4:30 PM, I'm starting the Haute Route des Pyrénées, self-supported.

The goal is to complete the crossing by Sunday, August 3rd, the end of my vacation but I’ll be pushing to go as fast as possible, aiming to get close to Mike Coppock’s time.

You can follow my daily progress here:

• Garmin: share.garmin.com/victormouret

• Strava: strava.com/athletes/111196694

• Instagram: instagram.com/victor_mouret

I hope to be up to the challenge of this project, which I’ve been planning for nearly a year.

Hi,

I (Antoine GALONNIER) will have a try on Mike Coppock self supported record, departure from hendaye on friday 18th July 2025. The route I will follow is almost the same than Mike’s route.

3,9kg base weight. 
I will share as fréquent as I can on my strava 

https://strava.app.link/9MFFXCi01Ub

I will also wear a spot gen3 tracker.

Hello everyone,

I finally finished the route last Tuesday, July 14th, in 21 days, 13 hours, and 46 minutes. I'll soon be uploading all the data, photos, and videos to FKT. In the meantime, you can see all the information at: https://www.strava.com/athletes/66129440
It's important to say that the classic variant of the HRP, the track of which is posted on this website, and which passes through Okabe, the Hourquette de Héas, and the Cirque de la Baroude, among other natural sites, covers a total of 821.24 km and 47,031 meters of elevation gain.
It has been a great pleasure to explore this beautiful part of our country again without any major problems, despite the afternoon storms.
Finally, I want to encourage and inspire all the athletes who are thinking of doing this challenge, and all of you who are already doing it, like NoorvanderVeen, Victor, and Antoine.