Grande Fache, Mountain summit at Pyrenees border, France and Spain

Grande Fache is a mountain summit in the Pyrenees standing at about 3000 meters, forming a natural border between France and Spain. The peak can be reached from the Wallon valley on the French side or from the La Sarra marsh area in Sallent de Gállego on the Spanish side.

The first documented ascent took place in 1874 when explorer Henry Russell reached the summit with guide Cauterets Latour during a summer expedition. This early climb helped establish the mountain as a notable destination for mountaineers.

A statue of the Virgin of Lourdes crowns the summit, placed there in 1942 after a pilgrim survived a dangerous fall on the slopes. The monument draws many visitors seeking both spiritual connection and mountain experience.

The normal route from Spain starts at the La Sarra marsh above Sallent de Gállego, passes the Respomuso dam, the Campoplano and Fache lakes and the Fache pass, then climbs steep slopes to the summit. From France it starts at the Wallon-Marcadau refuge and follows the Fache lakes to the same pass. The upper section along the border ridge needs care, and the approach from Pont d'Espagne involves about 1,500 m of ascent.

The border between France and Spain runs across the summit between border markers 312 and 313, and the summit divides the watersheds of the Adour, flowing to the Atlantic, and the Ebro, flowing to the Mediterranean. The Lagardère border point, a 2,877-metre secondary summit to the north-west, was named on 19 August 1947 after Francis Lagardère, a Resistance fighter shot in 1943.