Pic d'Ardiden, Mountain summit in the Hautes-Pyrénées, France

Pic d'Ardiden is a granite summit reaching 2,988 metres in the Hautes-Pyrénées, standing between the Lutour valley and the Luz-Saint-Sauveur valley. Its upper faces are bare grey rock, steep and fractured, with small patches of snow lodged in gullies near the top. Below, the mountain broadens into granite shoulders of shattered stone and scattered boulders above a rocky basin holding a small dark pool.

Henry Russell made the first recorded ascent in 1858, opening a climbing route to the summit. This early exploration helped establish the peak as a destination for mountaineers.

The refuge on the Lutour valley route bears the name of Henry Russell, the Franco-British Pyrenean climber and writer who made the first ascent of Pic d'Ardiden in 1858. It is the stopping point on the approach from La Fruitière before the final granite ridge.

Two main routes lead to the summit: one from La Fruitière in the Lutour valley, passing the Russell refuge, and one over the Bernazau plateau past the Ardiden lakes. Both climb about 1,600 metres and end on a granite boulder ridge where hands are often needed.

The final ridge is made of granite blocks where climbers often need to use their hands. Both main routes, from the Fruitière in the Lutour valley or via the Bernazau plateau and the Ardiden lakes, gain about 1,600 metres of elevation.