A point that emerges to the east of the Gías peak is the new peak that exceeds 3,000 meters in the Pyrenees. The five topographic engineers that make up Sostremetries, Oriol Boixareu, Marc Calaff, Salvador Sala, David Segura and Andreu Alvarruiz, have analyzed this summer with the latest technology eight peaks that surround this altitude, of which only the one they have named Gías Inferior , in Aragon, meets all the requirements to be part of the list of three thousand. On the other hand, two of the 217 that were so far included in this inventory will leave, Clarabide Occidental and Pequeño del Portillón, and five will not enter it, Punta de Passet, Salenques, Frondella SW, Piedras Albas and Cregüeña. All are in Aragon except Punta de Passet, located in the Vall de Boí.
To determine if a peak of the Pyrenees can be considered a 3,000 it is not enough that it exceeds this height, it must also have a prominence, that is, a difference in level of at least ten meters between the access pass and the summit, a criterion set by Juan Buyse in his work Los tresmiles del Pirineo, from 1990. Sostremetries and the group of the Cazafantasmas, the authors of the catalog of tresmiles that many mountaineers take as a reference, take this condition for granted that in their day also accepted by the International Union of Mountaineering Associations (UIAA).
Sostremetries has used state-of-the-art topographic and geodetic measurement equipment to resolve doubts about mountain heights that touch the 3,000 barrier and which until now had not been investigated on the ground or with such precision, highlights Alvarruiz. The inquiries that began in June and that culminated on September 22 will mean the modification of the popular Ghostbusters list. With these latest discoveries, the Pyrenees has gained three thousand, the Gías Inferior, and lost two, as mentioned, the Pequeño del Portillón, at 2,998.66 meters, and the Clarabide Occidental, which although has 3,007.44 does not meet the condition of prominence. In this case, the difference in level between the pass and the summit is 9.11 meters compared to the required 10, according to Sostremetries.
With these developments, the current inventory of 217 peaks would remain at 216. Patxi Termenón, one of the promoters of Cazafantasmas, indicates that there would be 16 more peaks candidates to be added to this classification.
In addition to providing more topographical accuracy on the Pyrenees mountains, this information will be useful for tresmilers hunters, people who long to complete all or most of them.
Sostremetries emphasizes that his aim is to spread the word about the applications of topography and to claim the importance of this profession. We must remember the repercussion that the confirmation of a new tresmiler, the Arnales, of 3,001.37 meters had last year.
The most relevant expeditions this summer are the two destined for the Gías area. Here, the main peak rises to 3,008.4 meters. Near this, about 75 meters to the east, a suspicious tip emerges. “Could it be 3,000?” asked the members of Sostremetries.
The IGN gave it 2,999 meters, and the Geographical Institute of Aragon, 2,994.48. The topographers, accompanied by the geographer Miquel Soro, great expert in the Pyrenees, carried out three direct measurements in real time with a GPS receiver on August 16. In all of them, the 3,000 meters of altitude were exceeded by between 56 and almost 59 centimeters, in addition to confirming a prominence of 13.5. Seeking maximum precision, the team returned to the Estós valley to once again crown Gías Inferior, on September 22. In this case, two more measurements were made with different methods, one in real time and another static one supplemented with more calculations at home, in which they corroborated the previous results. The conclusion is the 3,000.59 meters mentioned.
The second part of the film is the name that is proposed for this secondary peak. They thought about Gías Oriental and Gías Est, but in the end they opted for Gías Inferior. The main peak also appears on different maps as Tuca d’O or de Chíes, although Termenón defends the traditional name of Gías. An open debate for toponymy experts.
