From the ocean to the sea
August 18, 2022Congratulations to Askival chief executive Mike Nestor and his son for completing the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne (HRP).
The HRP is a challenging 800 kilometres (497 miles) trail from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean which approximately follows the Franco-Spanish border and passes through Andorra.
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The Nestor team split the trail into six stages which, at the rate of one stage per year plus two years for knee injury recuperation and two more due to Covid-19 disruptions, took a decade to complete.
Starting on the Atlantic coast at Hendaye in 2013, the first stage through the rolling hills of the Basque country broke them in for the more challenging route ahead. The most demanding section, which they undertook in 2018, included the snowy Col Inférieur de Litérole at 2983m (9787 ft).
The final stage, undertaken this July, started in Arinsal in Andorra. It took 17 days, including two rest days to reach the final destination at Banyuls-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean.
Mike, who is no stranger to adventure – he rowed across the Atlantic in 1986 – said: “The HRP has been a great adventure with my son, who was 14 years old when we started and 23 when we finished. We enjoyed many high points and endured a few lows together, and the sense of achievement on arrival in Banyuls-sur-Mer was fantastic – as was the ice-cream!”
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