La Mongie

On the photo you can see the apartment building in the middle. Behind it the ski village La Mongie. The lift at the bottom of the photo is the 6 person chairlift Espade (19). It goes very fast and is you best connection back to Barèges. More to the left you see the four person chairlift Bernais (22) which has a nice and long blue run. Both Bernais and Espade allow you to go to the Coume Lounque (23) drag lifts, although it is a little easier from the 4 persons lift. If you are in a hurry, take the Espade, it is much faster.

Along side the 4 person chair lift there are two drag lifts Souris Blanches. Since the 6 person chairlift removed the waiting times, it is not much used anymore.

Beginners lifts in La Mongie

Close to the village you will find a number of beginners lifts. Since beginners from Barèges are better of in La Laquete, we have not used these a lot. Further more you need to walk a lot between lifts, as the area is rather flat.

Pain du Sucre

This is the red piste on the photo, at the end of the steep drag lift Pain du Sucre (12), with a slope of more than 55%. The piste itself is average of for a red piste. The black run Coupe du Monde starting at Prade Verde (14) ends on this piste.

Chairlift Chapelle (17)

This is a horizontal chairlift going from the village to apartment building near the 4 and 6 person chairlift and the "eggs". It can be taken in both directions.

Black Pistes at La Mongie

Just behind the chairlifts and in front of the apartment building, you can find the chairlift Prada Verde (14). At this place the first lift of the resort was build. (Don't worry it has been replaced since then).

From the top, there are four different black runs, which are the steepest in the area. They all are not groomed (to steep) and have moguls at the top. In most places they are wide, giving you the option to avoid the steepest parts by crossing the run from one end to the other.

The photo on the left is taken on Sources. It is hard to give an impression of how steep a slope is on a photo, but this one keeps some of it. Follow the chairlift to see where the end of the run is.

The Coupe du Monde (at the top on your left) was used in 1985 for a world championship slalom.

At the top right you can take Sources and Ratelier. If you follow the path a bit longer, you will find Prade Berde at the end. This one is less difficult than the other four, but if you want, you can also find some very, very steep slopes. 

The photo on the left is taken half way down Sources.

Lunch in La Mongie

In the La Mongie there are several places where you can eat, drink or use the toilets. The concrete apartment building houses several snack bars and further down to the village there are many restaurants. We do not have much experience with them.

On the top of the 4 person chairlift Bernais (22) there is a restaurant with a very sunny terrace. Inside it is crowded with a very nice old fashioned French atmosphere. However, we don't like the food very much; you can smell the overdue oil of the French fries while you are still in the chairlift. We prefer Col du Tourmalet (read more...) and Chez Louisette (read more..). Since our home (Petit Barzun) is close to Barèges, we mostly have lunch at home. Our terrace is large and sunny, and because it is lower than the slopes, warmer.

Quatre Termes

When skiing from Tourmalet to La Mongie, you can take the cable car (eggs) Porteilh (15). They start in the building behind the chairlifts near the apartment building.

The area at the top is beautiful, it looks like you are skiing on the moon, between large rock formations. You can take the chairlift Quatre Termes and do the run from the top. The top run is an comfortable blue piste. The descent to La Mongie is more difficult than the average blue piste. The most difficult part can be avoided by beginners by taking the route on the right.

Make sure you start in time to return to the 6 person chairlift, which closes between 16:45 and 17:00 depending on the season.