42,73 Kilometres
Very difficult
A very difficult enduro route, not because of the difficulty of the descents, but because of the physical demands. The climbs, especially the Magas DH, Panticosa and the climb to Pacino are quite tough and steep.
The views along the whole route are spectacular, a view of the Tena Valley from all the cardinal points, spectacular.
The route is divided into the three descents that we will do:
1st MAGAS DH:
We leave Sallent de Gállego by the road that goes to Lanuza and then by the track that goes to Panticosa. On this track on the left hand side is the ascent of Frondón, a very steep track, but with a very good road surface. There are about 300mts of difference in altitude until you reach the turn-off to take the MAGAS DH descent. Follow the GPS track as at the turn-off, the easiest way is to go down the normal Magas descent, not the DH, which is what we will do. When you pass the gate, go straight up (walking) to the pine trees at the top, just in front of the gate. This is the start of what for me is the best descent in the Tena Valley for enduro lovers. Overhangs, some jumps, even one over some train tracks.... All these jumps have an alternative if you don't want to do them, but they are not difficult. The descent reaches the track that joins Panticosa with Sallent de Gállego. Once on the track, we will go to the right as the last part of the descent remains, which will take us to the Panticosa housing estate where the swimming pool is.
2nd Descent through the forest from the Panticosa ski slopes to the car park:
Once in the urbanisation we go down by road to the Panticosa cable car car park, to go up the track that goes up to the ski slopes. Another steep climb.
After about 400 metres we reach the turn-off to the right, which will take us downhill through the forest to the car park again. This descent is also very good. It has a bit of everything, steep slopes and firm ground at the top, rock and some easy steps afterwards.
3rd Lap to the Pacino:
Once at the gondola car park, we have to go by road to Escarrila, then go up to Sandiniés and take the track that goes up to Lake Escarra. This climb is more bearable, but we will already have accumulated a few metres of height difference, and we will end up at the top at about 1100 metres more or less. This loop is the longest in KM and can be a bit long...
Once at Lake Escarra, we cross the dam and climb up to the Pacino pass. This ascent is a single track, almost 100% cyclable and if we are still strong enough we can do it almost entirely by bike.
Once in the pass of Pacino we will have the last descent to Sallent. The top part is a fast zig-zag, and then we get into a very beautiful beech forest with some very wide and fast curves. Then we reach the road that goes up to Formigal and France, which we cross to follow the final stretch to the road that goes down to Sallent de Gállego.
The route has a height difference of 1550 metres.
