Anialarra is a vast limestone plateau, that extends over 8 kilometers from the East to the West and is about 500 m wide. It culminates at 2350 m in the East and descends steeply towards the West (Alt 1700 m)

The Plateau is situated in the Pyrenees, at the French-Spanish border. Most of its surface is located in Spain.

Pic d'Anie, a giant limestone pyramid of 2504 m high, dominates the Anialarra plateau but is strictly speaking no part of it.

The limestone layer, between 300 and 450 m thick, is cracked and fissured. It is hard to imagine that 400 m below this desert of rock, big rivers flow in giant underground caves.

Glaciers, tectonic forces, rain and snow have sculped one of the most beautiful "lapiaz" plateaus in the world

The limestone, attacked by acid waters, has left razor sharp rock

Walking around Anialarra eats your boots. Slipping or falling will hurt you!

There are no rivers on a lapiaz. Every drop of rain disappears into a crack or hole and goes down... making caves.

There are thousands of holes and pits, everywhere. A lot of them are blocked by snow or loose rock. Some of them go down for 400 meters and connect to the big cave system below.

It takes a lot of time to explore them all. SC Avalon has been working here for 15 years now and the end is nowhere in sight.

Slowly but methodically we prospect and inventory every square meter of this limestone plateau.

Each pit is inspected. When it goes on, we get our caving gear and explore it... which might take weeks or years, if it is a big cave!

In the lower parts of Anialarra (below 1900 m) there is a bit of vegetation. Some pine trees and some grass...

But above 1900 m, there is hardly any vegetation. It is a mineral desert of limestone rock.

Yet, a closer look will reveal many mountain flowers. By the way: have you noticed the giant "fault mirror" ? Such geological faults are favorable for the formation of caves.

Wild fauna is very rare as well. But from time to time, one might meet a cute baby chamois.

Sheep however do seem to like it here.

Often the poor sheep end up at the bottom of a deep pit and die a miserable death

A temperature inversion near 1700 m of altitude, often creates this spectacular "sea of clouds"

Pic d'Arlas in the sea of clouds

The clouds dissolve magically when reaching the warmer Southern side of the mountain.

The landscape is breathtaking

At the far East, the Anialarra Plateau suddenly ends into the void. Cliffs of several hundreds of meters high dominate a beautiful valley, deep below: the Cirque de Marmitou.

The view is superb... you can see many important summits of the Pyrenees, such as Pic du Midi-Ossau

The giant cliffs also reveal caves. Searching for them, following high ridges, is a risky business

Deep caves exist at only a couple of meters from the edge of the cliffs. In the background, the limestone plateau of Ukerdi (Anialarra's neighbour) goes on endlessly.

A last view at the "Circque de Marmitou"

To fully appreciate Anialarra, you must have been there in winter.

Several metres of snow cover everything.

No more fissures and pits, everything is smooth. But they are still there, hiding below the snow. You should not adventure yourself here in winter, unless you know this area by heart.

At the summit of Anialarra, 2350 m above sealevel

Summer or winter, seeing Anialarra is an experience you will never forget...