The official catalog of peaks exceeding the 3,000-meter barrier in Catalonia has grown from twelve to thirteen summits. A team of topographers and engineers from the Sostre Metries project has certified that the Agulla Sud de Malavesina, situated in the Besiberri massif in Vall de Boí (Alta Ribagorça), meets the scientific and orographic requirements to be considered an official "three-thousander."
High-precision analyses and measurements have determined that the mountain has an exact altitude of 3,012.9 meters. This milestone is significant for Catalan mountaineering, as the list of three-thousanders had remained unchanged for decades.
The validation of a peak as a "three-thousander" depends not only on its altitude but also on its prominence, a criterion established by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). Prominence is the vertical drop between a mountain's summit and the highest col or pass connecting it to a higher peak, and it must be at least ten meters for it to be considered an independent summit.
In the case of the Agulla Sud de Malavesina, the Sostre Metries team has certified a prominence of eleven meters, thus exceeding the minimum requirement and earning its place in the select club of the Pyrenees' great peaks.
The Sostre Metries group, composed of five surveying engineers, applies its professional knowledge to measuring peaks using state-of-the-art GNSS satellite receivers. This technology allows for the correction of errors in old maps and the updating of Pyrenean geography with centimeter-level precision.
This measurement campaign has not only fixed the altitude of the new peak but has also raised the total number of three-thousanders across the entire Pyrenees (including the Catalan, Aragonese, Navarrese, and French slopes) to 217 peaks.
Experts from Sostre Metries caution that the list may not be final, as they are reviewing approximately eighty uncertain or doubtful peaks along the mountain range. The project aims to fully close the topographic catalog by the end of the year.
