‘He’s the Ry Cooder of Catalonia,’ says my photographer colleague Frits after a day in the mountains, listening to musician and mountaineer Jordi Mestre play on the shore of a high-mountain lake (an estany in Catalan). It feels intimate, rare. Just like tracking the elusive Pyrenean bear in the Val d’Aran with naturalist Marià Serrat, or stargazing under one of Europe’s clearest skies. Quintessential WideOyster moments – which is why we want you to experience them too.
Music, bears and stars: three ways of understanding the Pyrenees that can be heard, traced and interpreted. Where every experience, no matter how different, shares one invitation: stop, feel, and let the mountains speak.
A guitar chord floats over the granite cirque, sliding down the walls as the wind carries the notes. Birds circle above, drawn by the unfamiliar echo. We climbed to 2,363 metres, in the heart of Alt Pirineu Natural Park, to experience the mountains through music.
Some projects can only come from passion. Combining music and mountaineering, recording on peaks over three thousand metres was Jordi Mestre’s idea. His love for both worlds became Soul Mountain.
Jordi, 38, from Lleida, grew up with music and mountains. He calls himself a musician who never wanted to choose between the stave and the slope. Soul Mountain emerged naturally. ‘Why not combine my two passions? If Nina Simone said musicians should reflect our times, why not do it up here, where the landscape is changing too?’
The Vall d'Àreu stretches under a sky heavy with rain. At the Moixeus car park, Jordi and his partner Neus prepare for the ascent. While he straps on gear and packs his guitar, he picks up something unexpected for a Pyrenean climb: an eight-kilo amplifier. ‘When I go alone, I can only carry up to twenty-five,’ he jokes. ‘My real training has been climbing mountains with my children on my back.’
His guitar, inspired by the Gibson 335, is made from Lleida walnut, Valencia pickups and a European neck. ‘Kilometre zero,’ he says. The wood has changed colour after so many summits. Jordi has performed on peaks such as Mulleres, Montarto, Aneto, Biciberri Nord, Collado Maldito, and also Alpine glaciers. ‘Each peak calls for something different. Sometimes for beauty, sometimes for personal history, sometimes simply because it’s feasible to get the amp up there.’
He rarely goes alone. A mountain guide and a cameraman usually accompany him. Together, they have created videos and instrumental pieces recorded across the Pyrenees, always with respect for the territory.
This year, Soul Mountain is part of the Torelló Mountain Film Festival. ‘We’re presenting our latest production and closing the festival,’ he says, calm and proud. The project now collaborates with the Kilian Jornet Foundation, drawing curiosity and admiration.
We reach Estany d’Aixeus, an oval lake tucked between rock walls. Jordi unrolls cables, pedals and microphones, adjusting everything to the wind. ‘I’m not chasing studio quality; I’m looking for integration with the landscape.’
A note, a chord, a melody. The music is soft, deep. For Jordi, the mountain is not just a stage, it is a performer and audience at once. He starts again, fingers moving gently despite the cold. He plays John Coltrane’s ‘Alabama’. ‘It’s a dark song, like the times we live in, but it searches for something.’ Raindrops fall on the lake, marking a natural rhythm and ending the performance.
On the descent, a father and two children pass.
‘Are you Jordi from Soul Mountain?’
‘I suppose you don’t see many people hauling guitars up mountains,’ he laughs.
‘Adieu, we love your music!’
Jordi smiles. Rain returns. Somewhere in the valley, the echo of his guitar is still drifting, looking for a place to settle.
By now you must be curious to hear Jordi's music. We dragged ourselves up the mountain with all the gear to make a recording exclusively for the WideOyster readers. Sit back and enjoy.
‘Even though we haven't seen it, I'm convinced a bear is moving around this valley.’ It’s seven in the morning in Val d’Aran, where cowbells echo under a pink dawn.
Marià Serrat, 33, researcher at the University of Girona and founder of the wildlife-guiding agency Pirynaicus, scans the horizon from a high meadow. We’ve been following the trail for two days, and that sentence reflects his style: cautious, informed and quietly optimistic, shaped since childhood by the symbol of the bear.
His passion began in childhood, among the collections of naturalist Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente that his mother kept, and during summers in Rialp, in the heart of the Pyrenees.
‘I must have been seven when my grandmother told me there had been bears there,’ he recalls. The first reintroduction took place in 1996. That discovery led him to study Environmental Sciences, to work in Argentina tracking Andean bears and jaguars, and to spend three months in Kamchatka, one of the world’s densest bear regions. ‘It was a masterclass in behaviour and managing close encounters.’
Marià notes that bears are not inherently mountain animals: ‘They live from Alaska to the Gobi Desert. They’re in the mountains because we pushed them there.’ The Pyrenees are now one of Europe’s most challenging places to observe them. After dropping below five individuals in the 1990s, the population recovered thanks to the introduction of Slovenian bears. Since 2005, it has grown at around 10% annually.
‘The sustainable maximum could be about 300 individuals, though many factors affect it,’ he says. The Val d’Aran offers favourable conditions: north-facing terrain, connected forests and abundant food.
The bear’s return has also triggered long-standing tensions. For Marià, a major issue was the feeling of imposition associated with the EU Habitats Directive. ‘Two generations lost contact with the species. Nobody wants the bear to disappear, but they want it in another valley,’ he says. Farmers, hunters, administrations and environmentalists hold conflicting views. ‘Groups are often portrayed as uniform, but the conflict is far too complex for that.’
Despite this, Marià sees stability. ‘There’s always a risk of decline, but I’m optimistic.’ For him, the future lies in strengthening social ties: ‘The turning point will come when locals identify with the bear, feel proud of it and when it generates activity and participation.’
The path to the observation point winds through beech and fir forest. Marià points out claw marks on a trunk and the remains of a torn termite mound: ‘classic bear behaviour.’ From the lookout, she divides search areas and explains the essentials: ‘Colour is deceptive. Everyone sees false bears. If it doesn’t move, it’s not a bear.’
By late afternoon, the valley darkens and a deer slips across the clearing. The bears are in hyperphagia: ‘They eat nonstop. If you know where they feed, you can predict their movements.’ His success rate now exceeds 50%, though it was 10% for years.
‘Spotting a bear is the icing on the cake. What matters is understanding and enjoying the landscape and nature.’
With over a decade of experience and specialized knowledge of brown bears in the Pyrenees, Pirynaicus organizes weekend and four-day brown bear-watching excursions in the Pyrenees, always committed to ethical practices and respect for both the animals and the people who live in the territory.
We know where to go. We know the best places to stay. And we know the local partners who turn a trip into something unforgettable. That’s why when we design your journey, it isn’t just a holiday. It’s a story you’ll carry for life.
Our mission is simple: to inspire you to explore the world with curiosity, optimism, enthusiasm, and respect. To connect with cultures, to marvel at breathtaking landscapes, and to embrace the beauty of untamed nature.
So, tell us — what once-in-a-lifetime adventure may we design for you?
Soul Mountain is a unique and unprecedented project that takes the recording of original songs to heights over 3,000 meters. These creations are always carried out in harmony with the high-mountain environment surrounding the project, seeking to raise awareness and emphasising the preservation of nature and culture as two of the fundamental pillars necessary for a better future.
Thanks to a grant given by Cases de la Música, Soul Mountain has also recorded its first studio album, joined by singers Joana Jové and Alidé Sans. These songs can be downloaded and listened to by making a donation to the Kilian Jornet Foundation.
We know where to go. We know the best places to stay. And we know the local partners who turn a trip into something unforgettable. That’s why when we design your journey, it isn’t just a holiday. It’s a story you’ll carry for life.
Our mission is simple: to inspire you to explore the world with curiosity, optimism, enthusiasm, and respect. To connect with cultures, to marvel at breathtaking landscapes, and to embrace the beauty of untamed nature.
So, tell us — what once-in-a-lifetime adventure may we design for you?
Night falls on the Pyrenees. Gently, settling on its contours until only the essential remains. In these mountains where darkness is still a natural heritage, stargazing redefines our relationship with the universe and with ourselves.
In the heart of the Pyrenees, the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park and the Vall de Boí stand out for their UNESCO Starlight certification, a recognition of skies protected from light pollution. Here, the night regains its ancestral density. The firmament unfolds without interference, and constellations trace ancient routes above valleys shaped by ice and silence. Astronomy becomes a way of inhabiting the landscape, a dialogue between peaks and stars.
In Alta Garrotxa, the Albanyà Astronomical Observatory has turned a meadow into a nocturnal sanctuary. The sessions begin with the pink valley and end with telescopes pointing at clusters and galaxies invisible from any city. In summer, the Milky Way falls almost vertically, like a luminous torrent.
The Pedraforca Astronomical Observatory, at the foot of the fantastic, unique double-peaked mountain, offers a high-altitude sky without crowning peaks. Rigorous dissemination is mixed with the magnetism of the massif. From here, the North Cross seems to anchor the firmament, and Jupiter shines with an ancient intensity.
Discover the Pyrenees through hiking, climbing, culture and adventure. With more than 1,000 km of marked trails, legendary peaks and endless outdoor activities, this is a land where nature and heritage walk hand in hand. Taste local gastronomy, explore rural traditions and embrace true mountain life. Start your Pyrenean journey today and experience Catalonia at its most authentic.
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