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The cycling is great, but the mountains are very linear so doing circular routes is difficult. The area is remote and sparsely populated and is nowhere near as developed as the Alps. There aren't many ski resorts, which tend to be busy all winter and have enough trade to tick over in the summer.
A friend of mine is from the area, and her brother still lives there, but he struggles to make ends meet and is almost always contemplating moving away.
I've stayed in St Marie de Campan a few times and there were two hotels, although I think one is closed now, and they were almost deserted in June, which is when you'd expect them to be fairly busy. The village is too low to be a good base for skiing in the winter and has to compete with La Mongie, 10 kilometres up the Tourmalet. I think hotels there just about make enough money in the high season to see them through the rest of the year but it's tight.
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andyp
@Dammit
Forgive my ignorance, but why is that? Cycling very poor around there?