324 KM | Puig d’en Galileu, Mallorca – Pic de Saloria, Pyrenees

Distance	324 Kilometers
By	Marcos Molina
Camera	Canon eos 5D Mark III
Lens	Nikon f/5.6 600mm (manual)
Date	February 11th, 2018 – 17:00 h

World Record for the longest line of sight In – Country!

On the way up to the Tramuntana mountains, Mallorca, Balearic islands. Spain’s Mainland can be seen one hundred miles away above the horizon, only under very exceptional atmospheric conditions.

The 11th of February 2018 was cold and overcast. Pushed by a low pressure system, a mass of extraordinary dry air coming from the Iberian peninsula settled over the western Mediterranean, where I live, dramatically increasing the atmospheric visibility. I thought that this was a perfect opportunity to try and spot the distant continent from the top of a hight mountain.

So, I headed towards Tramuntana hills, on the north of my island, Mallorca. At 17:00 hrs I reached the top of Puig den Galileu (1195 m.) after struggling in deep snow and a bitter cold, most unusual here!

As soon as I managed to set up my full-frame Canon DSLR with the 2,7 kilos Nikon f/5.6 600mm lens, I spotted the characteristic silhouette of Montserrat mountain in Catalonia, 217 km. away right above the sea horizon line. Later on, as ambient light changed, even more distant objects appeared towards the right.

They “glowed” because they were snow covered in white. I was seeing the Pyrenees chain, 300 km. away. At that moment I could not identify any mountain in particular, but I managed to shoot all of them in a huge 10 consecutive photos panorama.

This the first time I manage to see the whole width of the Pyrenees range phisically visible from Mallorca, expanding 90 kms. from side to side. After a thorough identification study, while developing the raw files at home, I was shocked to see I spotted the Canigou peak (2784 m. / 302 km.), entirely in French territory, as well as the Montmalús peak (2782 m. / 315 km.), into Andorra country. I also spotted the Pic de Salòria (2789 m.), located in Catalonia, at a whopping distance of 324 km! (201 miles).

This constitutes an absolute record of visibility between two objects located in the same country.

The 10-photo long stitched panorama at the bottom. Above, a synthetic simulation of the pictured landscape, created thanks to Ulrich Deuschle Panorama, showing the spotted highlights. Please click on the image to see full sized image (4000 px wide) in a new window.

A map to scale, showing the relatively wide angle of view of the above panorama, as well as the spotted highlights in the distant continent. Click to see full size image in new window.

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