Sierra Nevada - Granada

The Sierra Nevada ski resort and ski station are easily accessible from both Granada or Málaga provinces.

The Sierra Nevada is a dramatic, rugged and extensive mountain range, the highest in Europe after the Alps and the most significant section of the Cordillera Penibética. The protected area encompasses 86,208ha of torrential rivers, sheer-sided gorges, stony scree slopes, glacial lakes between snowy summits and, in the foothills of the Alpujarras, cultivated terraces of almond trees and vegetables.

Sierra Nevada is just 32 km from Granada city - it takes about 50 minutes to drive from the city to the ski resort. The ski season is from late November to late April, as the resort uses snow machines to supplement the natural snowfall with artificially-made snow.

Sierra Nevada is Europe’s southernmost skiing range: the highest summit of the Sierra Nevada mountain range is Mulhacén at 3.481 metres, while the highest ski lift and piste climb to just below Veleta, which is at 3.398 metres.

Restaurants in Sierra Nevada Ski resort

It is always helpful to learn some useful vocabulary that will make the trip excursion even better, even though most of the staff working in Sierra Nevada speak good English.

Here you can see the piste map of Sierra Nevada Ski Resort, handy for checking the difficulty levels of the ski slopes, and also important information such as location of pharmacies, clinics, banks and more.

Standing at an impressive 3,482m above sea level, situated in the Sierra Nevada National Park, Mt. Mulhacen is the highest mountain in mainland Spain. The mountain is named after the 15th-century ruler of Granada Abu l-Hasan Ali, or Muley Hacén as he was known in Spanish. According to legend he was buried on the mountain's peak.

As soon as you step into Sierra Nevada village to get equipped for your day's skiing, you are overwhelmed by the amount of signs saying ´alquiler´ (ski hire) and ´escuelas´ (ski schools). Almost every rental company in the village offers ski and snowboard lessons with a variety of teachers.

As you might expect in a place of such beauty there are many excellent signposted and waymarked senderos (walks). Make sure you have a good map. Details of senderos, maps and walking guides are available in the Sierra's tourist offices and visitors' centres (see information).

There are few villages on the higher ground in Sierra Nevada because of the severe weather, with strong icy winds and snow for some of the year. There are 25 villages in the park and about 10 dotted around the edge.

Things to see around Sierra Nevada National Park include Jardín Botánico de La Cortijuela, Tibetan Monastery O Sel Ling, Balneario de Lanjarón and Villages of the Alpujarras.

In the western part of the park is El Dornajo, at Km 23 on the A395 road, 958 340 625. It has loads of information on the park, including an exhibition on the area's flora and fauna, hiking, where to stay, horse riding, cycle hire and paragliding. The centre sells guidebooks and maps on the park, some of which are available in English, and there is a shop selling locally produced cheese, ham and wine.

Hotel and Hostel accomodation is found in villages located around the edge of the park. The most popular are those on the southern boundary, in the popular Alpujarras (Granada Province) such as Capileira, Bubion, Pampaneira, Trevéles, less visited Bérchules, Yegen, Valor, Laroles and less visited in the Almeria Alpujarras.

The park's plants are outstanding, with the highest number of endemic plant species in Europe. An impressive 2,100 different species of vascular plant, a quarter of those recorded in the whole of Spain, have been registered here, over 120 of them endangered. Around 70 plant species are only found in the Sierra Nevada, mainly in the higher areas, while 175 species are native to the Iberian Peninsula.

The park's main draw for fauna is its rich birdlife, with over 60 species inhabiting the Sierra. Nesting birds of prey include golden eagles, Bonelli's eagles, peregrine falcons, griffon vultures and kestrels. On the higher slopes are Alpine accentors, black redstarts, northern wheateaters, rock thrushes, rock buntings, red-billed choughs and skylarks. In the woodland areas are hoopoes, short-toed treecreepers, green woodpeckers, coal tits, great tits, goldfinches and golden orioles.

An increasingly popular option for tourists visiting the Sierra Nevada national park is to rent out a cottage, apartment or villa in one of the surrounding towns or villages.

Here you can find practical and technical information about Sierra Nevada Ski Resort, such as the location, altitude, runs, ski lifts and operating hours, snow-making facilities, ski schools and special ski activities, snowboarding, special zones, accommodation and more.

Looking at the webcam can be very useful for planning a Sierra Nevada stay, or for a day excursion to Sierra Nevada. You can check the weather conditions, the state of the ski slopes, in terms of snow cover, and see how crowded they are.

Today the Sierra Nevada ski resort is a thriving centre of activity, but little over a century or so ago, it was nothing more than an isolated area within the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.