At the beginning of May we entertained Oli Reed and Ben Weeks from best selling UK outdoor magazine, Trail. They had never visited the Sierra Nevada. Guess what? They loved it! What could we show them in just 2.5 days in the Sierra Nevada though? We didn’t want to show them the usual busy slopes [...]
Read More magazine, trail, trailmag
The little known Sierra de Huetor north east of Granada, Andalucia offers some really interesting and relaxed forest walking. In mid winter easy motorway access also offers the chance to enjoy superb snowshoeing terrain. We have been visiting the Sierra de Huetor since 2002. Mainly exploring and scrambling our way around the mountain ridges of [...]
Read More Firecrest, golden eagles, griffon vultures, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Nutchatch, Short Toed Eagles
We tried out the new Inook Odyssey Snowshoes recently on some high forest trails above the Alpujarras in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains. But, how did they fare? We bought a pair of these to try out from our friend Guillermo of Deportes Nomadas in Durcal. Retail price is a reasonable €115. Stated use is for [...]
Read More Alpujarras, equipment, Gear, Inook, Lanjaron, Odyssey, review, snowshoe, snowshoes, southern spain, test
Against a backdrop of adverse mountain snow conditions we had headed upwards. But what turned out was a day full of surprises as we enjoyed the mountaineering and winter potential of the Sierra Nevada. We had headed up under a hot sun from Puente Palo, bound for the ruined hut at Cebollar. A stiff 800m [...]
Read More alegas, avalanche, Cebollar, Lanjaron, puente palo, rio chico, snowshoes
The Sierra Nevada makes a wonderful winter holiday destination. Most people though are only aware of the downhill skiing opportunities, based at Pradollano on the northern slopes of the range above Granada. However, during the winter months from December to May when snow is in abundance there are many more ways for you to enjoy [...]
Read More Alpujarras, capileira, crampons, Cross-country, downhill skiing, mountaineering course, Mulhacen, puerta de la ragua, Sierra Nevada, southern spain, Veleta, Winter Guidebook, Winter Mountaineering
There is no finer place to enjoy a day’s snowshoeing after recent snowfall than above Puente Palo in the pine forests of the Alpujarras. Last week we were privileged to enjoy the company of a family from the USA, as we guided them on a days snowshoeing. We parked at the recreation site at Puente Palo, above the [...]
Read More adventure, Alpujarras, andalucia, deep snow, forest, Lanjaron, puente palo, snowfall, Snowshoeing, snowshoes
Recollections of a hard trek to and from the Poqueira hut in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Difficult snow conditions and at times blizzard conditions made it an epic and at times very testing journey.
Read More SnowshoeingThe accesses from the south have been difficult lately due to the heavy snows. However in the past week we have experienced high temperatures down here in Lanjaron (17 deg C). This has helped the freeze/thaw cycle and we now have a considerable amount of consolidation with the snow pack. Avalanche danger still exists though [...]
Read More SnowshoeingTrevenque (2079m) is an old favourite. We have known this peak in all weathers, at all times of the year. It stands isolated and proud on the outskirts of Granada in the Cumbres Verdes range of hills. It is not linked by ridges to any other peak, has the ideal mountain profile and has one [...]
Read More cumbre verde, Snowshoeing, trevenqueWith few access tracks to the Sierra Nevada open we had to settle for the usual route up Veleta from above the ski town in the Sierra Nevada. The snow level was about 1500m. We parked the car at the Hota de la Mora (2500m) and set off, immediately requiring snowshoes to aid progress. We [...]
Read More Lanjaron, Snowshoeing, Veleta