Sierra Nevada Mountain Information

Latest snow conditions from Mulhacen

admin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:29:55 +0000

The last week has consistently seen several cm of snowfall every day. The existing snowpack is fairly well consolidated in places but has been overlaid by new fresh drifting. Avalanche debris has been spotted in many areas and the hazards are still high.

There is a track from the Poqueira hut up the Rio Mulhacen. This is hard and icy in the mornings giving rapid progress but deteriorates during the day. Snowshoes and crampons are essential.

The Puntal de la Caldera is a good excursion at the moment via the east ridge from the Col del Ciervo, and is a good day out. I would advise to keep away from the N face of Mulhacen at present.

AEMET, the spanish met office, put out a “yellow” alert for snow in Granada, Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarras for Friday 8th January 2009. They say that up to 10cm snowfall is likely.

2008 was the wettest in the Alpujarras for some years!

admin — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:48:39 +0000

Our weather records for 2008 here in Lanjaron have been completed. They show a remarkable consistency with the 2 prior years in most respects. However the total amount of annual rainfall is significantly higher than before with 415mm rain compared to 242mm in 2007 and 306mm in 2006. This is over a similar amount of days containing rain.

Good news for all those of us who own some land here, as well as for mountaineers and skiers who have had the best start to a winter season for many years!

Full detailed monthly breakdowns.

Month	Low	High	Ave Low	Ave High	Rain mm	Days Rain
Total 06 Total 07 Total 08	0.4 0.6 0.7	38.1 38.7 38.0	12.9 12.6 12.4	23.0 22.4 22.0	306 242 415	46 45 48

Ski Mountaineering on the Picon de Jerez

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:55:02 +0000

This is a route we have done before but this year conditions are excellent. You can park at the Postero Alto Refugio (1888m), accessible from Guadix and Jerez del Marquesado via rough forest roads. A short walk into the Arroyo del Alhori and the ascent begins. There are some steep sections but the way is generally straightforward. At the moment there is good snow cover above 2000m.

The peak of Picon de Jerez (3090m) is a great viewpoint southwards towards Mulhacen, Alcazaba and the rest of the main Sierra Nevada peaks. Return can be made down the Arroyo just ascended, but a few alternatives exist especially south to the Puntal de Juntillas and thence down via the Piedra de Ladrones and northwards back to the refuge and start point. An excellent day’s ski touring!

A good video showing the route via the Arroya de Alhori can be viewed below

Lanjaron Weather Station Records - Dec 08

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:47:40 +0000

Visit the Lanjaron weather station live datafeed
View past weather records
Sierra Nevada Mountain Weather Forecasts

Bad weather hampers efforts to rescue Spanish mountain climbers in Patagonia

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:28:25 +0000

clipped from www.emol.com

The Army has reported that one of the mountaineers was having symptoms of hypothermia during the night.

SANTIAGO - �Bad weather continues to prevent to rescue of three Spanish mountaineers that remain stranded in the Mount San Valent�in sector of the Chilean Patagonia, where they arrived on December 11th of this month.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Prada of the IV Chilean Army Division, the meteorological conditions have made it impossible to fly a helicopter in the area.

The official stated that the temperature has fallen below 0 degrees Celsius, with low clouds and winds blowing at 10 knots (some 30 kilometers per hour).”The three of them got through the night in good condition, one of them was having symptoms of hypothermia but got better”, added the lieutenant, who had spoken with Juan Diego Amador, the most experienced of the three climbers.

Mount San Valent�in, the highest peak in the Chilean Patagonia, is located in the Northern Ice Fields area.� The climbers had planned to reach the summit of the mountain, which is at about 4,100 meters above sea level.

Lieutenant Colonel Prada has indicated that the climbers have enough food for three days and explained that they have received instructions that will ration out the supply for six days as a precautionary measure.

Sierra Nevada in world top 10 ski resorts says magazine “Condé Nast Traveller”

admin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:55:53 +0000

The Sierra Nevada ski area been selected by the British Travel Magazine ‘Condé Nast Traveller’ for being one of the top 10 ski resorts in the world where you can practice the sport.

The publicacion says that the attractiveness for the travelling skier is the possibility to ski in Andalucia, close to the capital of Granada, in the far south of Spain. It also quotes the other advantages such as the Alhambra and the fact that Granada has some of the best tapas bars in Spain. I can’t disagree!

The full list is:
Are - Sweden
Aspen - USA
Courcheval - France
Fernie - Canada
Himachal Pradesh - India
Sierra Nevada - Spain
St Moritz - Switzerland
Taos - USA
Verbier - Switzerland
Whistler - Canada

Source: http://www.cntraveller.co.uk/Special_Features/Top_10_ski_destinations_2008_2009/Sierra_Nevada/default.asp

Latest Weather and Traffic update

admin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:19:52 +0000

There was snowfall yesterday (Sunday 28th) and overnight in the Sierra Nevada. The outlook remains unsettled with further precipitations expected at the end of this week.

There have been problems this weekend with heavy traffic on the surrounding roads. Some affected by volume of traffic, others by snowfall. You can check the current road situation in Andalucia this winter by logging onto http://www.dgt.es

Climber lost on Ojos del Salado, Andes. Can you help?

admin — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:24:01 +0000

We have received the following email from Boguslawa Marszalik-Kostyra asking for help in locating her husband lost on the above mountain.

Welcome!

On http://www.spanishhighs.co.uk website I found the information about Ojos del Salado’s expeditions that you organise regularly.

On the 29th of October, while descending the volcano, my husband Grzegorz (Gregory) Kostyra, went missing. Gregory and his two friends set off for Chile on the 20th of October. Their goal was Ojos del Salado. He and his friend reached the crater’s edge on the 29th of October. At 4.15 pm Gregory’s partner decided to go back. Gregory stayed a bit longer because he wanted to take some photos. Last time he was seen from the Tejos refuge while descending. Another friend, who had decided to stay in the refuge, was observing the light of his lantern. She claims that Gregory must have been at an altitude of 6,100 metres. The light disappeared suddenly - possibly Gregory entered a kind of a trough and never reappeared. Potentially he lost the way. Nevertheless, it’s just one of the hypothesis and we do not know for sure what happened. It was already dark and his friends did not start looking for him until the next day. Because they could not find him, they decided to go back to a lower refuge, the Atacama, hoping that Gregory had somehow found his way and got there. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. On the 31st of October they informed the Chilean Authorities and official rescue operation started. It lasted until the 20th of November but gave no results. Since the 21st of November we have been looking for Gregory privately thanks to the help of the mountain guides from Aventurismo who had been involved as volunteers since the first day.

If you are going to climb Ojos del Salado in the nearest future, please watch out for any signs that could help us to discover Gregory’s whereabouts.

Some days ago I set up a with my friends the special website in order to reach everyone who is planning on climbing the volcano Ojos del Salado -
http://www.ojosdelsalado.info You’ll find there a full description of Gregory’s rescue operation.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Boguslawa Marszalik-Kostyra.

Latest access and snow conditions for ski touring and snowshoeing

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:16:09 +0000

The 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 and care must be taken especially on N and E facing slopes.

Puente Palo (above Cañar)

About 45 mins drive above Orgiva or Lanjaron. Icy track in a morning but no 4WD necessary with care. Park at the recreational area and follow the forest track uphill. After 15 mins the snow is continuous and allows either skis or snowshoes to be worn. The forest thereafter has kept the snow well and access to the upper areas and ultimately Cerrillo Redondo (3055m) and Tajos de los Machos (3085m) is straightforward.

Refugio Forestal de la Pluca (above Capileira)

Used as an access track for Las Alegas (2703) and Tajos de los Machos (3085m). 4WD still nesessary and the track is very icy in the mornings.

Fuente Fria (above Niguelas)

The best access for skiing the west flank of Cerro de Caballo. (3005m). 4wd necessary. The final track to Fuente Fria can be difficult. Care required. If in doubt park 1km before the road end.

In our opinion this is one of the bst ski mountaineering days in the Sierra Nevada. The west flank gives numerous routes on both ascent and descent. A great day out.

Ventura Trailhead (above Lanjaron)

This is still affected by snow and ice. The ski touring route up the Caballo from here looks intact.

Combining the best of Mountain Biking and Trekking

admin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:51:41 +0000

Here at Spanish Highs we are terribly excited about the new trip we’re offering. We’ve teamed with Nikki and Karl from Ride-Tribe to offer some high altitude mountain biking and trekking expeditions.

What’s on offer is a combo of trekking and biking, either camping out, bivvying or staying at mountain huts. Depending on your timescales and the emphasis of the trip (trekking or biking), you can be pedalling to the summit of Veleta, shoving on your boots to top out on Mulhacen or Alcazaba, then bivvying down under the stars at Siete Lagunas.

Find out more on the expedition web page.

The combination of our mountaineering and trekking experience, Karl’s bike guiding and Nikki’s expedition work make for a fairly formidable team. We’re ready and waiting to take you on one of the most breathtaking adventures you and your bike* are likely to find!

*and if your bike doesn’t fancy it then no problem, you can always hire one of Ride-Tribes!