Sierra Nevada, Spain

Visitor reviews for Sierra Nevada

• April 30, 2008
  Kim from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Living in Granada and skiing in Sierra Nevada.
  I skied most of the 07-08 season. In general I was pretty disappointed as an advanced skier. I was told by some of the instructors that it was a bad year for snow so there was no off-piste areas available, which potentially could provide some good skiing. The in bounds areas don´t really provide much of a challenge. There´s one long black run that was closed for about half the season but needs two slowish chairlifts to access and is over pretty quickly. The ´Laguna´ area was closed pretty much all season for lack of snow. A massive array of snow canons ensure that the beginners runs are kept open all season.
  Granada is a good place to live, if you can find somewhere. The estate agents won´t rent you anything for less than a year so you have to try your luck with the various fly posted advertisements which is pretty tricky if you don´t time it right or speak much Spanish. Getting from Granada to SN can be done on the bus but there is really only one option at 10am from the out of town bus stop unless you get the really early bus. I got fed up with this and drove a car down from the UK at Xmas. Granada to SN takes about 45mins.

  Positives:
  Very suitable slopes for intermediates/novices who want to improve.
  Food very reasonably priced (esp at Tia Maria, by the cable car).
  Sunny nearly all the time which makes for some pleasant intermediate skiing.
  Lifts work reasonably well.
  Decent vertical drop (about 1300m).
  Granada.

  Negatives:
  Very little snow.
  Little or no off-piste or challenging slopes for advanced skiers.
  Relatively expensive lift pass - 1000 Euros for the season when I was there.

• March 18, 2008
  Jonathan Brook from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Sierra Nevada can be a great ski resort if you are fed up with the prices of the Alps. I have been to many resorts in the Alps for the last 20 years but I stumbled across this resort 3 years ago and have been back to it 5 times since. It has some very good ski runs and is a good resort to learn in because it has plenty of wide blue and green runs. There are also many more ski runs for the advanced skier but you can probably ski all of the resort in 2-3 days if you are good enough. I would highly recommend to try this resort what ever level of skier you are. A quick flight to Granada airport and car hire will set you back around £80 for a long weekend if planned right. Car hire is even cheaper if you manage to share with a few more friends. I stay at Hotel Monachil in Sierra Nevada which is by the slope so you can ski to your hotel door with no walking. They even have ski hire there. Granada airport is about 40 mins away by car and is sign posted all the way to the ski resort. The prices for ski hire, food, drink, hotels, lift passes etc are half that of say a popular alp resort in France or Austria. The weather always seems to be sunny whenever I've been so it makes for great skiing. The locals are friendly and the night life is good although do be prepared to speak Spanish or your best Spanglish at times. The atmosphere is totally different to that of the Alps and is much more laid back. There are some great long ski runs to be found if you go right to the top and can take many different routes down to the same destination to suit all abilities. You will not get bored of the ski runs. Try it. You might like it.

• November 28, 2007
  Andrew Roberts from SPAIN
  

  I came across this great website in English about Sierra Nevada which seems to have all the information you might want considering there appears to be very little else available: www.sierranevada.co.uk.

• January 09, 2007
  Dani from SPAIN
  

  Hi Patrick,

  Only one way to get back is WALKING or just wait till 08.30 than you can take the chair lift. Good luck Dani

• January 03, 2007
  Patrick from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Not a review but more of a question.

  I haven't seen any forums related to the Sierra Nevada so I thought I'd try here...

  I am going in a few weeks with some friends and have booked a hostal in the mid range (Hostal Yeti) half way up the mountain. I was just wondering how we would get back to the hotel if we decided to apres ski in the lower region till late where all the bars and restaurants appear to be.

  Do taxis run till late?

  Any feedback would be much appreciated.

  Regards

  Patrick

• February 25, 2006
  Julie mckenna from SPAIN
  

  Just spent a long weekend up the Sierra (I live a two hour drive away). Lived in Spain for 3 years now and spend as much time as possible up there through the Winter especially when the weather is not too good on the coast. It's the first time it snowed (while we were there.) Driving around town was a bit hairy; snow chains are a must if there is snow forecast. Ski conditions were great, but visibility was pretty low. Did a night ski for the first time, amazing.....highly recommended, straight on gondola, no queues and the pistes were empty and soooo quite, it's an entirely different experience. Night skiing is only allowed on Saturday nights and the odd Wednesday if the weather is good enough, only 12 euros for the lift pass.
  Night life is great, I would particularly recommend Sticky Fingers, great vibe, cool DJ, great crowd, we were there 'till 5am and there was no sign of a wind down. We actually stayed out as a couple of locals told us that the lifts would be closed on Sunday due to predicted gales, which as he promised was true....the whole town seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that they didn't have to get up early! Which is just as well as we were pretty wobbley from the copious amounts of drinks at Sitcky Fingers.
  My only complaint is a general one and that is the lack of good qualify food in the restaurants. Although it's fairly good value for money, we had a vege with us and it was almost impossible to find anything but chips for her to eat. Maybe we just chose badly. Appreciate any recommended places to eat for meat eaters and vege's alike.

• January 26, 2006
  Helen from IRELAND
  

  Guys, the neaest airport is not Malaga, but Granada itself. It's served by Ryanair between many other companies.
  I reaaally enjoyed my ski there. It's the only place where I got such an amount of sunlight....clear, blue, beautiful sky most of the days!!! A visit to the Alpujarra region is very worth it. You can do off-piste at the end of your ski day from the high peaks down to this region. The quietness is amazing and the views totally stunning. I would recommend these lads as guides. They've lots of experience and know everyone and everything in the area. Here's the link:
  http://www.arrakis.es/~nevadensis/travesia.htm
  This way you don't get bored of the same slopes all the time and enjoy some real local guides, food and fine accommodation out of the big resort.
  I will definitely come back again :-)

• January 06, 2006
  John from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Quite a nice resort, it can however get very busy. Make sure you arrive before 10 o'clock because that's the peak time when everyone wants to hire ski equipment. Pistes are really easy but they are great for beginners and intermediates but it isnt much of a chalenge for experienced skiers/snowboarders. It is nice for a day or two but I wouldn't recommend it for more than a week.

• December 20, 2005
  matagrunch from SPAIN
  

  welcome to the paradise? Never go on weeckend or spanish bank holidays
  tooooo much

• January 12, 2005
  geoff williams from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  Hi everyone
  just returned back from my second trip to Sierra Nevada Jan 8th another fantastic 4 day break. Just a word of advice to anybody on there way out there shortly. If your stay includes a weekend the queues at the main 2 Gondalas from the village to the mid station can stretch to 2/12 hours in the morning, no fun for anyone. There is a 4 man chair which leaves the village to the right. Get that lift, there are never any queues (for some mad reason)when at the top take the 6 man upto the satalight then board down to the mid station. time in total 11 mins. There is a tough drag to the highest peak(not for the Faint hearted) but the views are totally amazing.Another great time had by all see you again next year.

• December 20, 2004
  lex from UNITED KINGDOM
  

  sierra nevada is a fantastic place to go for a day or two- or maybe just even the day , it can become quite dull after a while if you are an experienced boarder as theres no off piste and it always pretty rammed. But with only a three hour drive from marbella and banus how can you complain eh? enjoy.

• April 08, 2004
  juancarlos from GIBRALTAR
  

  Hi everyone,
  Just checked this site and thought of updating info on Sierra Nevada. Being lucky enough to live within drivable distance to enjoy day visits, the resort is well known to the Gibraltar skiing fraternity.
  Parking is no longer permitted on the approaches to the resort. So unless u r very lucky, you have to pay the underground parking rate of approx. 12 Euros per day.
  Forfaits are expensive compared to other resorts, given that there are only 70 odd klms of prepared pistes at the best of times.
  Pistes are generally quite easy with very few 'difficult' runs. So pretty good fr beginners.Even the two or so Blacks would probably be Reds elsewhere.
  No real challenges for advanced skiiers, as even off piste is pretty much restricted, and not advisable unless u have a guide.
  Christmas and Easter attracts loads of skiiers, and even if the apres ski get good, the wait for chair lifts gets tedious, particularly at peak hours,although in the last year new lifts have been added to the beginners area.
  If u have to go peak season, avoid the main bubble.Avoid the queue that usually forms from the main square to the main bubble lift 'Al Andalus'
  Take the steps down to the left or right of the bubble building. There,s a chair lift to Montebajo area, which is very good and is not as crowded as the beginners area of Borreguiles.
  From the very top of Montebajo area as u come off the chair lift next to the Satelite Dish, u can easily ski down to Borreguiles.
  So, good luck and safe skiing.

• 
  laurita from SPAIN
  

  Hello Patrick!
  Maybe too late to answer back but it will be useful for future visitors... you can take a bus (1 euro) back to the mid & upper area of the ski station (till 23pm) or take a taxi (10 euros)... however, most people go walking as it only takes 15 minutes to reach the hostel and bars nearby, which are even better than the ratty disco in the lower area of the station.
  Ciao

• 
  Alejandro from SPAIN
  

  El Veleta y el Mulhacén es lo mejor que tenemos en Andalucía en invierno. Nieve en el Sur de España,a veces estoy en la playa en malaga tomando el sol y solo en una hora y media estoy esquiando. El único problema que tiene sierra nevada es la empresa que la gestiona:Cetursa, suben los precios cada año sin explicación alguna, se han olvidado del freestyle,....
  Os recomiendo que subais los días despues de una nevada,seguro que os encanta.
  Un saludo a todos