Overall:
2.7.
Based on
8
votes
and
12
reviews.
Vote
Access: 2.9
(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Picos De Europa.
Public Transport: 2.0
(1) There are no buses or taxis to Picos De Europa, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
Scenery: 4.1
(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.
Accommodation: 3.0
(1) No places to stay in/near Picos De Europa, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
Cheap Rooms: 3.4
(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.
Luxury Hotels: 1.8
(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Picos De Europa.
Ski in/Ski out: 2.1
(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.
Childcare: 1.2
(1) There are no child care facilities at Picos De Europa, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.
Snowsure: 4.8
(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Picos De Europa is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.
Snowmaking: 1.0
(1) Picos De Europa relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
Snow Grooming: 1.0
(1) There are no snow groomers at Picos De Europa, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Picos De Europa are groomed daily.
Shelter: 1.8
(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Picos De Europa is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
Nearby options: 2.0
(1) If snow conditions are poor at Picos De Europa, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.
Regional rating: 4.3
(1) Picos De Europa usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.
Lift Staff: 2.0
(1) The staff at Picos De Europa are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Picos De Europa are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.
Crowds/Queues: 3.0
(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
Ski Schools: 1.2
(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.
Hire and Repairs: 1.7
(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.
Variety of pistes: 3.3
(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Picos De Europa has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.
Beginners: 1.0
(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.
Intermediates: 2.8
(1) No intermediate terrain at Picos De Europa, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.
Advanced: 4.9
(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.
Snow Park: 1.8
(1) Not even a kicker at Picos De Europa, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.
Off-piste: 5.0
(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
Cross-country: 2.0
(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Picos De Europa, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.
Luge/Toboggan: 1.6
(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Picos De Europa has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.
Mountain Dining: 2.7
(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.
Eating: 2.4
(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
Apres-Ski: 2.7
(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.
Other Sports: 2.3
(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.
Entertainment: 3.9
(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.
Winter Walks: 4.6
(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.
Ski Pass Value: 3.7
(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.
Value (National): 4.2
(1) Overall, Picos De Europa is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.
Value (Global): 3.7
(1) Overall, Picos De Europa is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.
The Picos de Europa region is a great area for mountain skiing with a really beautiful scenery. High peaks and deep valleys with the Cantabrian Sea so close that it can be seen from most of the routes.
The forecast is very helpful because heavy storms are very common and it is usually quite accurate. Avalanche risk is usually low because of the mild climate, so powder snow transforms quickly. But for a few days after windy storms one should be very careful. Spring conditions are excellent.
The region which more m2 contributes to national park is El País Leonés (PL). Moreover, the main mountain sectors are setting in País Leonés territory. Llanbrion sector and Peña Santa de Castilla sector; where is setting the higher and craggy mountains. The PL area isn’t invaded by tourists from the beach area in the Cantabria and Asturias sector. If you want to know the most beautiful and virgin area in Picos, I only can recommend you visit Valdeon and Sajambre valleys. West slope Torrecerredo belongs to PL. The mountains in the rest of PL are looks like Picos more than Asturias and Cantabrllanbrion is setting totally in pl, as well as Peña Santa de Castilla and Torre Bermeja ia regions. More in PL: Torre del Tiro Tirso, Torre Casiano de Prado, Torre Llastria, etc, etc.
In Picos there ar no ski resorts. The nearest resorts are Valgrande-Pajares, San Isidro, the new Asturianish ski resort: Fuentes de Invierno and Alto Campoo. In the national park we can find a touristic cable car in "Fuente Dé" (Cantabria), but it isn't a ski resort infrastructure. The main sector of Picos de Europa is in Asturias (Macizo Central) where you can find the most famous peaks... the most famous "Naranjo de Bulnes" (2.518 m.) or "Picu Urriellu" and the highest peak "Torrecerredo" (2.648 m.).
In resort info we can read that "Picos De Europa in Spain is a tiny ski resort with just one ski lift..." is this real. I´m asking because I did some search and I didn´t find anything about a lift or even a resort, can someone describe something about the resort. Thanks in advance
[Editors note: Thank you for your submission. The details about Picos de Europa have now been altered so no ski resort is mentioned.]
Hi, I know very well this mountains. Speak about Picos de Europa is speak about the very high mountain: Picos isn´t Snowdonia. Every year we have English people dead in Picos because they don't know the mountain and the mountains are not the hills. The French, the Suisse and the Italian people know better this sports (the skiing, the free skiing, and the sports of mountain) and I know of no dead amongst these nationalities. In summer, it is the same thing: we are in the mountain, and I see groups of English people walk to the summit when storms are near on the air. In Picos you can see it snowing in September!. Be careful please, is a very nice place, but isn`t the country. I hope this winter and this summer 2008 all will be good for all people.
Excuse my English. Is better walk on this places with a person who knows the mountains well. Picos is a very big area, and there you have only stone and snow. Sorry for my English.
I have to agree with Mike Stuart, I have been to the Picos on numerous occasions and yes it's beautiful and yes it can be dangerous but no more dangerous than Snowdonia. In the winter months there is plenty of snow and if you are an accomplished skier why not. I pride myself to think I am well travelled. In my opinion the Picos is one of the most beautiful areas in Europe.
Hey!
I've just been there in Summer so I couldn't see any snow but I've seen that there was in front of me a wonderful place for bike, walk, whatever...but you know,I'm a snowboarder and I've started thinking that there was a beautiful place for freeriding, no tracks just pure powder snow, for those that like backcountry there's a real nice place for it!!!peace
Correction,the Picos straddle 3 regions Asturias,Leon and Cantabria.Nicholas the climbers that died in 2002 on Naranjo died in thunder storm, heavy downpours tend to turn big rock walls into waterfalls, by the way all mountains are dangerous.Finally it is snowing and our usual base is building like a beauty .Nov 15th
Portugal
United Kingdom