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Sierra Nevada resort snow
Lat Long: 37.08° N 3.35° W
Ski Spain

Sierra Nevada Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for Sierra Nevada Ski Resort

Sierra Nevada Ratings

Overall: 4.0. Based on 133 votes and 92 reviews.

Snowsure: 4.1

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Sierra Nevada is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.2

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Sierra Nevada has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.4

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.2

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.5

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Sierra Nevada

Public Transport: 3.9

  • There are no buses or taxis to Sierra Nevada
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.5

  • No places to stay in/near Sierra Nevada
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.9

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.4

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Sierra Nevada

Ski in/Ski out: 4.4

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 4.1

  • There are no child care facilities at Sierra Nevada
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.4

  • Sierra Nevada relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.6

  • There are no snow groomers at Sierra Nevada
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Sierra Nevada are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.1

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Sierra Nevada is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.3

  • If snow conditions are poor at Sierra Nevada, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.4

  • Sierra Nevada usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.9

  • The staff at Sierra Nevada are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Sierra Nevada are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.2

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.6

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.6

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.5

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.6

  • No intermediate terrain at Sierra Nevada
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.2

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 4.3

  • Not even a kicker at Sierra Nevada
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.4

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Sierra Nevada
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 3.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Sierra Nevada has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.3

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 4.4

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 3.7

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.8

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.6

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.3

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.5

  • Overall, Sierra Nevada is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.5

  • Overall, Sierra Nevada is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

April 30, 2008
Kim from Ski United Kingdom 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 Ski United Kingdom 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 Ski Spain 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.
October 04, 2007
laurita from Ski Spain 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
January 09, 2007
Dani from Ski Spain 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 Ski United Kingdom 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 Ski Spain 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 Ski France France
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 Ski United Kingdom 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 Ski Spain Spain
welcome to the paradise? Never go on weeckend or spanish bank holidays tooooo much