Ski Resorts
Madrid Ski Resorts
By m.p. - Nov 15, 2007 - 5:08 PM
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The Puerto de Navacerrada is the closest ski resort to Madrid, just 60 kilometres from the Spanish capital in Cercedilla, and 26 kms from Segovia.
Its 11 kms of skiable area are divided into the Zona Alta (upper area), with eight red runs and one black, and the Zona Baja (lower area), where there are two blue runs, 4 green and one red.
A system of 56 snow cannons has the capacity to provide artificial snow to an area covering 3.4 sq kms. A total of eight ski lifts, and four ski schools with 100 ski instructors.
Accommodation is available for more than 500 people at the resort itself, and another 4,000 beds in the surrounding area.
Just a few kilometres from Puerto de Navacerrada, is Valdesqui, one of the largest ski stations of the Sistema Central, with 27 ski runs covering 19 kms (three red, fifteen blue and nine green). It is equipped with a system of eight snow cannons and 15 chair lifts. There is one ski school here with 45 instructors.
The resort, which is in Rascafria in the Sierra de Guadarrama, is accessed from Madrid by either the A-6 (72 kms), the M-607 (79 kms), or on the local train service, ‘cercanias,’ from the capital to the station at Cotos, from where a shuttle bus covers the remainder of the journey.
There is no accommodation at the resort itself, but ample in the surrounding area.
There’s also the chance for year-round skiing just 20 minutes drive from Madrid city centre, in a massive leisure and shopping complex in Arroyomolinos, in the southwestern part of the city.
The Madrid Snowzone takes up 18,000 square metres of the Madrid Xanadu centre, with a 250 metre slope which makes it the largest indoor ski and snowboard park in Europe.
There are two runs: for beginners, a 100 metre piste equipped with drag lift and conveyor belt, and a maximum gradient of 5%. The main slope, at a 25% gradient is equivalent to a green run, and has a four-person chair lift and a drag lift. The temperature is kept at a constant -3ºC to keep the artificial snow in excellent condition.
Open 365 days a year, it even has its own ski lift and ski school, together with equipment hire, and is particularly popular in the heat of the summer, when temperatures in the capital can reach well into the 40s.