The Sierra Nevada ski and mountain resort in the province of Granada Spain has opened for the season
The Sierra Nevada ski and mountain resort opened for the season on Sunday, December 3, the Borreguiles cable car allowed access to an area of snow activities enabled in different points of Borreguiles and the beginners’ mats for beginner skiing.
Popular among tourists and residents, the Central Grill restaurant In Borreguiles also opened during the weekend.
In Pradollano, the Mirlo Blanco activities centre launched with its usual facilities for non-skiers, with the debut of the ice skating rink.
After the snowfall recorded on Friday and the drop in temperatures on Saturday, December1 and 2, the resort’s train drivers began work on conditioning the ski area around the Emile Allais chairlift.
The Sierra Nevada – Pradollano- ski resort is located in the Province of Granada . For skiing and snowboarding, there are 112.5 km of slopes available. 24 lifts transport the guests. The winter sports area is situated between the elevations of 2,100 and 3,300 m.
Latest news
The most significant action in terms of investment and impact on the ski area is the installation of four new lifts in the Sierra Nevada for the new season. If last season the challenge of putting two new chairlifts into operation – replacing two old ones – was already formidable, this season Sierra Nevada has taken a further leap towards modernising its facilities, and the transport and distribution of users, with the replacement of the old Al Ándalus gondola lift (33 years in service), the installation of two new chairlifts between Loma de Dílar and El Río, and an initiation carpet on the Borreguiles plain.
All four, if there are no construction problems, will come into operation almost simultaneously between the Puente de la Constitución and the start of the Christmas holidays.
The new Al Ándalus, with an investment of 16.7 million euros (co-financed with FEDER React funds), is a state-of-the-art gondola lift that is faster, more comfortable and more energy efficient. It will have 19 towers (compared to the 25 of the old one), 77 cabins (with a capacity of 10 people per cabin), a linear route of 2.5 kilometres (between Pradollano and Borreguiles), a speed of up to 6 metres/second and a travel time of 8.5 minutes.
The ski lifts El Puente I and II will serve an existing ski area (Víbora, Montebajo, Villén and El Puente slopes) where a new Sierra Nevada training and competition area will now be promoted. This will decongest the Monachil chairlift and the Loma de Dílar area, where at present – especially at weekends – Andalusian racing teams and tourist skiers mix, creating traffic problems and possibly safety problems.
With the transfer of training sessions and official races to the El Puente area, a competition stadium will be created, equipped for the high performance of Andalusian racers. The double ski lift, which competitors will have preferential, but not exclusive, use, has a cost of 4.1 million euros, of which 2.5 million euros corresponds to the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Tourism and Sports (the rest, 1.6 million euros is paid by Cetursa), which subsidised the project to support the clubs and the 3,000 athletes of the Andalusian Winter Sports Federation (FADI).
The fourth lift is an initiation carpet in Borreguiles; the Dauro II carpet will cross the Borreguiles plain diagonally; this new carpet marks the beginning of the remodelling of the beginners’ area with the aim of creating a semi-enclosed area where beginners can learn in safe conditions and in a fun atmosphere. The new carpet has a double ribbon with a gallery, 179 metres long and a capacity of 1,500 people/hour.
