Sierra Nevada Ski News

Sierra Nevada Ski News 2025/6

Snow factory at the Mirlo recreation area
A new feature of the Mirlo recreational area is the 'snow factory' – a container capable of producing high-quality snow regardless of the air temperature.

Installation of twelve new snow cannons
Twelve new snow cannons, which were purchased in 2024 but not installed until now, have finally been installed on the Superverde slope (Borreguiles), the Prado de las Monjas slope (Loma de Dílar), the El Río slope and the slope by the opening of the season, where they just needed testing.

Three snow grooming machines
Three snow grooming machines are entering service, two of which have winches to enable them to work on the steepest slopes. They are all equipped with the ‘Snowsat’ system, which enables the driver to see how much snow is beneath the machine. The third machine will be used in the Loma de Dílar snowpark.

Lighting on the Río and Maribel slopes
The season opened with the renovation of the lighting on the Río and Maribel slopes.

Beginner's magic carpet in Borreguiles
The beginner's magic carpet in Borreguiles now has two new sections, with one original section being replaced and another being relocated. These two new sections are double-carpeted and have a greater capacity.

Nevasol restaurant in Borreguiles rebuilt
The Nevasol restaurant in Borreguiles has been rebuilt on the site of the old building, which dates back to 1983. The new building has an L-shaped layout, which allows users to make use of the terrace as the building acts as a windbreak. It is hoped the new De Tapas restaurant will be ready for Christmas. 

Two 'new' hotels for the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort - update
The work at  Centro Deportivo Montebajo should be completed in early 2026. The four levels have already been demolished. The offices will be very open plan. The foundations are already in place for some of the work, such as the old basketball court, which will be converted into meeting rooms and multi-purpose rooms. The ofice will not move until the end of the 2025/6 season.  During the 2025/6 season the tender for the old building will be put out convert it into an iconic hotel in Sierra Nevada.

Cable Car to connect Los Peñones car park with the Pradollano area.
At the opening of the 2025/26 season, Centur will conduct technical studies for a pulse cable car system to connect the Los Peñones car park with the Pradollano area. The system will have a theoretical capacity of around 2,000 people per hour in each direction. One of the first options that the engineers ruled out was a funicular railway.  Once this decision has been confirmed and the contract put out to tender, construction will take between one and two years.

The advantage of this pulse cable car, which will run through an urban area, is that it will require light structures rather than the large buildings that a normal cable car would require. In a pulse cableway, cars are distributed in small groups on the tow rope. The line's running speed increases to 5 metres per second when the cars are not at a cable station, and slows again when they are nearing the ropeway stations, which are usually located at the two ends of the line.

Park and Ride Car Parks
The Regional Ministry of Development will focus on preparing one of the park-and-ride car parks to allow vehicles to park when demand is high. During the 2024/25 season, visitors were either turned back by the police or had to queue for hours to find a parking space. The resort has a capacity of around 6,000 parking spaces. The car park will also be useful in the event of snowfall, providing a place to stop and put on snow chains.

Sierra Nevada Ski News 2024/5

Two 'new' hotels for the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort.
Cetursa, the public company that manages Sierra Nevada ski resort, announced plans in July 2024 to open two 5 and 4 star hotels with 170 rooms (340 beds) in the centre of Pradollano in 2027 following an investment of 10 million euro. The current 2-star Hotel Telecabina, will be refurbished to 50-room four-star for the 2025-26 season. It will occupy a second building linked by a closed upper walkway which is currently Centursa's offices which will in turn move to the old Centro Deportivo Montebajo, which has been closed since 2009. Once Hotel Telecabina reopens the current 3-star Apartahotel Trevenque will be converted into a centrally located 5-star hotel opening for the 2025-26 season.

Sulayr Snowpark moves to new location

The Sulayr Snowpark has moved to a new location on the Paralelo-Audi slope, in the Borreguiles area. The original park at Loma de Dílar which openend in 2021 has closed.  The opening of new space took place on 19th April 2025 with the "Sun and Rails" event, a day in which local riders, park builders, and regular users will share rides, tricks, and prizes. The activity will combine informal competition with an Easter festive spirit.  

The new Borreguiles snowpark will feature three distinct lines designed for freestylers of different levels: beginner, advanced, and expert.  The move up to mid-level terrain is where snow conditions are better especially towards the end of the season.
 

 

Sierra Nevada Ski News 2023/4

The Sierra Nevada opened its 2023/4 ski season on 2nd December 2023 and closes on 28th April 2024.

Saturday 06-04-2024: Ski station Sierra Nevada was closed due to high winds.

Four New Ski Lifts
This season there are four new ski lifts  to compliment the two new Chair lifts last year. These are the Al Ándalus gondola two new chairlifts between Loma de Dílar and El Río, and an new moving carpet at Borreguiles.   All four will come into operation mid December.

The new Al Ándalus replaces the 1990 one of the same name required an investment of 16.7 million euros. The new gondola lift  which links the same points  Pradollano and Borreguiles is faster, more comfortable and more energy efficient. It has  77 cabins with a capacity of 10 people per cabin at a speed of up to 6 metres per second giving and a travel time for the 2.5km route of 8.5.  minutes. 19 towers replace the 25 of the old ones.

Two new new ski lifts El Puente I and II will serve the ski areas Víbora, Montebajo, Villén and El Puente slopes.  

At Borreguiles the new Dauro II moving walkway for skiers  (magic carpet) will cross the Borreguiles plain diagonally and marks the start of the remodeling of the beginners' area to creating a semi-enclosed area for beginners.  The new twin-direction moving walkway carpet is 179 metres long with a capacity of 1,500 skiers per hour.

New Competition Area
The Sierra Nevada training and competition area is transferred to the El Puente area,  and a competition stadium will be constructed. Competitors will have priority use on the new El Puente I and II lifts.

Snow  production 
The a 5-year renovation of snow cannon system in Sierra Nevada was completed in the summer 2023. In addition to the incorporation of 32 new high and low pressure cannons, 40-year old compressors and water pumps have been replace with more efficient ones. The so-called compressor building has been completely refurbished and the compressed air generators will be distributed by zones.

Snow Grooming Machines
This season, Sierra Nevada incorporates 4 new hybrid snow grooming machines, making 8 in total. Four older machine are being retired.    A snow groomer is a machine to pack snow and improve skiing and snowboarding. The resulting pattern on the snow is known as corduroy, and is widely regarded as a good surface on which to ski or ride.

The 4 new Pisten Bully 600 E+ machines  are hybrid diesel and electric propulsion, which reduce energy consumption and produce 20% less CO2 emissions, as well as being quieter.   The refueling interval of the hybrid machines is greater than that of the conventional Pisten Bully 600. 

The Sierra Nevada also has 22 treadmill machines; two of them will test HVO bio-diesel  fuel during the 23/24 season.

Themed Slopes
For the 2023/4 season the Sierra Nevada has 4 new themed slopes to make the skiing day more fun for children.  The new figures and ski circuits have been added to the El Mar slope, which features elements of the seabed, and a shark's mouth, which is the icons of the El Mar slope.

In the beginners' area, there is the the Kids Fun Trail where the youngest skiers will be able to see with forest and mountain animals and descend a skills circuit.

In the Montebajo area is the Family Fun Trail, where families go down the slopes passing interactive elements and in the  Cauchiles area there is a  route with an Iberia fauna theme.

Mud Flood
A river of mud covered several pistes in the Sierra Nevada ski resort at 13.00 hrs on Monday 12 February 2024.

Due to warm temperatures and heavy rainfall over the previous few hours, a drainage pipe overflowed and a torrent of dark mud and snow flooded the lower parts of the resort, affecting several pistes and the Mirlo Blanco non-skiing area.  There were no casualties as the resort was closed at the time due to bad weather.  It was necessary to evacuate visitors who were in the recreation area, including about a hundred children. The resort reopened, but only in the higher areas above the Borreguiles ski station. 

Staff and snowmobiles worked hard on Monday evening and overnight. The first task was to remove the mud and water, the second was to collect the snow from the area between the Alacranes and El Río slopes and spread it with the machines on the El Río slopes. The third task was to compact the snow on the slopes. Amazingly, the 23 pistes totaling 16km and 10 lifts were open by 11.15am on Tuesday. The work can be seen in the video below.