The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Sierra Nevada is the highest ski resort in Spain and the southernmost in Europe, a combination that produces one of the most geographically unusual skiing experiences on the continent. The ski area sits on the northwestern slopes of Veleta — the third-highest peak in mainland Spain at 3,398m — with the base village of Pradollano at 2,100m and the highest lifts reaching 3,282m, delivering a skiable vertical of 1,182m.
The resort covers 107km of marked terrain across 116 runs, weighted toward intermediate and advanced skiers with 40% intermediate, 37% advanced, 16% beginner and 7% expert — an accessible spread that reflects Sierra Nevada's status as one of the most heavily visited ski resorts in Spain, predominantly by a domestic clientele travelling up from Granada, Málaga and the wider Andalusian coast.
The resort hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1996, the 2015 Winter Universiade and the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in March 2017 — a competition record that confirms both the calibre of the groomed race terrain and the infrastructure capacity to handle major international events.
The entire ski area sits above the treeline, as Sierra Nevada's latitude and elevation place it in a Mediterranean alpine climate zone with virtually no subalpine forest at skiable altitudes. This gives the mountain an open, exposed character distinct from the forested Pyrenean resorts further north, with sweeping uninterrupted views across Andalusia that on clear days extend south to the African coastline across the Strait of Gibraltar.
1182m
Vertical
116
Runs
107 km
Piste
4m
Annual snow
The Terrain
116 runs across 107 km of piste
Sierra Nevada spreads 116 runs across 107 km of piste of terrain. It leans intermediate at 40%, with 19 beginner runs to find your feet and 51 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
116
runs
116 runs across 4 grades
Beginner19 runs · 16%
Intermediate46 runs · 40%
Advanced43 runs · 37%
Expert8 runs · 7%
Time it right
When to visit Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada operates one of the longest ski seasons in Spain, running from late November through to early May in strong snow years, with the 2025/26 season scheduled from 13 December to 4 May. The resort averages around 4 metres of annual snowfall, delivered predominantly in concentrated winter storms rather than the sustained Atlantic snowfall patterns of the Pyrenees.
What distinguishes Sierra Nevada's snow preservation is altitude — with the entire ski area above 2,100m in a high-pressure Mediterranean climate, cold temperatures persist long after natural snowfall, and the base depth as of early March 2025/26 stands at 400cm against a season total of 298cm. This reflects the resort's pattern of relying on altitude-preserved snowpack rather than frequent fresh accumulation.
The resort records the most sunshine hours of any ski destination in Europe — a product of its Andalusian latitude and the predominance of Mediterranean high-pressure systems across southern Spain in winter. This makes spring skiing at Sierra Nevada a genuinely different proposition to alpine alternatives: warm temperatures at the base, firm morning groomers on upper runs and the surreal possibility of combining a morning ski session with an afternoon on the Costa del Sol beaches 90 minutes away by road.
The late-season window — typically March through to early May — is widely regarded as the optimal period, when base depths are at their deepest, daylight hours are long and the mountain's competition-grade terrain on the Veleta sector is running at full capacity.
Season 2025 - 2026
13 Dec 2025
Opens
4 May 2026
Closes
142
Days open
4 m
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Sierra Nevada, and where to stay
Sierra Nevada sits within the Sierra Nevada National Park in the province of Granada, Andalusia, approximately 32km southeast of Granada city along the A-395 road. The resort base at Pradollano is around 50 minutes by car from Granada city centre, making it one of the most city-proximate ski resorts in Europe — a factor that drives the predominantly day-visitor and weekend character of the mountain during the season.
A regular bus service operates from Granada's main bus station to Pradollano during ski season, running several times daily on weekdays and more frequently on weekends, with the journey taking around 45 minutes. The closest major international airport is Granada-Jaén Federico García Lorca Airport, 55km from the resort, though it handles limited international routes. Málaga Airport is the main international gateway at around 170km to the west, with connections from across Europe during the winter season.
The city of Granada is the resort's most compelling draw beyond the skiing itself. The Alhambra Palace — one of the most visited monuments in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage site — sits within the city, making Granada one of the few places on earth where a day on a ski slope can be followed by dinner in the shadow of a medieval Moorish fortress.
The resort village of Pradollano operates as a year-round community with a permanent population, giving it a more self-contained character than the seasonal stations typical of the Pyrenees, including supermarkets, a pharmacy, multiple ski schools and a range of restaurants and bars that operate on Spanish hours through the après-ski period and into the evening.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Sierra Nevada, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
FIS Weighs Holding World Championships in Almost Every Winter, Starting 2032
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is looking at a major shake-up to its title events calendar. From 2032, World Championships could run not just in odd-numbered years but in every non-Olympic winter too, effectively putting a global title event on the calendar almost every season. The FIS Council has approved the concept following a feasibility study, though an accelerated rollout as early as 2028 is also under consideration.
4 Sept 2026
Mount Buller Becomes Latest Australian Resort to Call Time Early on 2026
Mount Buller closes out its 2026 season this Sunday, joining Falls Creek, Hotham and Charlotte Pass in a cluster of closures landing almost simultaneously and roughly a month ahead of schedule. The culprit is stark: Spencers Creek's benchmark snow depth hit 31.2cm on 3 September, just 18% of the 73-year average and an all-time low for this point in the season. Six of Victoria and NSW's best-known resorts will have shut their lifts early within a span of about two and a half weeks.
4 Sept 2026
Tremblant to Add New Timber Summit Ski Sector for 2027/28 Season
Tremblant has confirmed a major expansion of its Quebec ski area, with a new Timber Summit sector adding 62 acres of terrain, eight trails and a high-speed quad chairlift for winter 2027/28. It's part of a CAD 42.5 million investment that also includes a new beginner learning zone at Versant Soleil opening this coming season. The project has grown considerably since it was first announced back in 2020, when it carried a far smaller budget and an opening date that never eventuated.
2 Sept 2026
Mount Hotham to Close for the 2026 Season on Sunday, September 6
We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.
1 Sept 2026
Thredbo to Replace Ageing Gunbarrel Quad With New Six-Seat Chairlift for 2028
Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.
31 Aug 2026
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.
27 Aug 2026
Pitztal Glacier Set to Reopen for the 2026/27 Ski Season on 26 September
Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026
Sierra Nevada Lift System
Sierra Nevada operates 19 lifts serving the full mountain, including one gondola, five six-seat chairlifts, three triple chairs, three quad chairs, two doubles and five T-bars across the upper terrain. The Al-Andalus and Borreguiles gondolas are the resort's primary access arteries, rising from the Pradollano base to the Borreguiles mid-station at 2,675m — the main hub from which the majority of ski runs originate.
From Borreguiles, the lift network fans out across the Zona Borreguiles, Zona Laguna, Zona Veleta and Zona Montebajo sectors, with the Veleta zone serving the highest and most demanding terrain on the mountain. Combined uphill capacity across the 21-lift system reaches approximately 45,200 skiers per hour.
The gondola connection means that non-skiers, pedestrians and sightseers can access the mid-mountain facilities on a pedestrian pass — a common feature at Sierra Nevada given the resort's role as a year-round attraction within the Sierra Nevada National Park. The Mirlo Blanco area at the base provides a dedicated recreation zone with an ice rink, tobogganing and ski-bike facilities, designed to accommodate non-skiing family members while skiers use the main lift network above.
The resort's snowmaking infrastructure supplements natural snowfall to secure reliable early-season opening and protect the key Pradollano-to-Borreguiles access runs, which are critical to operation given the resort's single-entry base structure.
19lifts across 6 types
1
Gondola
5
6-Person Chairs
3
Quad Chairs
3
Triple Chairs
2
Double Chairs
5
T-Bars
Sierra Nevada lift system
Sierra Nevada is served by 19 lifts, listed here by type. Check which lifts are turning against the live conditions before you plan your first laps - early lifts and high-speed chairs get you to the best snow fastest.
More Sierra Nevada intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.