Skiing mid June in Spain with mad dogs

Yes it’s true. We had a good day’s skiing yesterday in the Sierra Nevada with our dogs, Bruno (leonberger) and Khumbu (siberian husky).

We parked at the Hoya de la Mora above the ski town of Pradollano and made the 45 minute traverse on a good road and track towards the middle ski station area called, Borreguiles. Just before arriving we found some old ski pistes still intact, so decided to follow these uphill.

We put the adhesive skins on our skis and donned our ski boots. Some walkers gave us some strange looks as they passed us en route to Borreguiles from the beach. Then we headed uphill. The sun beat down but the relaxed, consistent pace soon enabled us to gain height. We were climbing up an old red ski run towards the Stadium top chairlift at 2950m. Temperatures were a pleasant 17 deg C with a warm but fresh breeze. After a short rest at the chairlift it was time for the descent.

The old ski pistes, although intact, gave difficult skiing. The action of the sun had rutted the piste and you had alternate hard and soft snow to contend with. Not easy, especially as we had decided to travel light with short Rossignol Free Venture skis. These skis are good in perfect conditions, but show up ones skiing deficiencies on difficult terrain and snow conditions!

After an interesting and enjoyable, though short, descent of 400m, we arrived back at the start point and made our way back to the car. So, the answer to the question “Can you really ski in Spain’s Sierra Nevada in June?” is an unequivocal……..” YES”.

We produced a short video of the trip so you can see the conditions for yourself. Sorry about the mad dogs that accompanied and hindered us along the way!