Sierra Nevada
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About Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada is the outlier of Spanish skiing and knows it. It sits above Granada at a latitude that ought to rule out a ski resort entirely, and gets away with it through sheer altitude: the base is at 2,100 m and the lifts climb past 3,200 m, high enough that the season regularly runs into late April or May, longer than anywhere else in the country.
What that altitude buys, besides length of season, is sunshine. This is not a resort of grey days and flat light. It is wide, open, treeless and bright, and on a good day in March you can ski in the morning and be on the Mediterranean coast by the afternoon — a claim no other European resort can make honestly.
The trade-off is wind. The same exposure that makes it sunny makes the top lifts close more often than visitors expect, and the snow can go from perfect to crusted in a warm afternoon. A local instructor earns their fee here mostly by knowing which aspect to be on at which hour.
Last reviewed 4 August 2026
Best suited to
- Beginners
- Families
- Intermediates
- Snowboarding
- Night skiing
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Where lessons start
Borreguiles is where you learn. It is a broad, sunny shelf at mid-mountain, reached by gondola from the village, and it is about as forgiving as beginner terrain gets — gentle, wide and separated from the fast traffic coming down from above. Pradollano, the village, is where you will meet your instructor and where the ski school buildings are, but almost nobody teaches a first lesson there.
Resort areas
- Pradollano
- Borreguiles
Suggested meeting points
- Plaza de Pradollano
Getting there
Granada airport is 45 minutes away and the city itself is barely half an hour down the road, which makes Sierra Nevada unusually easy to combine with a non-skiing trip. Málaga is about two hours. The access road is good but it is the only one, and it can require chains after a storm — check before setting off on a snowy morning.
Qualifications required in Spain
Teaching skiing or snowboarding for payment in Spain is a regulated profession: an instructor must hold the Técnico Deportivo en Deportes de Invierno (TD1/TD2/TD3). Instructors listed as certified on Alpine Pal have either sent theirs to us for review or are vouched for by the ski school that invited them.
Find instructors in SpainSierra Nevada: common questions
How long is the season at Sierra Nevada?
Usually late November or early December to late April, and in a good year into May — the longest in Spain, thanks to a base at 2,100 m and extensive snowmaking. Spring skiing here is genuinely good rather than a consolation: soft snow, long days and empty pistes.
Can you really ski and go to the beach the same day?
Yes, and people do it every spring. The Mediterranean at Motril is about an hour and a half from the top of the access road. It is a stunt rather than a good day's skiing — you have to leave the mountain by early afternoon — but the claim is true.
Why do the top lifts at Sierra Nevada close so often?
Wind. The upper mountain is high, exposed and treeless, and the lifts stop when it blows hard — which in this range it does. It is normal, the lower and mid sectors usually keep running, and it is a good argument for booking an instructor who can move the lesson to whichever side is working.
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