Spanish Highs, Sierra Nevada feature in Trail Magazine July 2013
At the beginning of May we entertained Oli Reed and Ben Weeks from best selling UK outdoor magazine, Trail. They had never visited the Sierra Nevada. Guess what? They loved it!
What could we show them in just 2.5 days in the Sierra Nevada though? We didn’t want to show them the usual busy slopes of Mulhacén or Veleta. Wild and remote, with plenty of variety seemed to fit the bill. We decided and completed the following itinerary.
Ascent from Puente Palo to the partly ruined and unguarded, Refugio Cebollar. A beautiful walk through pine forests, open hillsides to arrive at the refuge. This is perched on a grassy terrace at 2500m. A spring nearby gave us fresh water. Afternoon ascent of Las Alegas (2700m) for views over the main Sierra Nevada ridge. Overnight in the refuge.
Up early and traverse onto the col between Las Alegas and Tajos de los Machos. On with the crampons and ascend hard perfect neve to the headwall which steepens to make things interesting. Then we summited Tajos de los Machos (3085m). Superb vistas in all directions. The snow was softening by this time so we heel plunged down the slopes to the NW into the base of the LanjarĂłn valley.
By now the snow was soft and hard to walk through so we put on snowshoes for the walk out down the valley. After the dam it was a long walk out to Tello for 4WD pickup. This was not without it’s moments, as there were some very steep slopes to traverse which required crampons once again.
With just a morning and part of the afternoon to spare we took them to Peñon de la Mata where we have developed a series of scrambles. Ascending from the NW and coming down the SE provided an entertaining end to their trip.
The full report from Ben and Oli and some great photos can be found in their July 2013 issue which can be found in good newsagents throughout the UK or via digital download to the iPad amongst others.
Snowshoeing in the Sierra Nevada
Scrambling in the Sierra Nevada
[tboot_alert color=”success”]Spanish Highs are the most experienced, active and knowledgeable mix of foreign and spanish guides operating in the Sierra Nevada and the only ones fully insured and licensed for both guiding activities and for operating as a travel agency.[/tboot_alert]
Spanish Highs, Sierra Nevada feature in Trail Magazine July 2013 was originally published on "Inspiring the Adventure", Sierra Nevada
