WINTER SPORTS

Skiing and winter sports are the main attraction of the highest area of the Sierra de Guadarrama during the winter season. In the Valdesquí resort, you can practice skiing, snowboarding, hiking with snowshoes and climbing on rock or ice walls.

Just 10 kilometers from Navacerrada, Valdesquí. It has 27 slopes (mostly blue or green level) and 15 lifts (including chairlifts, ski lifts and conveyor belts).

The former Valcotos station is currently used for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing.

Madrid Snow Zone is the first indoor snow slope in Europe. Open 365 days a year, it has a snow park where you can jump and different areas for all levels.

Ice sports also have their place in some of the existing tracks in Madrid: Leganés, Valdemoro and Majadahonda. The Madrid Winter Sports Federation offers figure skating, field hockey and curling.

Climbing

In the region of Madrid you will find the best places to climb outdoors. There are a multitude of modalities: classic climbing, sport climbing or bouldering.

The area par excellence is La Pedriza. In its particular granite formations you can find climbing routes for all tastes (bouldering, classic, sport and artificial).

For sport climbing, there are several areas with anchors: San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Patones, El Vellón, Pelayos de la Presa and Cañón de Uceda.

In El Escorial there are two climbing areas where you can practice bouldering (a modality that is practiced without safety systems because you do not climb to a great height).

Some advice for everyone

Before practicing climbing it is advisable to take an initiation course in a specialized center. In the Community of Madrid there are many centers where you can do it. The Mountaineering Federation of Madrid has courses in rock climbing and sport climbing.

Images Credits:

Climbing in La Pedriza © José Luis Carrascosa. Shutterstock