Many of the options available to skiers in Spain cater to local markets. Navacerrada and Valdesquí, for example, serve day trippers from Madrid and would not normally be of interest to visitors from abroad.

The serious skier has two possibilities: the Sierra Nevada, soaring to over 3,000m, or the Pyrenees. "Sol y Nieve" is the rather twee name adopted by the ski resort in the Sierra Nevada, the most southerly in Europe. Skiing here can be great and the good weather makes it more enjoyable still. But be warned that it suffers from serious overcrowding at weekends and, particularly, Easter, when the combination of huge numbers of people and the lateness of the season can make for a frustrating experience. Long queues followed by a descent on a slope in inadequate condition is an equation that shortens tempers. Francisco (Paco) Fernández Ochoa, Spain's Olympic gold medallist in the slalom, recommends the Sierra Nevada in January-February.

For the purposes of this article, the Pyrenees consist of the Aragonese Pyrenees, Andorra, and the Catalonian Pyrenees.

Beginning in the west, the Aragonese Pyrenees are usually reached through Jaca, a lively town with an appeal of its own, a Romanesque cathedral and an enormous, sixteenth-century fort, the Ciudadela, overlooking the town. From here, you have a choice of ski resorts, including the oldest, Candanchu, now twinned with the newer Astun. Jaca is basing its bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics on the facilities here, so quality skiing is assured.

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All images © 2001 John Ross, all rights reserved.