Jacqueline Fanchini (Reporter)SKIING holidays tend to be more expensive than a trip to the beach so it pays to know what prices to expect in the Sierra Nevada.
Luckily, southern Europe’s highest mountain range also comes with one of the cheapest price tags.
It only takes a couple of hours to drive from the Costa del Sol to Pradollano, where you can park all day for €20 in the underground car park, below the main square.
Alternatively save this money and take a chance at finding a good space on the roads above the resort.
However to do this you have to take the left turn 400 metres before you arrive at the resort and drive right to the top first.
The square is where you can buy your ski pass (or forfait) which costs €45 plus €3 deposit for a day, or €273 for a week. Go after 1pm and you pay €38 for a half-day.
Children under six (or those with disabilities, aged six-to-12) and seniors over 70 go free, paying only €1 for insurance.
There are equipment hire shops everywhere so you don’t need to bring your own.
You can rent skis and snowboards from reliable shops like Telemark and Skisol from as little as €18, while salopettes and a jacket can be rented from a similar amount.
Finally, set some money aside for lunch and après-ski.
Prices up the mountain are higher than those in the resort itself where many places such as Bar Ski offer a substantial free tapa with your drink (average price, €2).
The Sierra Nevada generates a massive €400 million per season for the Granada region, as well as employing more than 8,500 workers.
Tourist spent more than €196 million in the 2013-2014 winter season, with an additional €46 million spent by local residents and workers, according to a study by the University of Granada.
Using input and output tables to establish the extra knock effect of this spending and the total economic input is €411 million.
A total of 54% of this goes into the resort itself, 20% goes into the city of Granada, and the rest into the rest Andalucia and Spain.
To maintain this, the resort requires 8,592 workers during the season, which corresponds to 1.6% of the jobs in Granada province.
Visit www.skisol.es or call 958 48 08 57
Visit www.telemark.es or call 958 48 11 53
