Valdesquí is a ski area situated near the town of Rascafría

Rascafría

Rascafría is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain.In its territory is the Monastery of Santa Maria de El Paular....

 in the Sierra de Guadarrama

Sierra de Guadarrama

The Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara...

 near Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 (Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

). The area is close to the Navacerrada

Navacerrada

Navacerrada is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain, located about 1,200 metres on the Reservoir Navacerrada and the entry of "Valle de la Barranca" in the Sierra de Guadarrama....

 resort (Madrid), and projects have been attempted to link the two areas, stopped by ecologist movements.

The resort

Valdesquí has 21 km of marked piste

Piste

A piste is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. The term is European, from the French for trail or track, synonymous with trail, slope, or groomed run in North America....

s, making it one of the biggest ski areas of the Sistema Central

Sistema Central

The Sistema Central is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula.-Description:The Sistema Central is a primary feature of the Meseta Central, the inner Iberian plateau, splitting the meseta into two parts...

 chain. The highest point is "La Bola del Mundo" (2280 metres AMSL), with a vertical drop of 400 metres.

The base of the area is situated at 1860 metres AMSL. From there the chair lifts provide access to the different pistes. The resort itself occupies a high mountain valley called "Valle del Noruego." The valley is accessible by car, with a parking and service area at its base from where the lifts depart.

There is also a Cercanías

Cercanías Madrid

Cercanías Madrid is the commuter rail service that serves Madrid, the capital of Spain, and its metropolitan area. It is operated by Cercanías Renfe, the commuter rail division of RENFE, the former monopoly of rail services in Spain. The system is infamous for being the target of the 11 March 2004...

 railway line that stops at nearby Cotos. From there shuttle bus services provide access to the resort.

Lifts

Many of the resort's lifts are modern and high-capacity. The resort features:

• 5 chair lifts
• 11 ski tow
  Ski tow
  thumb|right|A rope tow or ski tow.A ski tow, also called rope tow or handle tow, is a mechanised system for pulling skiers and snowboarders uphill....
  
  s

Pistes

The resort offers 29 pistes of different difficulties:12 beginner pistes 14 easy pistes 3 intermediate pistes

Services

• 2 restaurants
• 1 skiing school
• 1 snow gardens for children
• 1 kindergarten
  Kindergarten
  A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
  
  
• 1 ski hiring store

External links

• http://www.valdesqui.es - Official resort site.
• http://www.madrid-guide-spain.com/madrid-ski.html ENG - Directions and prices for Skiing in Madrid