Yeah - I noticed the story earlier. It's a pity they weren't prepared for winter weather, because apart from the weather, Mulhacen is actually a very easy mountain to climb. There's a tarmac and dirt road zigzagging up from Capileira, and towards the top a fairly easy, stony, zigzag path leads to the summit. I've climbed it in the middle of winter, and because of the road, you can start and finish safely in darkness. However, it is an open and exposed mountain, and when the cold wind is whipping across it, carrying snow and hail, you need all your winter kit to keep warm.
Spain has had a lot of snow this winter, and in some places they've had their first snow in 20 years! Only last Tuesday I tried to get the bus up to El Teide in Tenerife, but the bus turned back at the mountain village of Vilaflor because an overnight fall of snow had blocked the road. This year already I've had four weeks of views that include El Teide, and the snow was confined to the summit cone all that time, but all of a sudden the snow was well outside and well below the level of the National Park.
Posted: 06/03/2006 at 20:16
