Tips, destinations and everything you need to plan your days in the snow.
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When you go skiing with children in the Cerdanya, the first question is usually a very practical one: should I leave my child in Masella or in La Molina? Although the Alp2500 lift pass joins the two resorts under a single ski area, each one organises its own children's offering separately. In fact, both are part of a small group of resorts in the Catalan Pyrenees -along with Espot, Port Ainé, Vallter 2000, Vall de Núria and Boí Taüll- certified as family-friendly facilities by the Catalan Tourism Agency, which requires meeting specific conditions: marked-off slopes with slow-speed zones for children, a kids' club and its own ski school. Here's the full breakdown, resort by resort.
The Aran Valley holds the Family Tourism Seal, and at Baqueira Beret this shows in something very concrete. There isn't a single, generic "kids' playground," but rather several parks spread across different areas of the resort, each designed for a specific age range, from 6 months old up to the point where the child already skis on their own. Here's the full breakdown.
In the La Molina and Masella ski area, the dining plan is split between the slopes of the two resorts themselves and a couple of villages in the Cerdanya, a few minutes away by car. Alp, the closest one, and Puigcerdà, the capital of the region, with much more variety if you're looking to get away from the resort area.
In Sierra Nevada the dining plan is spread across three clearly distinct areas: the Pradollano resort village itself, the slopes area in Borreguiles, and on the way back towards Granada, a couple of villages with a strong tradition of mountain cuisine (Monachil and Güéjar Sierra). Each has its own type of plan, so here is the selection organised by where you'll be at each point in the day.
Almost everyone who goes to the snow for the first time makes the same mistake, they pack twice as much as necessary and then use half of it. Reality is simpler than it seems, there are only a handful of things you really need to bring from home. Everything else can be sorted out calmly at the resort itself, without you having to think about it before you leave. The key lies in distinguishing three types of things: what is personal or size-related and should therefore be brought already chosen, what the resort resolves better than you can from home, and those small extras that almost no one brings the first time.
If you've never been skiing or snowboarding, it's normal for one of your first questions to be how much it costs to get started. Beyond the lessons, there are other costs worth factoring in: the lift pass, equipment rental, insurance, accommodation or getting to the resort. There's no single budget, you can plan a fairly tight trip or turn it into a several-day holiday with all the comforts. Here are real numbers for the two most common scenarios:
Going to Sierra Nevada with kids isn't a problem at all. The resort has a whole ecosystem designed for families, from snow gardens run by ski schools to sledding areas for those who don't even want to get near skis. Here are the real options, with schedules and prices, so you know what fits your child's age and what you're looking for.
Every winter the same thing happens at practically every resort: people spend several minutes putting on their boots, adjusting their bindings and getting their gear ready, but almost no one spends five minutes preparing their own body before starting. The result is always similar: the first runs are done with cold muscles, inactive joints, and a higher risk of falls or minor injuries. Whether you're skiing, snowboarding, freeriding or ski touring, a good warm-up improves your mobility and stability and helps your body respond better from the very first run. You don't need a complicated routine, less than ten minutes is enough.
You start planning a ski trip and there's one word that keeps coming up: lift pass. Everyone recommends buying it in advance, compares prices between resorts, or talks about one-day, two-day or multi-day passes. But when it's time to actually buy one, it's normal to ask yourself: what exactly am I paying for? The lift pass usually makes up a significant part of a snow trip's budget, so choosing the right one not only saves money, it also stops you paying for something you don't need. Let's answer the most common questions.
