Our planet revolves between summer and winter, beach fashions change to cold weather gear and our focus switches from the coast to the mountains, to the exhilaration of frosty air playing through our hair, a fierce sun glaring down from clear blue skies that bursts into a million scintillations on pristine snow, white 'christmas-cake' pines trees and gaudily coloured ski suits flashing down carefully tended and securely categorised slopes.
Spain is arguably one of the best prepared countries in Europe for winter sports. At the same time, it offers the visitor the unrivalled quality of being relatively undiscovered by the hordes of skiier that annually migrate to the winter slopes. Thankfully (although this is destined to change - and rapidly), Spain is still not widely regarded as being in the same league as the traditional holiday skiing destinations of France, Germany and Switzerland. Yet its many resorts and well provided-for facilities have much to offer.
Of course, as with any ski resort, its a bit of a gamble as to whether the divine powers that be will deign to manifest snow in sufficient abundance to enjoy it without the assistance of the now ubiquitous man-conceived snow gun. But, if you're lucky and your visit coincides with a moment when a thick mantle of intricately frozen water blankets the countryside softening nature's untamed contours in silky voluptuousness, then Spain's many well organised resorts can easily compete within the ranks of the 'must-be-seen-at' winter holiday destinations.
And there's lots to choose from:
CATALONIA
In the north, Cataluña now boasts 11 resorts that cater for a wide range of winter sports from classic alpine skiing to snow boarding to the more sedate, yet physically more demanding sport of Nordic skiing where the skier follows a pre-defined route through valleys and forests whilst being exposed to some of the most spectacular winter scenery that this side of the Pyrenees can provide.
ANDALUSIA
Summer brilliance changes gradually to winter, high passes become blocked with snowdrifts; the influence of the Sierra Nevada reigns across the land as it has done for millions of years beyond human perception. Winter covers the barren rocky high slopes with a uniform blanket of snow and the ski village, desolate in summer, changes into a hive of activity as shops are filled with consumer goods, hotel rooms are aired and an army of people are mobilised to cater for the every whim of thousands of pilgrims that participate in the yearly pilgrimage.
CANTABRIAN SYSTEM
In sharp contrast to the low areas of the coast, the mountains of the Picos de Europa rise to touch the sky and provide a natural access route to the high mesetas of the Spanish plains to the south. Winter arrives early in the cold rarified air here and skiers head for the hills.
THE IBERIAN SYSTEM
Rioja and Aragón present the visitor with many possibilities not only of skiing but of sampling some of the best cuisine and wine in the Iberian Peninsula. Not only can the visitor cruise leisurely down pristine snow slopes with the cool wind playing in her hair, she can take time out to visit the hundreds of monuments that make this part of the world one of the culturally most satisfying in Europe.
THE CENTRAL SYSTEM
Included in this system are resorts located in the autonomous communities of Madrid, Salamanca and Segovia. Apart from the increasingly improved facilities that are now being built in all these ski stations, all of these communities offer the visitor an unparalleled glimpse of a Spain that is only now being brought into the light.
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