Valcotos
A ski station in the Sierra de Guadarrama that was expropriated by the Madrid regional government and completely demolished in 1999 - the first ski area in Europe to be dismantled and its mountain restored to nature.
- Region
- Community of Madrid
- Country
- Spain
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1969
- Year closed
- 1999
- Reason for closure
- Environmental damage to the glacial lakes and ecosystems of Peñalara, declining snowfall from 1986 and an unprofitable operation. The 1990 creation of the Peñalara Natural Park blocked expansion, and after the Community of Madrid took over the station in 1998 it chose to remove it rather than run it.
History
Valcotos opened in 1969 at the Puerto de los Cotos, on the Madrid side of the Sierra de Guadarrama next to Puerto de Navacerrada and Valdesquí. It started with a single chairlift and a single drag lift and expanded strongly between 1972 and 1986, reaching nine mechanical lifts and running slopes up onto the flanks of Peñalara, Madrid's highest peak at 2,428 m. Construction had destroyed or altered valuable glacial landforms around the Peñalara cirque, and the diversion of a stream caused serious damage to the Laguna Chica; this drew sustained opposition from conservationists. Snowfall dropped off after 1986 and the operation became uneconomic, while the creation of the Peñalara Natural Park in 1990 put most of the terrain off limits to expansion. The Community of Madrid expropriated the station in December 1998 and carried out the demolition from May 1999: eleven lift lines totalling around six kilometres were pulled out, more than twenty buildings were demolished, and six pistes covering over 24 hectares were regraded and replanted with Scots pine. It is generally cited as the first and for a long time the only complete removal and ecological restoration of a ski resort in Europe, and the terrain is now part of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. Only cross-country trails leaving from Puerto de Cotos still see organised skiing.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telesilla de Zabala | Chairlift | One of the station's two chairlifts; removed in 1999 | |
| Telesilla de La Pradera | Chairlift | Served the Pradera slope; removed in 1999 | |
| Telesquí del Puerto de los Cotos | Surface lift | Drag lift from the Cotos pass; removed in 1999 | |
| Telesquí de Las Lagunas | Surface lift | Drag lift in the Las Hoyas sector above the Peñalara lakes; removed in 1999 |
Runs
- Pista de la Pradera
Sources and further reading
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valcotos
- https://www.parquenacionalsierraguadarrama.es/conservacion/actuaciones/216-eliminacion-valcotos
- https://www.eldiario.es/ballenablanca/biodiversidad/recuperado-montana-unica-demolicion-pista-esqui-europa_1_12988052.html
- https://www.madridiario.es/noticia/224196/medio-ambiente/acaba-el-desmantelamiento-de-la-estacion-de-esqui-valcotos.html
More in Spain
Location
40.8234, -3.9625