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Snow and wine plans in Alto Aragón

2023-03-06T11:19:15.299Z


Skiing and snowshoeing at the Formigal resort, the experience of spending the night in an igloo at an altitude of 1,800 meters surrounded by the mountains of the Huesca Pyrenees and an end of the trip among vines and tastings in Barbastro


We begin the trip in the town of Lanuza, a small Pyrenean town on the shores of the reservoir that bears the same name.

This place, vacated in 1978 for the construction of the reservoir, came back to life in the nineties when some residents returned.

They rebuilt first the church, then the houses that had been left afloat and moved to live here again.

Today the waters of the reservoir are frozen and, from the top of the village, the combination of stone, slate, snow and silence creates a wonderful effect.

In the town there is a bar, a hotel and an auditorium that floats in the reservoir and where every summer -this 2023, from July 7 to 29- the South Pyrenees is celebrated, a music festival with the Peña Foratata as a backdrop. .

Sallent de Gállego is only five kilometers from Lanuza, but it is another world.

This town, as lively in summer as in winter, with one of the highest number of bars per inhabitant in all of Spain, has managed to find a place for itself among tourists and it is not surprising, since it is located in a perfect enclave for practicing sports in all seasons of the year: skiing, hiking, mountaineering, climbing, canyoning... There is even a zip line.

More information

Seven snowshoe excursions to discover the winter mountains in Spain

Delia, our mountain guide, a Zaragozan who has lived in the town for 10 years with her family, tells that in 1914 a French priest arrived from the French town of Pau crossing the Portalet with the first skis that had been seen in these lands. , and how the townspeople began to replicate them.

That's how it all started.

In 1946, the first chairlift was inaugurated, followed by a gondola, until reaching the 137 kilometers of slopes that the Formigal resort has today, where you can ski for a whole day without repeating the slope, with descents of all colors for everyone. levels, including toddlers, which feature a covered crawl.

View of the small Pyrenean town of Lanuza (Huesca). Cristina Candel

And between descents, there are several options where you can recharge your batteries, such as the Asador Montañés, where they serve grilled meats.

If the weather is good, the Sarrios Boutique terrace or the Izas Cabin are ideal for eating at the resort with the best views.

When the slopes close, the Ski Ratrack, a piste-piste machine with a boot, comes to pick us up to take us to Las Mugas, an accommodation made up of six igloos (actually, geodesic domes) that blend into the snowy landscape 1,800 meters above sea level. altitude.

Surrounded by white mountains that now turn a pinkish-orange before fading and lighting up again hours later as they are illuminated by the moon.

The room could not be more welcoming or have better views, with special mention to the bathroom with wooden walls.

It is sad to have to leave the room to go out into the cold again and walk the few steps that separate us from the main igloo, where Toni Urtado and Beatriz Navas are waiting to offer us a wonderful dinner with the stars in the background.

"Get up at seven," recommends Beatriz,

The sun rises in Las Mugas, the sky still has the stars on, everything below is white and the only sound is that of small snowfalls that occur somewhere on the peaks.

Opposite, the peaks ―all three thousand of them― of Los Infiernos, the Tebarray peak, the Argualas, Peña Foratata and, above all, the Anayet, which marks the nearby border with France where the lights of the few houses that can be seen in the distance make up the Portalet, the last town in the country.

It's time to go snowshoeing with Rubén Martín, who is not only knowledgeable about everything that surrounds him and a lover of the area;

he is, above all, a happy being who enjoys life every moment and transmits it in every sentence, so the journey becomes a learning experience in every way.

Martín is a mid-mountain guide and is delighted with the tremendous snowfall that has fallen, leaving those soft white cornices in the southern zone, "because the wind came from the north," he explains, translating the landscape.

He also tells how the snowfall makes possible new routes that allow ascending peaks that are impassable without snow, or shows how the thermometer he carries with him measures the risk of avalanche.

Excursion with snowshoes in Formigal, with Rubén Martín as a mountain guide.cristina candel

As soon as we put on our snowshoes, we descend the first slope, called

Paco

, one of the black slopes of the Formigal ski resort, named after the skier Paco Fernández Ochoa, much loved in the area.

Anything goes with snowshoes: short steps, long steps, running, sliding or using them (sitting on them) as a slide.

It is about enjoying the snow, the landscape, breathing it all.

Along the snowy path we came across some fox tracks here;

with other hare over there;

with the fruit of a pine tree that he thought was already spring and, above all, with snow of all thicknesses and hardness, which ends up softening under the snowshoes as we go up and down the hills.

We said goodbye to the snow by crossing the Escarrilla bridge and leaving Sabiñánigo behind to make the last stop of the trip at the Sommos winery, in Barbastro.

A project by the Riojan architect Jesús Marino Pascual, the driveway offers a panoramic view of the vineyards and the building, whose angular shapes imitate those of Cotiella, this limestone massif of the Aragonese Pyrenees that contrasts with the plain of the vines.

The building consists of 27 square meters underground and another 27 meters on the surface;

below are the cement tanks that keep the wine at a constant temperature;

above, the peaked ceiling of the third floor, where food is served, paired with reds, whites, rosés and a 2020 Sommos Chardonnay that leaves everyone speechless.

One of the facilities of the Sommos winery, in Barbastro (Huesca). Cristina Candel

But here you don't just come to eat and taste wine, you can explore the estate on horseback, on foot or by bicycle.

José Javier Echandi, technical director of the winery, tells how special each plot of the estate is;

From this comes the Tempranillo tasted previously. It is planted here because of its proximity to the Cinca River, because of its boulders with a high granite content;

of this other, the white with that finish to the sea, because if we look at the ground what shines are the salts that abound in all this land... And, without realizing it, we have raised our glass again and continue tasting in the middle of the vineyards and now the wine has been joined by the delicious cheeses in three varieties of Radiquero, made in nearby Adahuesca.

And so, glass in hand and watching how the sun sets over the vineyards and the main building changes color, we say goodbye to these lands.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-03-06

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