Candanchú is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

situated near the town of

Canfranc Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of Canfranc International railway station to serve railw ...

in the High Aragon of the western

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

(province of

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

). The name of the area is an adaptation of French "Camp d'Anjou" as this was originally the site of a military camp of the French Angevin dynasty. This is also located near the road on the historical

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Sai ...

. The ski resort of Candanchú is located in the Aragonese Pyrenees. It is 1 km from Puerto del Somport the border with France. Neighbor Astún ski resort, is located 27 km north of the city of Jaca. On the right bank of the river Arago, near the bridge of Santa Cristina, are the ruins of the Hospital of Santa Cristina of Somport, a hospice for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

The resort

It has 59 km of marked

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

s, it's one of the earliest developed resorts of the Pyrenees. It's known for its very difficult steep pistes such as ''Tubo Zapatilla''. The highest point is ''La Tuca'' peak, 2400 m

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

, with a vertical drop of 900 m. The base of the resort is a purpose-built town which includes several hotels and apartments and is situated at 1500 m

. From there the main

chair lift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

s provide access for the resort. The resort itself occupies two different high mountain valleys, defining two sectors: ''Pista Grande - El Tobazo'', and ''La Tuca''. The first one is the lower sector where the main town and the parking are situated, the upper ''La Tuca'' valley is accessed from there using a chair lift. Candanchú offers a joint ski pass with the neighbouring resort of Astún.

Lifts

Almost all of the resort's lifts are modern and of high capacity, the resort has: * 6 chair lifts. * 18

ski tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

Pistes

The resort offers 51 pistes of different difficulties: * 10 beginners. * 11 easy. * 18 intermediate. * 12 expert. In addition there is a 35 km

cross-country ski Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

circuit shared with the adjacent

Somport Somport or Col du Somport, known also as the Aspe Pass or Canfranc Pass, (el. 1632 m.) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain. Its name is derived from the Latin ''Summus portus''. It was one of the most popu ...

resort, in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Services

* 6

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

. * 1 skiing school, Spain's oldest. * 1 snow garden for children. * 1

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

* 5 ski hiring stores.

External links

* http://www.candanchu.com - Official resort site. * http://www.candanchu.info {{DEFAULTSORT:Candanchu Ski areas and resorts in Aragon Pyrenees