Formigal, officially ''Aramón Formigal'', 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 North ...

in the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

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 C ...

of northeastern

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") , i ...

, near the town of

Sallent de Gallego Sallent () is a municipality in the comarca of Bages, Province of Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain. The river Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows in ...

in the upper

Tena Valley The Tena Valley is a valley located at the southern side of the Pyrenees, in the Alto Gállego comarca, province of Huesca, and is crossed by the Gállego river from north to south. Its main town is Sallent de Gállego. The valley is surrounded b ...

in the province of Huesca. The nearest international airports are in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

and Lourdes,

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 ...

The resort

Formigal has 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. The highest point is ''Tres Hombres'' peak at

above sea level 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 comb ...

, with a vertical drop of ; the majority of its slopes face north and northeast. The base of the resort is a purpose-built town which includes several hotels and apartments at . From there an 8-seat

chairlift 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 ...

provides the main access for the resort. Prior to 2004 this access was provided by a gondola, informally called "''El huevo''" (''The egg'') by its users. The resort itself occupies four different high mountain valleys, defining three sectors: ''Tres Hombres (Crestas)'', ''Izas'', ''Anayet'' and ''

El Portalet The Col du Pourtalet, El Portalet or Portalet d'Aneu is a mountain pass and Border checkpoint, border crossing in the Pyrenees, between France and Spain. The pass reaches an elevation of , and links the Ossau Valley, Ossau and Tena Valley, Tena v ...

''. Each valley is accessible by car and a bus service, with a parking and service area at its base from where the chair lifts depart. Formigal hosted the

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a ...

Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in 2008, held in late February. Image:Logo formigal.jpg, Former Formigal logo Image:Formigal-Portalet.JPG, File:Formigal 2007.jpg,

Sallent de Gállego Sallent de Gállego (in Aragonese: ''Sallent de Galligo'' or ''Sallén de Galligo'') is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. The town is located in the central Pyrenees besides the reservoir of Lanuza on the foot of ...

Lifts

Most of the resort's 37 lifts are modern and of high capacity: * 1 eight-seat

*1 eight-seat cable car * 4 six-seat chairlifts * 8 four-seat chairlifts * 4 two-seat chairlift * 10 carpet lifts * 9 ski lifts

Pistes

The resort offers a variety of terrain on 147 pistes: * - 14 beginner * - 34 easy * - 52 intermediate * - 42 expert *5 Route *1 Snowpark

Services

* 8 restaurants * 1

ski school A ski school is an establishment that teaches skiing, typically in a ski resort. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and establis ...

* 2 snow gardens for children * 2

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 cent ...

* 2 ski hiring stores

References

External links

*
Spain.info
- national tourism site - Formigal ski resort - '
Ski Map.org
- trail map - Formigal - 2009 *

' - video - Formigal in Spain {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Aragon Pyrenees