Portuguese Ski Area Has “Most Open Terrain in Years”

Portugal’s only ski area, Serra da Estrela, says it has the most open terrain in years, after huge snowfalls over the weekend.

Like most ski centres in the Iberian peninsula, Serra da Estrela, has had a tough season before the big snowfalls, as the region saw record warm weather and little snowfall in December and January and only modest improvements last month.

However, after huge weekend snowfalls buried lifts and buildings in snow metres deep, the centre reports that it has 19 runs open and 3 lines in its snowpark complete.

Serra da Estrela is located at Portugal’s highest point, its lifts peaking at 1,997m with 146 m of vertical. There are 5.9 km of runs, served by three ski lifts, one of them a quad chairlift.  It’s located northeast of capital Lisbon and about 60km from the Spanish border.