Snow at O Cebreiro

[Deleted member 3000]

Looking cold and windy today!

 

[Priscilla NC]

Beautiful! But I'm not sure I'd want to walk in it.

I admire all you winter walkers.

 

[t2andreo]

Due to altitude, any place above 700 meters ASL can experience snow from October through late May. O'Cebreiro is one of the more scenic places to experience snow.

In May 2014, I experienced a similar "whiteout" at this mountaintop village.

About the only time you could plan for no snow at altitude would be from June to September. Depending on temperature and cloud conditions, you could see at least a snow squall most of the year.

Getting up the hill is a bitch in snowy conditions. Coming down from O'Cebreiro is relatively easier, as the trail leads to a paved road after maybe half a kilometer.

I hope this helps.

 

[Felipe]

TV station (Antena 3) is reporting heavy snow in Roncesvalles. Wonderful images, but difficult conditions for walkers. The news also report two pilgrims rescued by Guardia Civil near Ibañeta, with mild hypothermia (their friends informed that they were still in the Camino). Enjoy, but also be safe, friends.
I have also been watching the O Cebreiro webcam, and noticed families playing in the snow

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The news also report two pilgrims rescued by Guardia Civil near Ibañeta

Coreanos, again.

A scenic tour without having to go out in the snow:

 

[Felipe]

I think that so many glossy brochures about Costa del Sol, with sunny beaches and palm trees, give people the idea that Spain is a kind of tropical paradise...

 

[superleggera]

I think that so many glossy brochures about Costa del Sol, with sunny beaches and palm trees, give people the idea that Spain is a kind of tropical paradise...

Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe

 

[Mark Lee]

too dang cold and wet for my southern blood....

 

[jmcarp]

Due to altitude, any place above 700 meters ASL can experience snow from October through late May. O'Cebreiro is one of the more scenic places to experience snow.
...
Getting up the hill is a bitch in snowy conditions...

Living in Colorado, I often hike in snowy conditions similar or worse than what you show in the picture. I wear these traction devices, which are particularly helpful on snow-packed or icy trails (but remove them on rocky trails or paved surfaces with no ice or snow):
https://www.rei.com/product/890608/kahtoola-microspikes-traction-system (also available from Amazon, etc.)
There are similar traction devices for slightly lower cost and less weight, but in my experience they are not as durable as the ones noted above.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

snowy conditions similar or worse than what you show in the picture

When I walked to school in the snow, uphill both directions, I used snowshoes. I don't think I would carry traction devices for a month for the possibility that the footing would be bad at O Cebreiro. It can all be done on plowed roads if necessary. In snow this light, even the path would be quite passable (but markings could be obscured).

 

[Felipe]

I watched the O Cebreiro webcam early this morning (for Spain) and apparently many pilgrims are taking the paved road to Triacastela. I suppose that as you go down, conditions will be better.
Incidentally , I noticed in Google Maps a new albergue (opened August 2016) in Liñares (3 km down from O Cebreiro), with communal and private rooms. It appears also in Consumer Eroski and has good reviews.
I slept in Liñares in 2015 and there was only a hotel (good, kind people, 40 euros for a double, as I remember), with restaurant. I wonder if the albergue is the same place (many hotels are "reconverting" along the Camino). Liñares is a typical "by the road" hamlet, a tiny place.

 

[jmcarp]

When I walked to school in the snow, uphill both directions, I used snowshoes. I don't think I would carry traction devices for a month for the possibility that the footing would be bad at O Cebreiro. It can all be done on plowed roads if necessary. In snow this light, even the path would be quite passable (but markings could be obscured).

Yep, that is the downside--they're definitely dead weight until you need them. But when you find yourself in a condition where you do need them, they could make a difference between a go or no-go decision.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I live in the north of Spain, on the meseta, (at 900 meters altitude) and we haven't seen a flake of snow nor a drop of rain in WEEKS.
These pictures are from way up on the mountain-tops. I spent last January at La Laguna de las Tablas, within sight of O Cebreiro, and WOW is there a difference within just a couple of hundred meters of altitude! Not all of northern Spain is snowy. Just the 1200 meters and above parts.

BTW, there's a new trail of at least 3 or 4 kilometers laid-in this past summer along the road out of Cebreiro; you walk now through the woods up and OFF the road! Yay!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

they could make a difference between a go or no-go decision.

For me, it is a taxi no-taxi decision!!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Coreanos, again.

A scenic tour without having to go out in the snow:

That's not snow, that's an angle's dusting. Roads are clear, you can see the roof and branches under the sprinkling. Now, the 35cm Rocesvalles is supposed to have received, now, that is snow.