Mount Teide, Tenerife, Spain's highest mountain

[gld73]

I never do walk reports as I'm a rubbish photographer and my reports would be terrible next to all the masterpieces I see here! But in case anyone is thinking of a warmer destination to bag a mountain, thought I'd give my experience of Mount Teide on the off-chance it's useful for anyone else planning a trip

Anyway, Tenerife isn't my usual sort of holiday destination, but when I discovered that's where Spain's highest mountain is located, it suddenly looked a lot more appealing. Usually I just book a flight and turn up in a country and make it all up from there, but to go up Teide I had to be a bit more organised for once - permits (free) are required to get to the summit and these are booked up months in advance apparently. The alternative option, and the one I went for, is to book a night in the Altavista Refuge which is a couple of hundred metres below the 3718m summit ..... if you stay there, you're allowed to go to the summit without a permit as long as you are up to the summit and back down past the permit office before it opens at 9am. The Refuge also gets booked up well in advance and there's no camping allowed in the Teide national park, so no turning up on the off-chance you'll get a bed, they don't allow sleeping anywhere other than the booked beds.

So all that sorted, I stayed in Puerto de la Cruz, where like most of the island I suspect, the snow capped Teide dominated the inland view. Hot and sunny at sea level, but in March the mountain still had a decent amount of snow. I'd dithered over whether to take full winter gear and had decided nah, it wouldn't be required ..... hmmmm ....

Mt Teide from Puerto de la Cruz

The bus to Teide National Park is really popular and only runs once a day (#348 from Puerto de la Cruz in the north, leaving at 0930). Even out of season there was quite a queue so I'm glad I got there early. The bus journey itself does a lot of the ascent - I'd been disappointed to get up and find it was a cloudy day, but we went through the clouds in the bus as we climbed up, so the national park was in glorious sunshine. There are 3 scheduled stops for the bus in the national park (which is basically a massive volcano crater with other craters, lava flows and mountains within), plus Montana Blanca, a request stop where I got off at 11:00, at an altitude of about 2400m. I was the only person to get off here, everyone else sticking to the lower level walks from the other stops. Sunblock applied, breakfast eaten and off I set at 11:15 along Trail 7 with a rucksack full of cold weather clothes and 2 days worth of food and drinks.... there's no going off the marked trails in the park, so it was a case of following the wide path and enjoying the views.

The wide path eventually went off to the left to a viewpoint, and the path to the Refuge and summit became a narrow path off steep to the right. Bit hesitant seeing the sign at the bottom saying the path was closed except to those with mountaineering equipment - my crampons and ice axe were in the boot of my car in Scotland, but my night's accommodation was up that path! It didn't look too challenging though, so off I set, slightly comforted by the sight of another person up ahead of me who looked to be dressed in a similar style of "serious hillwalker but not winter mountaineer".

Um, am I a federate???

The path zig zagged up steeply through the lava scree and rock and there were sections where the path couldn't be seen under sections of snow, but it was easy enough to get past those. I passed the chap ahead, a German guy who seemed to be noticing the altitude effects a little bit more so had slowed his walking. Onwards and upwards the temp was noticeably dropping, but nothing too drastic and I had plenty layers in my rucksack to don as required.

Going up and getting colder ....

The Refuge appeared pretty much out of nowhere .... I was so busy looking at my feet by that stage to avoid taking any dodgy steps in the snow that when I looked up, there it was was, nestling on a small plateau and well hidden from below. An Italian couple and a group of 3 guys from Norway were all sitting outside in the sunshine, but I was surprised to see it was only 13:15, and there was still a full afternoon left before the Refuge opened properly I popped in to the entrance hall where you'd be able to shelter in bad weather, and there were vending machines selling 500ml water at 3 euros, Mars bars etc at 3 euros and hot drinks for 2 euros. At 3 quid for a Snickers, I was glad I'd brought my own supplies

Given the ice and snow, I was actually a bit concerned about the ascent to be done the next morning, especially as it would mean setting off in the dark. The German guy had arrived at the Refuge by now and he said he wasn't staying at the Refuge (the only one there who wasn't), but that he'd had a summit permit for 3 days earlier and because the path and the cable car had been closed due to the poor conditions, no-one had been able to get to the summit. He'd come up today on the off-chance that the permit checkers would let him through as the cable car still wasn't running so most permit holders for today wouldn't be turning up. With a few hours of great daylight left, he continued up and once I'd put on some micro-spikes to help with the ice from the freeze-thaw conditions, I went off after him to check the route for the next morning and hopefully leave another set of footprints that I could follow with my headtorch.

Some parts of the path were still nice and clear

The snow got a bit deeper, the winds got stronger, but it was still decent conditions for walking - the path was in sheltered sections hence the snow and ice staying there, but there were frequent patches where it was very shallow and much easier going. Eventually I arrived at the permit office next to the top cable car station, where I'd intended to stop and return to early the next morning. But the cable car wasn't running and so nobody was manning the checkpoint.... And the summit was just up there..... And it was much safer to walk in bright daylight than pre-dawn darkness... so ....

The German chap had obviously had similar ideas and was on his way. The path was completely snow covered for the next section but "up" was obvious, it was just a case of prodding bits carefully to make sure I wasn't putting my foot through ankle twisting holes in the rocky landscape.

Treading carefully so you don't fall into bits like this!

For some bizarre reason the thin air wasn't affecting me to any noticeable extent and I was walking at my normal pace and not feeling any shortness of breath despite being at 3700m - I'm sure I've felt it in the past when at those heights in Nepal etc, but not today (well not when walking - see later). The last stretch involved scrambling up the lovely grippy rocks and then onto the snow-free last few metres to the summit, getting there at 15:00hrs. Sulphurous smell reminded me it was definitely a volcano! The views of the national park were fantastic, though with the cloud a couple of thousand metres below the summit, the coast of the island and the views to the other Canary Islands were obscured by the cloudy carpet. The German guy arrived with a big grin too and we both snapped away whilst hunkering down amongst the jaggy summit rocks to stop getting blown over.

View NW from the summit

Teide's summit crater and the huge Las Canadas amphitheatre below

Heading down, I could actually see better routes from above and so got down to the permit office /top cable car station area in good time, to find the Italian couple (who'd come properly kitted in 4 season boots and crampons and looked at my 3 season boots and spikes in disgust!!) and the 3 Norwegian guys all pondering the possibility of getting to the summit. I said I'd found the conditions okay and probably much better than doing it in icy darkness the next morning, but it was up to them - I don't know what people are used to, but the conditions were like those of a not-too-challenging munro in Spring, so I assume the route was 'closed' to stop the people coming up on the cable car from trying to do the couple of hundred metres summit walk in wholly inappropriate clothing and footwear.

The route back down to the permit office / cable car station seemed easier than heading up!

So back down to the Refuge (with the route just confirming my relief that I wouldn't have to do it in the darkness in the morning now!) for 16:45, by which time a few more people had come up the path and were waiting. The kitchen and bathroom areas opened at 17:00 and we all checked in then, though bedrooms didn't open until 1900hrs.

View from the Refuge (not my prison cell)

The kitchen was very basic, but had a kettle and microwave so I managed to have hot food; the signs said the tap water was non-potable, but I made hot drinks from the boiled water and had no ill effects (I know it'd be boiling at less than 100 degC at that altitude, but I had Imodium in my rucksack as a back up ). The 2 staff members were telling everyone arriving that if they didn't have crampons and head torches they wouldn't be able to go to the summit safely the next morning as the sub-zero overnights temps mean the ice is pretty bad at dawn. Hats, gloves, microspikes and headtorches were for sale if anyone had turned up unprepared though, pretty useful if you've lost or misplaced them on the way and need replacements. Bedding is provided, so no need to lug a sleeping bag with you, and no showers, so no need for a big towel. There are no bins either, everything you take up the mountain with you, you take down with you.

I wasn't optimistic about getting a good night's sleep in a big bunk bed dorm with 12 men and 1 other woman (yes snorers, I'm talking about you!) .... but turned out I struggled to sleep anyway, as the altitude finally did affect me, but just when I was lying down. I felt I couldn't get enough oxygen and from the restlessness and breathing rates of some people around me, I think I wasn't the only one. I was fine again in the morning! Well, fine asides from the sunburned face .... in bright sunshine at 3700m, I really should have re-applied sunblock more often ...

sunset above the clouds

...and up at dawn to see the sun rise

Dawn, like the sunset the night before, was beautiful from the Refuge, and then it was off down the mountain again. I had every layer on for the first few minutes, but once I'd dropped down a couple of hundred metres and the sun was getting higher, it got warmer and warmer. Wasn't as windy this second day; I'd been able to smell sulphur when at the summit but the strong winds meant any smoke or fumes weren't visible, but looking back up the next morning, there were few wisps:

Yup, definitely a volcano then ...

Back down to the 2500m sort of level and it was hot, sunny and snow-free.

Looking back up one of the trail paths - I was in shorts by now, a world away from the freezing summit!

The bus back wasn't until 4pm, so I did the hike to the Visitor Centre (Trail 6, which I really enjoyed) got a map of the trail network, and spent the day walking a few of the trails, a really enjoyable and relaxing day. It was the first day the cable car had run for a while too, so seeing what people were wearing, I could see why the authorities were restricting access to the summit walk - there would be a few chilly folks getting off the top cable car that's for sure!!

I haven't put any route map on this trip report as you'll clearly see where to go if you ever head there yourselves - the trails are clearly marked and you're not meant to leave them (on the rare sites where people have, it does make an unsightly line that's quite visible).

Junctions of trails are clearly marked, no getting lost in the inhospitable terrain!

It's definitely worth spending a day walking through the various lava fields and seeing the different terrains rather than just doing the Teide summit walk. I read one notice board whilst waiting for the bus that described Mount Teide and the national park as being a bit like an ice-cream sundae, with each eruption adding a different texture and colour of lava - and it was a good way of describing it!! (well, assuming your ice cream sundaes have sauces and sprinkles which cover every shade of orange, yellow, brown and black and nothing else..!)

A couple of practical points - if you go by public transport (bus 348 from the north, 342 from the south), you'd be pushing it to walk up to the summit and back in a day trip, as the buses get to the national park around 11am and leave at 4pm - you'd need to have a permit which would give you the right time slot on that date too (the access permit is timed as well as dated). Better to stay the night in the Refuge and have 2 days in the park. Permits for the summit are only required between 9am and 5pm (the times the cable car runs), so outside of those times, you're free to go up.

If you hire a car, especially when there's no snow and longer days, you have more flexibility, and there's parking at the Montana Blanca place where the path up to the refuge and summit starts. There's also parking at numerous other points along the road through the park.

The Visitor Centres near the entrances to the park give free maps showing the trail network and distances, I found this really useful on the second day when I just wandered a few of the linking trails, safe in the knowledge I knew a route to get to a bus stop at 4pm!

So with the easy availability of flights to Tenerife, this is definitely a good mountain to head for if you fancy a change from the Scottish weather (...just as long as you remember in the depth of winter, the summit won't be so different from Scotland!!)

[iangpark]

Thanks for this - great detail you've gone to to document this monster! Excellent photos too. It's a mountain that I'm dithering about doing at some point (in my life, that is) so will keep this report in mind. Cheers

[gld73]

Thanks Ian - I'd definitely recommend it (so don't dither, get your trip planned )

[Sgurr]

When we went, several years ago, we had hoped to do Teide, but got tied up in the bureaucracy. We hadn't realised it was so complicated. So we climbed the hill next door to it, whose name I can no longer remember. You are right about the buses. We were very anxious about missing the 4 p.m. one back, and were pressing on the whole day, eating walking and only stopping for water. As it was, we had to run the last half mile to catch the bus. Yours is an altogether better way of doing either. Good for you for just going for it.Obviously paid off. Really excellent TR....let's see more of them.

[gld73]

Thanks sgurr - I find tips/practical points in other people's trip reports useful when I'm deciding where to go, so yes, I'll need to do more TRs myself and not worry about the fact I'm usually a pretty rubbish photographer!!

I think Pico Viejo is the summit next to Teide, that was my back-up plan in case the Teide summit was genuinely closed.

[Alteknacker]

Great report, with lots of detail.

To add a bit on the experience front: I did it last May, and the useful thing was that, by setting off from the car park at about 3.30am, I got to the cable car hut just before the summit at about 5.30am when it was still dark, and before any gatekeeper was on the gate, so it would have been simple just to go up to the summit. In the event I didn't go because the winds were around 100kph (according to the forecast, which I hadn't believed) and I was completely blinded by the dust, and I was also concerned that my specs might get blown off. But it's an easy route, with a paved path.

Initially the ascent from the car park was quite easy, because there was a very bright full moon; but it disappeared after about an hour and thereafter route-finding became quite challenging in the rough terrain, even with a very good head torch.

Timing: If you're fit and pushing it, it would take about 4.5 - 5 hours up and down. If you take it leisurely, probably another couple of hours. And if, like I did you waited for sunrise, possibly another hour or so, depending on when you start and how long the ascent takes. Sunrise started at about 06.40am in early-May.

Temperatures: it was absolutely freezing at the top in early May, and at that altitude I would expect it to be pretty cold at any time of year, most especially if there's a howling gale. I had a fair bit of warm gear with me in anticipation, but it wasn't enough to keep me warm when stationary waiting for sunrise. There were about 40 or 50 others there, and it looked like everyone had underestimated how cold it would be.

Finally: if the weather's OK, the views are absolutely stunning, and it's very well worth the climb. As can be seen in this excellent report, Las Canadas is literally breathtaking.

[gld73]

Useful to hear from someone who wasn't bound to public transport, so another perspective on how to get to the top without a permit, and via a different route - thanks Alteknacker

[goingforawii]

Just to also add - I did this in April last year on a day the cable car was closed due to high winds (there really wasn't much wind). The cable car was advertised as being closed by 7pm the day before, so I was able to get to the top at whatever time I liked without having a permit (the guard comes up in the cable car). Obviously no good if you're somebody who planned to come down in the cable car - but an added bonus if you were not able to get a permit!