Canary islands'
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Teide - Spain's highest summit
Climbing
Teide
Summit
permit
Photo's
of Tenerife and Teide
At
3717.91 metres (12198 ft)the volcano Teide (Tay-dee) on the island of Tenerife
(Tenner-reef-ay) forms the highest peak on Spanish territory and the worlds
third largest volcano (Last eruption 1909). The older extinct crater it
stands in can be seen as a rough circle at the centre of Tenerife in the
NASA image. Teide is the cone at the north (top) edge of the rim. The two
calderas are designated as a national park and access to the summit cone
is strictly controlled. Without a summit permit (free) walkers are only
allowed as far as the two miradors (viewpoints) and their connecting path
(shown in red on sketch map) which contour the base of the final summit
cone at the top of the teleferico (cable car). This restriction is essential
because of the potential erosion and disturbance that would be caused by
cablecar tourists going to the summit (the National Park has 2.5m visitors
a year). The National Park are taking all precautions to protect the natural
environment of the park, for example all the 4x4 tracks in the park are
now closed to non official traffic. There are also rumours that the teleferico
will be closed when its operating license expires. Large numbers of coach
bourne tourists enter the park each day but concentrate at the teleferico,
Los Roques and a patch of pleasant pumice convenient for coach parking.
Once 50 metres from these three sites you will enjoy reasonable solitude.
If staying at the Parador I suggest starting the Los Roques
walk
at dawn for dramatic lighting and solitude (walk in an anticlockwise direction,
you may see Barbary Partridges and great grey shrikes here), returning
for a late breakfast (until 11.a.m).Guajara
(gwar-har-ah)
and the other summits of the old crater rim may also be climbed from the
Parador. Another highlight of a stay at the Parador is the night sky, unsullied
by light pollution, groups regularly visit for dinner, an astronomical
talk and night stroll.
For the ultimate night sky/sunrise
experience
arrange to stay a night in the ICONA refugio Altavista near the summit.
The
Teide path is shown in blue, other paths in red, roads in black and the
teleferico in grey. (Not to scale). About ten cars can be parked at 'P'
and overflow parking is possible, if needed, a little to the west at a
mirador. The only accomodation and meals are available at the Parador
de Las Cañadas (pa-rar-door
day lass Can-yar-das)(4 star government owned mountain lodge style hotel
with seperate cafeteria, alt. 2200 metres) and accomodation only at the
Refugio de Altavista (alt. 3250 metres). Light refreshments are available
at both top and bottom stations of the teleferico. (Note that the teleferico
does not run in windy weather). No camping is allowed. There are no shops
or petrol (station marked on maps is now closed and demolished) available
in the national park so any supplies should be purchased at the coast (or
Vilaflor) before tackling the unremitting climb of one of the roads into
the crater (2 hours drive from airport to Parador - buses also run to the
park).The nearest town to the Park is Vilaflor to the south (1466m) with
shops, bars and accomodation. The Las Lajas zona recreational at the south
edge of the park has camping and a restaurante but is packed with barbecuing
locals and coach parties at the weekend. (This is incidentally a good place
to see the Tenerife Blue Chaffinch)Climbing Teide
Grade
The path is well within the capacity of any British hillwalker without any scrambling being involved. It will be of interest to any walker who does not normally go this high, enjoys excellent views, or is interested in the novel experience, for the British walker, of climbing on a volcano. The only difficulties are lack of oxygen( 50% of sea level value at summit) and summer heat. Persons with a heart condition or who are pregnant should not attempt the climb. Long trousers, water, a fleece and lightweight waterproof jacket should be carried. In winter the usual additional equipment is required including glacier glasses to avoid snow blindness. (The angle of ascent is on average 7 and at maximum 12%).
Timing
If climbing Teide in hot weather I recommend being on the hill before dawn, to avoid being caught by the sun low down on the mountain. This approach gives the bonus of watching the sun rise over the national park. (The start of the track is easy to follow by head torch.) Allow 5 hours (one way). Total ascent by this route is 1418 metres (4652 ft), not much more than Ben Nevis!
Temperatures
In the summer months this will be a hot walk, during the winter snow is likely, in February dawn temperature at the base of the mountain was -1C and 5C at the summit at noon.
Route
The path starts as a jeep track (closed to public) to the east of a prominent mirador. Signs and a large map mark the start. Keep to the track on an easy gradient, zig-zagging up past the "eggs of Teide" (large black rocks hurled from the volcano mouth) until signs indicate the start of the footpath which now leaves the pumice slopes and ascends the edge of a lava flow until being eventually forced onto the lava itself. Once on the lava you will be glad of the well engineered path across the uneven surface
.
Keep climbing up past the refuge on its left (west) side until you meet
the mirador path just below the summit.
(Between the refugio and the mirador you can take a detour to an old commercial
ice cave in use until 1900). Turn left onto the mirador path. Now may be
the time to put your head down and get through the tourists getting in
the way. When you reach the teleferico top station in a few minutes you
will see the summit path on your right just before the building, the start
guarded by a rope and a large, stern ranger. Once your permit and passport
have been inspected you will be allowed onto the 'Telesforo Bravo' path
to the summit. The path climbs steeply up the summit cone of yellow rocks
ending on the lip of the crater. You may continue on from here anti-clockwise
round the crater, stepping over small fumeroles venting scalding sulphourous
vapours, to about half way where a length of rope indicates the section
of
the summit being preserved from all erosion.
The views in all direction are spectacular, Tenerife's famous cloud seas
(a near permenent inversion aloft caused by the NE Trade winds " Los Vientos
Alisios")are
now as much as 2000 metres below you and the Parador and El Roques look
insignificant in the outer crater. If haze is low you will be able to see
the other Canary islands rising up out of the clouds.
When you have had enough of the views and retrace your steps to the teleferico, the guard will return your permit as a souvenier and you have the choice of walking back down or taking the cablecar (8 minutes - 20€ return) The cablecar is a good option if the day is becoming hot but bear in mind you must take care in returning to your car along the road. Do not become trapped between the retaining wall and passing vehicles.
On your return the Parador cafeteria has draught Dorada and a telescope on the terrace to admire your climb.
Obtaining your summit permit
Summit permits (free) are obtainable in person from :-
ICONA
Office P. N. de Teide,
Calle Emillio Calzadilla 5
38002 Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Phone 922 29 01 29 or 922 29 01 83
Opening hours (Monday to Friday except public holidays) 9 am to 2 pm
You
can now also obtain this permit by fax or Email minimum 8 days in
advance.
Fax 922244788 Email teide@oapn.mma.es
For
further info phone 922290129
Park in the underground carpark by the Plaza España (plarth-ah esp-an-ya)(an impressive pedestrianised square with the town hall on one side) on the seafront. Calle Emillio Calzadilla (ky-ay em-ey-e-oh kalth-ah-de-ah) runs at right angles to the coast road to the east of the Plaza España. The office is on the fourth floor of number 5 (press entryphone and enter). English usually spoken. If office has moved enquire at the town hall nearby.
You must present your passports here AND on the mountain.
You will
also need a photocopy of the "leaders" passport which is easier to obtain
before you arrive.
You will
be allocated two days on which to make an ascent (in August and February
the following two days were available) and must specify a summit slot of
two hours (allow 5 hours for climb). Only one ascent on one of the two
days may be made, but you may of course abort an ascent at any time before
the summit checkpoint. Late/early arrivals at the summit checkpoint will
be treated sympathetically at the discretion of the ranger. Maximum party
size 10.
August
2003
The system
has now become well known (and therefore due for change?) and there was
a short queue at the office. The assumption was made by staff that we intended
to use the telefericio and that if it was not running on our day we could
use our permit on the following day.
A bit of emergency Spanish
(I doubt you will need it)
"Hola,
Buenos dias. Por favor, quisiera un permiso por la cumbre del Teide para
[uno, dos, tres] personas."
("Polite
hello, please I would like a permit for the summit of Teide for [one, two,
three ] people.")
oh-la
bwen-oss de-as. paw fav-oor, kee-see-air-a oon perm-esoh poor lah coombe-brey
del Tay-dee para [oon-oh, dos, tress] per-son-as.
More
on pronounciation
Walking in Canary Islands
Walking in Spain
Climate of Tenerife
Ann Bowker's Teide page
Walking in Tenerife
Volcano world-Tenerife