CotaSki resorts of the worldSnow todayRankings

The steepest ski runs in Spain

Cota ranking · October 26, 2026

We have ranked Spain's ski runs by average gradient: the vertical drop divided by the length of the whole run, not just its toughest stretch. That shows which run is steep from top to bottom. And there is a surprise: Masella has two in the Top 5 and Valdezcaray sneaks in among the Pyrenean runs.

  1. Passarells51%
    Baqueira-Beret · Black on the official Baqueira Beret trail map, alongside Tubo Nere, Pales der Arias and Luis Arias.
  2. Pala Boja50%
    Vall de Núria · One of the two black runs at Vall de Núria, according to its official technical sheet.
  3. l'Extrema49%
    Masella · Masella lists it among its black runs with steep gradients, leaving from the Jumbo Tosa towards Coma Oriola.
  4. Pala Fuerte48%
    Valdezcaray · One of the two black runs at Valdezcaray, together with La Ese, according to its technical sheet.
  5. La Canal48%
    Masella · On the Masella trail map it carries the very high difficulty symbol, the same as l'Extrema and Pista Fonda.

How we measured it

Average gradient measured by Cota: vertical drop divided by the length of the OpenStreetMap (OpenSkiMap) track, over Mapterhorn terrain data. It includes marked downhill runs longer than 250 m, with no itineraries or freeride. Pala Fuerte and La Canal tie at 48%: the one whose toughest stretch is steeper goes first. On each resort's page you will also see the maximum gradient, which is a different measure. It may differ from the official trail map.

Sources

Which one have you skied?