Pico de Teide, officially the highest mountain in Spain, is actually on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It is a popular tourist destination since there is a cable car most of the way up. Although it would be perfectly possible to walk up from sea level over two or three days, most walkers, like those riding the cable car, will commence their ascent from the crater of Las Caņadas at an altitude of about 2350m. The path starts about 3km east of the cablecar station, starting as a rough road and then steepening in zigzags to reach the Refugio de Altavista which was locked when we were there even though it was August. The next landmark is a cave, really just a crevasse in the lava, on the right of the path which is filled with ice even in the height of summer. The path winds up through moonscape lava fields and eventually swings across to the top station of the cablecar where you join the masses on quite a steep ascent to the top. There were a few puffs of sulphurous gases inside the summit crater when we were there which was way back in 1974.
A subsequent visit to Tenerife in winter encountered very different conditions. Sheet ice on the road, soft fresh snow higher up and a shortage of daylight led to an abortion of the ascent in the vicinity of the cave. Crampons would have been invaluable.
The first picture shows the mountain from below and the second shows the neighbouring Pico Viejo from the summit. We later climbed up to the crater rim of Pico Viejo which is completely trackless and one of our roughest climbs ever, over unstable blocks of lava, and very destructive of both skin and boots.
Walking the World Index