With snow still down to about 2,800m a walk up Valetta above the ski village in the Sierra Nevada was an ideal introductiion to the high mountains for friends who were with us last week. Valetta is a great looking summit however the route from the west is scarred by tracks particularly in summer which are used to access the summit and ski facilities.

The walk starts as ever in the cafe at Hoya de Mora ,a small developement at 2,500m. From Hoya de Mora the route is abvious as we head east uphill passing the statue of Virgen de las Nieve before we begin to hit patches of snow. In order to keep the route as easy as possible we were able to link clear areas for the bulk of the route until we reached about 3,000m from here we crossed snow fields to the shoulder of the valetta itself where there are stunning views across the north faces of valetta, Mulhacen and Alcazaba the three main peaks of the range as a whole.

With stong winds gusting aver 80km we headed back for a welcoming coffe back at the cafe.