UKC

Going to Tenerife  in January and would like to go up Teide on our last day. Intending to catch cable car, as some of our party are walkers rather than mountaineer.

Has anyone done this?

How long does it take to walk from the top station to the summit and back to the top station? I know that you have to get a permit in advance.

We are considering walking back down to the bottom station. How long does this take? What is the path like and is it relentless on your knees?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Top station to the summit is on a path. I did this as a kid in my trainers. No idea about the path down to the bottom however.

Its quite likely to be snow capped in January which would potentially make it a different kettle of fish.

I believe the permit also includes a time slot when you are allowed to summit, might be a two hour window if my memory is correct. There is a website with all details,

Chris

We did it a few years back from a carpark near the bottom station at around 1200 metres as I remember. We began at 10am and topped out at 3pm. We got back down to the car at 7pm. We had mixed fitness but only went as fast as our slowest. We got the permits online which was easy. Altitude sickness was not a massive issue but some of us got the usual headaches and feeling sick. We did it in the warmer months.

When we walked up they weren't bothered by our time slot just that we had the right bit of paper.

I was up there in July and despite being super hot on the plateau there was a distinct chill up high.  The walk dosn't look too bad at all. What ever you do take time to explore the plateau a little further north, it is seriously martian.

Did it one Boxing Day long gone, but we had axes and crampons. It took about 5/6 hours up (thin air) and about 2/3 down, so a full day. Roads were very icy on the way up to the parking near the cable car start. There is a hut halfway up but not sure if it would be open. Summit is quite smelly (sulphur dioxide). Very surreal to be drinking champagne on the beach the next day!

Did it about 10 years ago on consecutive days - solo, from the Montana Blanca carpark starting 06:00ish, top station before 09:00 so nobody there to check my permit, summit about 25 mins later. Back to car within 5 hours, descent path is OK, well marked, and lower down is runnable. Next day took family up in the cable-car. View was spoiled a bit by smoke from forest fires,  but this was midsummer and unlikely in January. Temperature was fine both days, certainly not too hot. Carpark is at about 2400 metres altitude, you certainly feel the thin air in the last few hundred metres to the summit. January could get snow at short notice. The Altavista hut below the cable car top station is open for single-night stays, check the net for details but it's about 20€ with blankets included. Always fancied starting the day on the summit then jogging down to the North coast, a brilliant downhill marathon...

Usually just a stroll upwards and back on a pretty good path with some loose rocks underfoot at maximum, but not   soo  mucch exposure, as far as I can remember (have been there one December some years agoo), although there have been a few rare years with significant snow requiring equipment. If going directly from the beaches, probably better to stay for a few days at altitude (the hike from Guajara - ~2700m - back to the Lajas camp site at 2100m is pretty nice and doable with bus approach or hitch-hiking from the camp). Plenty of people going by the cable car directly from the seaside and getting altitude sickness though, and the summit tends to be quite windy. The last 200m from the cable car is mostly paved (of course unless there is the rare snow). If you manage to make a reservation at the Altavista hut, AFAIK you don't need a summit permit if you go there for the sunrise and return before 9 am. As others noted, it's pretty nice to return via the western side along Pico Viejo, the landscape is great, although you might need to hitch-hike back to the car park. Unless the conditions are really bad, the only consideration was mainly the altitude and wind, especially with taking the cable car, as lot of "tourists" tended to be ill-prepared for that. Everything is quite dry, though, and some of the camp sites in the park might not have water.

Many thanks to all of you. Some really helpful and interesting advice/comments there.