Tanvaldský Špičák

Tanvaldský Špičák is the largest ski resort in the Jizera Mountains. It lies on the northern slopes of the dome-shaped Špičák (831 m), which rises more than 350 metres above the town of Tanvald. It has varied pistes of every difficulty level, with most of the terrain suited to intermediate and advanced skiers; beginners would do better to look to Severák and Bedřichov. The backbone of the whole resort is a four-seater chairlift starting from the valley of the Kamenice stream, where there is a fair-sized car park and a restaurant. The other way to reach the summit is from the upper hamlets of the village of Albrechtice, which also has a fairly large car park; from there a long T-bar runs to the summit, and its lower part is floodlit. On the summit stands a historic lookout tower with an adjoining mountain hut and inn, built back in the nineteenth century. From the summit the pistes fan out, black, red and blue, all of a similar length of about one and a half kilometres. The ski area belongs to the Skiaréna Jizerky ski region, where one ski pass also covers the Severák and Bedřichov resorts. The villages are linked by a ski bus running three times a day (free for holders of a valid ski pass). In total, one ski pass gives you 22 lifts and 17 km of varied downhill pistes. And as at most Czech ski resorts, you can also go cross-country skiing: the Jizerská magistrála, more than 80 km long, runs through the resort.