Formigal-Panticosa
Formigal-Panticosa: the back story
The back story
About Formigal-Panticosa: the back story
The Tena Valley climbs from 600 metres to peaks above 3,000 near the French border. In 1964 a group of locals, in the tourist board’s word “visionaries”, opened a ski station at Formigal and turned from farming to snow. Today Formigal and Panticosa together form the largest domain in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
A valley that bet on snow
The Tena Valley, in the north of the province of Huesca, covers some 400 km² and rises from 600 metres to summits above 3,000, Balaitús, Gran Facha and the Picos del Infierno among them. For centuries its villages lived from livestock and farming. In 1964 a group of locals, “visionaries” in the words of the valley’s tourist board, decided to back snow as the engine of development, and the Formigal ski station began to operate.
Formigal and Panticosa
The village of Formigal, at 1,550 metres in the municipality of Sallent de Gállego, grew up around the ski area, a few kilometres from the French border at El Portalet. Down the valley, Panticosa has its own sector and gondola. Today the two are run together by Aramón as Formigal-Panticosa: 182 km of runs and 147 slopes, from 11 greens to 41 blacks, between 1,145 and 2,265 metres, with 38 lifts including an eight-seat chairlift and an eight-seat gondola. A free, continuous ski bus links the sectors and the villages.
Shepherds, snow and a bet on the future: the Tena Valley’s story.
After dark
The nights are as much a part of Formigal as the days. Marchica, at the foot of the slopes, is the resort’s famous après-ski, with DJs. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Sallent chairlift reopens after closing for “tobogganing”, a 2.5-km floodlit sled run down to Sextas. The tiny La Glera cabin, reached only by snowcat, serves valley cooking under the moon, and at Las Mugas, at 1,800 metres, a snowcat, a snowshoe walk and a dinner lead to a night on the mountain.
Every budget
Aramón’s season pass, Ski Pirineos, now covers six resorts including Astún and Candanchú; bought before 19 November 2026 it costs €1,059 for an adult, and children up to 5 pay €112. Ski hire booked online starts at €21 a day for an adult and €15.50 for a child, with damage insurance included. Apartments in Formigal and around the valley are the most economical beds, while the Snö hotels and the Balneario de Panticosa cover the middle and top of the market.
Our advice: stay in Formigal to ski from the door, in Sallent de Gállego for village life and restaurants, or at the Balneario de Panticosa for the thermal waters; book snow gardens and La Glera dinners ahead, and check Aramón’s site for this winter’s opening date and day prices.
Why it's on our list
- Opened in 1964
- 182 km in two sectors
- Free bus between them
- Thermal spa at Panticosa
- Marchica après-ski
Formigal-Panticosa in brief
From aramon.com and valledetena.com (October 2026).
Slopes · 5
11 green, 40 blue, 50 red, 41 black, 5 itineraries
Lifts (38) · 8
1 eight-seat gondola, 1 eight-seat chairlift, 5 six-seat chairlifts, 9 four-seat chairlifts, 3 two-seat chairlifts, 8 drag lifts, 10 carpets and 1 rope tow, Capacity 53,715 skiers an hour
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Formigal-Panticosa: the back story before you go.