GAIA

If you are a nature lover and want to discover all the secrets it hides, in GAIA you will find your best guide. Our motto is to be the sustainable mountain and it is a principle that we follow in each and every one of our activities, carried out with respect and conservation of the environment. You will learn not to leave a mark on the environment with your actions, the methods that can be carried out to conserve nature in its most optimal state and you will know all the ecological wealth that is positioned very close to the big city.

Our activities take place in the Sierra de Guadarrama . The northern part of the Community of Madrid is one of the most unknown to the locals themselves, but it houses many places of great value as well as dreamlike landscapes. If you do not know it or if you want to discover it from another point of view, do not hesitate to come with us to practice sports outdoors.

With sports practice you will be able to release tension, waste adrenaline and experience endless emotions not found in your day-to-day life. You will return to the city with charged batteries and with a vital and very comforting experience. Within our offer of classes and courses you will find levels that adapt to any characteristics of our users, so that no one is left without living an experience like this.

Those who are already used to mountain sports or want to increase their training within sports practice, will find what they are looking for with the Orienteering activity . With our course that consists of a practical and theoretical part, you will know everything you need to know about the environment to be able to carry out different itineraries, position the route on the map, orient yourself with GPS and compass, and many other essential measures to guarantee a safe exit to the mountain. .

If you want to enjoy the environment, with our Hiking excursions you will get to know both the Fuenfría Valley and the La Barranca Valley, both in the Sierra de Guadarrama. You will review history passing through cultural and artistic aspects of great value, such as Roman footprints. In addition, you will enjoy incredible panoramic views from the natural balconies of the peaks.

So that you do not stop hiking with the fall of the first snow, we make outings in Snowshoes , where you will reach remote places and marvel at the change in appearance of the most emblematic areas of the mountain range . You will be delighted and you will learn how to move on the mantle in a firm and safe way, safeguarding your stability.

Enjoy the Sierra de Madrid like never before with endless adventure activities. Enjoy with GAIA .

If you want to enjoy snowy landscapes during the winter season and keep reaching the same hidden corners as when hiking, Snowshoes will meet your expectations. Thanks to these tools, you can walk on the snowy mantle in a firm and safe way, guaranteeing your stability and without making any overexertion.

Thanks to our itineraries you will be able to see magnificent landscapes of the Sierra de Guadarrama , knowing how the appearance changes with the fall of the first snow and discovering the fauna and flora that emerge from the cold. With these outings you will learn to move safely, you will know how to calculate your route and you will discover the nature of the materials as well as their placement.

We invite you to enjoy a fun and playful activity , taking a pleasant and beautiful walk through the mountains. Geology will be one of our main guides to carry out the excursion, knowing the origin of the current formations and how they have evolved over the years. In addition, you will be delighted with the different formations of frozen crystals that, during sunny days, carry out a spectacular play of lights.

During sports practice you will be accompanied by a titled guide who will illustrate you about the environment and will be at your entire disposal to clear up any doubts that may arise. In addition, we will carry a first-aid kit to deal with possible setbacks as well as a complete safety equipment. Users will also enjoy Accident and Civil Liability Insurance . Remember that you must bring your own food and that you will have to get to the meeting point from which we will carry out the activity.

Within our commitment to the environment is the preservation, conservation and restructuring of it, so that a part of our benefits go to collaboration with projects in natural spaces.

No inhospitable place will be hidden with the first snowfall, if you go Hiking with the GAIA Snowshoes .

Hiking is one of the most recommended activities to enjoy the environment while doing sports outdoors. Walking through the mountains allows you to reach unknown places, get to know the environment that surrounds us better and be able to orient yourself to any other sport.
GAIA wants to show you the beauty of the Sierra de Madrid in each of its outings, where you will learn to read the itineraries and organize the route, as well as to face possible setbacks. You will set the pace of the march and you will discover that there are countless benefits that this sport provides you.

Within our excursions you will find several levels so that you can choose the route that best suits your characteristics and needs, taking into account the terrain, the unevenness on which you will practice hiking and the length of it. The beginner level has a minimum difficulty and is based on forest paths and tracks of about 10 kilometers long and with slopes of 200 meters. In the second level you will find wide paths of 15 kilometers and slopes that reach 400 meters. The next step is level 3 where the roads have a distance of 20 kilometers and slopes of 600 meters. The last two sections , 4 and 5, arrive and exceed 25 kilometers of route and the kilometer of unevenness.

Our itineraries take place through the Sierra de Guadarrama , a beautiful National Park that keeps in its interior places of great ecological value. Two of them are the Fuenfría Valley and the Barraca Valley. In them, you will review the Roman history of our city, learning about cultural and artistic aspects. With the first, you will transport yourself to the second half of the 19th century, where shepherds and poets lived together making their living in the mountains. The La Barraca Valley enjoys incredible views where the Cabrillas are the prelude to the great pine forests.

Enjoy hiking at its best during the natural environment of the north of the Community of Madrid . You will know a paradise very close to the capital where you can escape from the bustle of the big city and practice sports.

We are waiting for you at GAIA !

Whether you carry out activities in the mountains or not, you will know that it is vitally important to carry out a preparation of the terrain as well as the route to be carried out, to be able to face any inconvenience. Thanks to the Orientation activity you will discover how to move through any type of terrain, which slope to take to reach the end point of your route or how to determine your position within a forest or a wide area of land.

With GAIA you will know how to perfectly use any of the geolocation elements such as GPS or conventional compasses on topographic maps. You will learn to handle the different software of machines such as Oziexplorer or Basecamp together with Wikiloc, since they are the main ones to be able to carry out and study the routes to carry out.

The course we teach focuses on theoretical part and practical part , to first acquire all the necessary knowledge and then translate it into the field during Orientation. The first theoretical part is based on 4 hours in a classroom taught in Collado Villalba , very close to the Sierra de Madrid. Later you will enjoy a practice of 6 hours in Cercedilla , one of the main towns in the mountainous area.

Thanks to our workshops you will learn to modify both the tracks and the waypoints on the map, visualizing the terrain in 3D and knowing how to print the maps at the scale you want. You will know which are the main cartographies and how they adapt to according to what type of terrain, as well as the projections and the coordinates that you must take. You will be able to draw level curves and position the valleys and spurs, as well as the paths and tracks. You will know how to read, interpret and create each and every one of the points established on the maps.

You will have at your entire disposal qualified technicians s who will give you both the theory and the practice and will solve any problem that may arise. We will provide you with all the necessary material as well as the security measures and the Civil Liability and Accident Insurance .

If you want to take another step in your training within mountain activities, it is vitally important to know Orientation. Trust the best professionals, come to GAIA .