Cabaña Verónica

Cabaña Verónica is a mountain refuge in the Picos de Europa National Park, in Cantabria, Spain. It sits at 2,325 metres above sea level on the slopes of Pico Tesorero, in the Central Massif of the Picos de Europa. The hut is owned by the Federación Cántabra de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada (FCDME) and is open from Easter until October. It has six bunk places and is staffed by a guard who provides meals, breakfasts, refreshments and hot drinks. It is equipped for mountain rescue, with a first-aid kit, supplies, a special evacuation stretcher and a Civil Protection radio that can connect with the Guardia Civil Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group based in Potes. It also hosts a weather station belonging to the National Parks Network. There is no nearby water source. The hut is a well-known landmark among Picos de Europa mountaineers because it is one of the highest staffed refuges in the Iberian Peninsula. Its strategic location in the Central Massif, about two hours from the upper station of the Fuente Dé cable car, allows it to provide shelter and supplies for expeditions between the Collado Jermoso and Urriellu refuges. The name comes from one of the daughters of Conrado Sentíes, the engineer who promoted and built it. Cabaña Verónica was officially inaugurated on 13 August 1961. It was built using the metal dome from an anti-aircraft battery of the US aircraft carrier USS Palau, which was being scrapped in Sestao (Biscay). The pieces and materials took eight days to assemble and were carried up on horseback because helicopter use was too expensive. A truck brought material up to the Horcadina de Covarobres, and from there horses carried it to the chosen site. The peculiar structure was mounted on a solid masonry stone base, then painted and fitted with a grounding system to protect it from the frequent storms in the area. The cable drop was led into a deep shaft to dissipate lightning current. For years the hut was abandoned and fell into ruin, even suffering a fire, and demolition was considered, but it was eventually restored. It had no guard until 1983, when the mountaineer Mariano Sánchez Madina, then 34 years old and a former guard at Electra de Viesgo and ski instructor at Alto Campoo, left Santander and settled in the small metal igloo, becoming the guard of Cabaña Verónica. He lived there all year, selflessly maintaining it and carrying up necessary materials until the summer of 2007, when he fell ill and was admitted to the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander; he died on 27 June 2008 at the age of 57. A hundred mountaineers scattered his ashes on Pico Tesorero and installed a plaque at Cabaña Verónica in his memory, reproducing one of the messages he used to leave when he was away. From 2008 to 2013 the guard was José Ramón Pasalodos; later Carlos León Revuelta, and since 2018 Jorge David Dinis.

Cabaña Verónica was created at the initiative of the Bilbao engineer Conrado Sentíes and his friend, the architect Luis Pueyo. It was built using the metal dome from the anti-aircraft battery of the US aircraft carrier USS Palau, which was being scrapped in Sestao (Biscay). The pieces and materials took eight days to assemble and were carried up on horseback because helicopter use was too expensive. A truck brought material up to the Horcadina de Covarobres, and from there horses carried it to the chosen site. The peculiar structure was mounted on a solid masonry stone base, which took eight days. Finally it was painted and a grounding system was installed to secure the construction against the frequent storms in the area. The cable drop was led to a deep shaft, which would dissipate lightning current. The refuge was officially inaugurated on 13 August 1961. It should be noted that currently accessing the refuge requires a march of about two hours and 491 metres of elevation gain from the upper station of the Fuente Dé cable car, an infrastructure that did not yet exist at that time. For years, abandonment and neglect turned it into a ruin and it even suffered a fire, and demolition was considered, although it was eventually restored. Cabaña Verónica was a refuge without a guard until 1983. That year the mountaineer Mariano Sánchez Madina, who was then 34 years old and had been a guard at Electra de Viesgo and a ski instructor at the Alto Campoo station, left Santander, the city where he lived, and settled in this small metal igloo, becoming the guard of Cabaña Verónica. He lived there all year, selflessly carrying out its maintenance and carrying up the necessary materials until the summer of 2007, when he fell ill and was admitted to the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, dying on 27 June 2008 at the age of 57. A hundred mountaineers scattered the ashes of the well-known guard on Pico Tesorero and installed a plaque at Cabaña Verónica in memory of him that reproduces one of the messages he used to leave when he was not there. From 2008 to 2013 the guard was José Ramón Pasalodos. Later it was Carlos León Revuelta, and since 2018 it has been Jorge David Dinis.

• 2018

  Jorge David Dinis becomes guard.

• 2013

  Carlos León Revuelta becomes guard.

• 2008

  Mariano Sánchez Madina dies on 27 June; José Ramón Pasalodos becomes guard.

• 2007

  Mariano Sánchez Madina falls ill and is hospitalized.

• 1983

  Mariano Sánchez Madina becomes the first guard.

• 1961

  Officially inaugurated on 13 August.

A high-altitude, iconic mountain refuge and meeting point for mountaineers in the Picos de Europa, known for its unique repurposed aircraft-carrier dome structure.

Product categories. Mountain shelter · Meals and drinks · Mountain rescue support · Weather station

1. 1Cabaña Verónicaes.wikipedia.org
2. 2Cabaña Verónicawikidata.org