Sierra Nevadas 

       So after Sevilla, the majority of students got back on the bus to go back to Valencia. However, a few of us decided to capitalize on the situation and go skiing in the Sierra Nevada's! It was awesome! After hopping on a bus and getting a few hours of sleep in what was one of the nicest/cheapest hostel's I have ever stayed in, we were on the slopes. It was exhilarating. As we were walking up to rent our ski gear, it starts snowing. A LOT. After purchasing our ski passes and gear, we were ready to go. The snow just kept coming down and I had the biggest grin on my face. It had been two years since the last time I went skiing and I was stoked to get back out there.
       As we got on the chairlift for our first run I started thinking about how much powder must be at the top, especially at the rate it was snowing. But, having not skied in two year I decided to go half way up the mountain with everyone and ski down just to make sure I was as good as I remembered.
       We got off the ski lift and went down to the left a little bit so we could regroup. It was at this point that I realized I had maybe ten yards of visibility. Fog had come in with the snow and the combination was, to be honest, a little terrifying. I began to lead the group and after about another minute and a half it occurred to me that it was such a bad white-out that it was hard to tell if I was going down the mountain or across it. My next thought was there are a lot more rocks here than the "rockies".

It was a  lot more fun in the afternoon when we could see the rocks.  

       After two runs down the mountain in miserable weather. We decided to take a break. Half way down we found a restaurant and decided to go in and warm up. After some lunch we headed back out into what we thought would be a snowy abyss. To our surprise it was actually pretty ideal skiing weather. 

Heres some pics from day one:

Me and Freddie on the Gondola

We renamed Italian Mike (the guy half way up the mountain who is summersaulting) to "snowball" because he was on the ground just as much as he was on his skis.  

Heading up to the summit in the afternoon. 

The crew. 

This is the only picture we could take in the morning and be able to see whats going on. 

whiteout.

       Towards the end of the day we found a really cool run. It required one to ascend to the top of the mountain via a "t-bar" instead of a lift or gondola. A t-bar is exactly what it sounds like. It is a T that hangs down from a wire and you grab it and the cord at the top stretches and you are suppose to sit on it. However, it is much more fun to hold onto it like a ski rope and essentially surf your way up the mountain. It gets a little tricky when someone falls at the top and the t-bar randomly stops and starts. Hence, when I got to the top, two of the three of us made it up. Apparently "snowball" couldn't handle the t-bar and fell off, and had to make his way back down the mountain. 

The following pictures wrap up day one:

 DAY TWO

       

       We get to the mountain the second day and the first thing we see is a sign that says it is nineteen degrees fahrenheit, with forty five mile per hour winds. Luckily, we bought our ski passes before going to rent our gear because they said the summit was closed due to the winds. This turned out to be perfect, not the weather but the fact that the summit was closed.  This convinced me to snowboard instead of ski.

        I picked snowboarding back up pretty quick after a run or two down the mountain and a few quick tips from cole; "it's essentially wake boarding on snow", he said. Sadly  with one little difference. If you accidentally kick you board over, the board goes ALL THE WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. So here's the story: 

       we found a hill that was off the beaten path and really steep with tons and tons of rocks. Fredie, "snowball", and I decide it would be a lot of fun to "see how it plays out". Snowball goes first and has a few wipe outs but manages to miss the rocks each time. I'm up next, I sit down on the ledge and begin to strap up. I put my left foot in first and lean forward to tighten my toe strap and as I lean forward my toe gently knocks the board over...I dove after it, and was about six inches to far behind it! So, I sat there and watched my board go all the way down the mountain. After it manage to stay flat after hitting rocks on our hill it continued on. Once it made it's way back to the main slope it hit a man on skis, and instead of stopping the board he though it would be a nice gesture to allow it to continue. I watched as it made its way over the next two hills. The first thing that goes through my mind is that I'm about to buy a snowboard, one that I won't even have. Freddie and snowball are having a field day with this one. They "waited" for me at the ski lift. As I walked what was probably a thousand yards down the hill I began to have fun with it and would run and slide as far as possible. Twenty five yards from the bottom of the ski lift a spanish guy on the chair lift start yelling and pointing, "torro, torro"! The first thing that comes to my mind is a bull, (given previous adventures) and I'm thinking "this guy is crazy, theres no bulls out here". Then I realized he was talking about the tower. Forty yards behind me my snowboard is in a hole up against the tower on the downhill side, hiding. I felt like an idiot. I grabbed my board and ran and caught up with the guys. I was so excited that I didn't have to pay for the board that I got on the ski lift with it in my hands. This also made me feel like an idiot. 

       After that it was smooth sailing. We went back to "The Hill" and I made it down just fine. The rest of the day was a blast! No worries, just me and the boys tearing up the slopes. 

(sorry no pictures from the second day).