Sierra Nevada

hello everyone i hope all is going well out there.

so one of the sweetest features about being heavan, i mean granada, is that you can go skiing and swing in the mediteranean in the same day. there is a sick ski resort less than an hour away. its pretty amazing when you consider the fact that it was well over 65 degrees today and i was dying of heat. so on monday silvio cut school and we decided to go up to the ski spot. this is the second time we were going. the first time we went it was snowing pretty much the whole day and it was cloudy and relatively cold, although the fresh snow was rather lovely. this time was just the opposite, i discoevered what sierra nevada is so famous for. it was blazing sunshine the entire day. it was quite a new experience for me to be snowboarding and not be at least sort of cold. on monday i was soo hot. i was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a vest, and a shell and i had to keep opening up my jacket.

there was surprisingly large amount of people considering that we went on a monday, but since we're the only ski resort within like 300 miles it is not difficult to understand that there would be alot of people. on the last run down that shit was INSANE, everyone was going home and it was almost as crowded as the NYC subway leaving a yankee game. i was basically scared to move because you didnt know what was going to happen below you, and you never knew when some psycho snowboarder (although i am a snowboarder i generally dislike any other snowboarders. they just ride like [explicit] maniacs) is going to come flying down and impale you.

me and silvio spent most of the day in the upper slopes of the mountain where it is a little colder and there are alot less people. it was really fun, we found some spots that werent so crowded and were able to dick around. silvio convinced me to hit up the terrain park with him which was cool, since i didnt really fall, i was able to throw up some indy grabs (basically i would just slap my hand on the board and call it a grab). i must say that US snowboarders shit on spanish ones when it comes to tricks, i didnt see anyone to anything better than a 360, which silvio can do, soo.

the highlight of the day for me came fairly early on. it was probably our third ride down and my confidence was starting to climb. i hadnt fallen on the first time we went, so the last fall on a snowboard came when i busted my knee two years ago. so i was starting to feel good, and i was heading down a familiar slope pretty fast. i was cutting back and forth, and on one toe-edge cut, where im leaning foward with my board mostly perpendicular to the slope, i then hit a slight bump and lost my balance at which point my edge hit, got stuck, and i started levitating into the air. as i floating face up through the air, i got such a lovely view of the sun and the perfectly clear sky, it was so beautiful. this was immediatly before i came plumeting down directly onto my lower back about 8 or 9 feet down the slope. the first sound i heard was "AHH, joder tio, que ostia te has puesto" (ahh, damn son, you busted your ass). apparently i was below the skylift which prompted me to attempt to laugh it off, which wasnt so hard, as it was one of those blows that manifests itself through laughter. concious of the fact that i was liable to get trampeled by some psycho or novice, i attempted, rather poorly to get up. i was able to drag myself off the the side where i had to chill for a while. in the end i was able to enjoy the rest of the day, be that with a mortal fear of falling and reagravating my tender coccyx (which i inevitably did). so now i sit at home with my ass area (mostly my lower back) in a pretty bad state, but with a great story to tell, a worthy tradeoff.

the website for the ski spot said that it would be springtime conditions on the slopes, and i didnt quite understand what this meant until after lunch. at this point it was so hot that the snow had melted past the point of icyness, and on to the point of slushiness. behind fresh powder, this is arguably the best snow for skiing on as it gives into the edges with absolute ease. the major drawback is that you CANNOT fall for risk of getting completely soaked by the slush.

chitty chitty bang bang.
peace out