A ski adventure in the Sierra Nevadas!

Our day begins with a 5:30 AM wake-up call. This is the time that a "normal" Spaniard would go to bed on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out -- after the discotecas close their doors. On our way to the bus we see some of these discoteca-stragglers stumbling home to their beds.

This weekend, the buses to the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort are free! We get there extra-early to make sure we get a spot& are the first ones to arrive.

On the bus ride up to the mountain, the morning sunrise suggests it's going to be a sunny day. Juanito tells me it's going to be very busy - this year, they've had many weeks of bad whether and had to close the ski resort previous weekends. With the sun & free buses, the mountain is sure to be packed!

Below is Juanito (on the right), my roommate's boyfriend. Juanito is from Venezuela and is super outdoorsy! He is going to run a 100 kilometer race at the end of May. He lives just across the courtyard from our flat with his sister, brother in-law and two nieces. Juanito was the instigator of this ski outing. His family just moved to Granada from Venezuela about a month ago - this is the first time they've touched SNOW (let alone been on skis!)

We eat breakfast in the ski resort village - toast with tomato & olive oil and cafe con leche!

Below is my flat-mate Jenny (on the right). Jenny is from England and has been living in Granada for 3 years. She teaches English and does translations in her spare time. Jenny has also lived in France and Italy and is fluent in all of those languages. Coincidentally, Jenny worked with my cousin Tom when he was in Granada several years ago!

As Juanito predicted, the slopes are packed! The first half of the day, I only managed to get in two runs...the rest of the time was spent in lift lines. Apparently, Spanish folk don't believe in queuing in an orderly fashion - pushing one's way to the front seemed to be the method of choice - a dangerous ordeal on skis & snowboards.

Notice the lack of trees & varied terrain? It just can't compare to the Pacific NW - mostly groomers on this mountain...

Juanito gives ski lessons to the family

The crew at the end of a long day on the slopes!

Jenny is spent!

Me on skis? How strange! First time in 15+ years!

The ski village - apparently the Sierra Nevada is expensive because it is the only real ski resort in Spain...there is no competition so the prices are high! 2,000 euro for a week in a small apartment! The lift tickets were also very expensive - 41 euro for a day lift ticket.

It was worth it to get up into the mountains on such a beautiful day!