Day 53: carving up Sierra Nevada

  So I'm up at 6.30 to get the bus to Sierra nevada. At the bus stop I see a girl who's carrying ski boots so I pounce and make her my friend so I an follow her where to go because I don't really know. She introduces me to the group she's with- french, german and spanish students. The bus ride was lovely. The mountains are so large and white and numerous. And there's a lake between them that looks stunning as the sun is coming up. We arrive by 9 am and it after hiring all the gear we hit the slopes. So you take a chairlift to get up to the initial part of the snow fields and at mt bullet this might take 10 mins max, here it takes 20. They are huge and there are mountains surrounding. And there are so so many chairlifts all over the mountains I get so excited and worry that I'm not going to have enough time to do them all. The day just keeps getting better, the sky gets bluer and the sun shines brighter. I start sensibly on the green runs- but bore of it after one ride down so then move onto the blue which are a good fun fast level for me and not a 'falling' level which maybe is not such a good thing as it may have caused a bit of cockyness... So naturally move on to red colour after a few decent runs. The red are definitely more challenging. I feel my legs burning after the first one and I stack it for the first time too. It's a good one- skis come off and I slide for at least a further 10m down the slope. I dread climbing back up to retrieve them so I lie in the snow sprawled for a minute. Then a lovely stranger stops and picks them up and brings them down to me. Thank you stranger.  The sun burns brighter and it starts to get hot. Except at the very top of the mountain. It's quite a bit cooler up here as it is the highest peak. And the view is incredible. You can actually see the sea and beyond that morocco! Yeah you can it is wonderful. From up here you can choose red runs or black runs. But they all have signs saying "very difficult for solo experts" hmm that's not me but oh well. I do some of the reds. There is one run that expands all the way around the edge of the mountain right down to the bottom. It is not very steep but it is narrow. It's a scenic route and it is beautiful. I cruise down it at a very leisurely pace admiring the surrounding mountains. It is truly awing. And then I go back for black runs. Wowza they are steep I definitely half fall down the first black one. But the next I do very wide turns and as much as it burns my quads I manage to stay upright for the length of it. The best part was at the end there is an uphill part. I see it coming so you don't really have a choice but to go really fast down the last bit of downhill so that you make it up the up hill (if that makes sense) oooh that was super dooper fun!  The lifts shut at 5 so now it's food time while we wait for the bus. We sit outside in the setting sun with jackets off it's so warm and order hot wine and bocadillas and chips. Most of the time the group is speaking Spanish so I sit back and absorb the atmosphere. But they each make an effort to converse in English and include me. I don't mind it's cool to hear. And occasionally the Germans speak German and the French French so everyone is not understanding at some stage. It's funny when they try and speak English then get confused and accidentally say a few words in Spanish.  The bus comes and we sit and fall asleep. Back at the hostel the girls are cooking burritos. I down five of them before we head off to catch a 10.15 train to Valencia... It gets in at 5am what a ridiculous long day... But awesome!