I am actually writing this entry a couple weeks after I did it and I am a bit behind so I'm gonna try and get this blog back on track while writing a paper for my University of Granada class, let's see how this goes...
Well the day after my family left to head home was my last chance to snowboard in the town of Sierra Nevada in the mountains about 40 minutes from Granada. With their usual unyielding support when I told my parents I was considering going they said without hesitation, "Oh you gotta go." So I went ahead and did it.
I asked a bunch of people whether or not they wanted to or would be able to go and unfortunately no one could make it out that day. The good news was I kind of needed a day to myself to really just go and do what I needed to so being alone in this instance turned out to be for the best.
Day started at 6:20am so that I made sure I didn't miss the 8am bus up to the mountain. Got to the bus station snagged a bus and laid back.
The ride up to the mountains was incredible but it was a fairly cloudy day so it was tough to really take in all of the beauty but take my word for it, driving up into the mountains is always a beautiful experience. And after about 45 minutes I finally arrived in Sierra Nevada.
It's a lovely little town that's sole purpose is catering to the skiers and snowboarders that venture up into the mountains. So naturally the food is a little overpriced but the town itself was very, very cool. So I went ahead and rented a board, boots, googles, and snow pants. Then with my jacket and rainjacket combined I made a makeshift winter coat and was all set to hit it.
Took a shot of the board that was gonna guide me through my day at S.N.
So up I went in the Gondola and to my dismay it was raining. Not just in the town but even at the top of the mountain. I had heard the snow would not be like the snow I had seen in CO but this was a bit worse than I was expecting. Then when we reached the top of the mountain it was more like freezing rain so thank God I had rented those goggles.
Finally got up to the top after a cold, wet, windy chair lift ride and went for my first run. It was rough. The snow was wet, heavy, and sticky. At times you'd be riding and for no reason the snow would bring you to a stop so gaining speed and maintaining control was real hard. Catching an edge on the other hand was very easy which I found out the hard way about halfway through my first run. I decided to try and get a bit of speed to see if I could get things going and I got some speed then caught my toe edge and launched myself forward so hard that I landed chest first and slid about 10 feet.
Now I will be honest it hurt like crazy and I couldn't breath for about 30 seconds and in that moment I remember distinctly the thought running through my head, "Maybe today just isn't the day for this, maybe I should just wrap it up and go to the lodge for the rest of the time I'm here." It ran through my mind but as I have been trying to do with every experience here I wanted to make the best of it. I refused to let bad circumstances make the experience bad so I forced myself to get up and finish that first run.
It was rainy, cold, and I was up there by myself but I kept pushing and kept driving myself to try and accomplish something every run. Really bomb this one, work on your carving this run, try that harder run instead of taking the easier one. And as the day went on my spirits improved and I pushed through.
Then God decided to help boost my spirits by letting the sun come out a bit so I caught a glimpse of the beauty of Sierra Nevada. So in the spirit of taking my happiness into my own hands I hopped off the next ski lift, cranked up my Ipod, and went for it.
Run after run got better and better. I found ways to make each run interesting, even if I was just doing a green run, and really challenge myself in ways I never had snowboarding. I'd never really dealt with conditions like this so it was a new interesting challenge trying to figure out how to get the most speed, how to maintain control, what was the best way to carve, and all in all I was having more and more fun with it.
I took a short break for lunch and then forced myself to get up and get back on the mountain because I knew that the more I pushed myself the more I could turn the day around and keep making it better and better.
\So I tried new lifts, tried new runs, and just kept on getting back on the ski lift. I probably told myself, "This is my last run" about 10 times but kept pushing through it cause I knew I wanted something more out of this whole experience.
Had to snag a pic of me with the mountains and all in the background.
So finally it's getting towards the end of the day when the bus will be returning and I know I've only got one or two runs left. So I decide to take the crazy lift up to the part of the mountain that is only blues and blacks. The way they organize the difficulty of the runs in Spain is green, blue, red, black (from least to greatest difficulty).
So I took this lift up to what appears to be a laser satellite from Star Wars.
So after I passed by the Hoth satellite I began my next to last run. As I was riding up the chair lift I saw a guy going down a black run and thought to myself, "I could do that". Granted I've never done a black in my life and the closest I had come was a blue/black called Mary Jane that I did in Colorado two weeks before this program started but in my head I knew I could do this one.
So I got off the lift and went out looking for the black.
Over that edge was a sheer drop that was pretty steep and the only thing between you and that was a little slope of snow.
So I went looking for this black run, the rain and clouds had come back and the wind had picked back up. (A quick aside, to give you an idea of how strong the wind was, earlier in the day at one point I stopped to look at what run I was going to take next and the wind knocked me over.) So I went ahead and went down this blue run and before I knew it I was back at the lift.
As I got back on the lift for what I knew would be my last run I thought to myself, "Maybe you shouldn't do the black. You don't wanna get hurt last run of the day, maybe just play it safe and hit the blue and call it a day." And the reality is, I could have done that, I could have done the blue and no one would have ever known that I resisted doing what I knew I could. But the only problem with that is, I would have known. I would have looked back and gone, "That could have been my first black but I wasn't feeling it that day." But I wasn't about to let that happen. I got to the top of that lift and continued living my life the way I have been for the whole second half of my time here in Spain, I take advantage of any and every opportunity. I don't want to look back and have any regrets so when I want something I go for it and I don't look back. And I gotta say it has been making my life more fulfilling and interesting than it ever has been before.
So I went for it and I killed it. It was the best run I had all day and the most fun run I have done in a long time. After I finished that run I knew I could leave the mountain that day with zero regrets. And it's a good thing too because I didn't have any time left. So I bombed the rest of the mountain and unstrapped my board with a huge smile on my face.
I had a random guy take a picture of me after just finishing my final run because now I can look back and say, "Here is the picture from when I did my first black ever in Spain." Now do I know whether it was a black diamond or a triple black diamond? No, I have no idea. But I'm gonna go ahead and say it was a triple black and stick with that.
The feeling of bombing that run was unreal. Something about snowboarding is so liberating and so exhilarating and I really want to find a way to make it a bigger part of my life. So after a long and successful day I jumped back on the bus wet, exhausted, and completely content.
Sometimes you just need to take life into your own hands and I feel like more often than not people choose to neglect how much control they have over their happiness. Everyday there are simple little things you can do to bring a smile to your face and a smile to the faces of the people around you. It doesn't have to be a big snowboarding trip or a trip to a country in Europe, when you find ways to bring joy into your everyday life, you not only better your mood but you better the lives of the people around you and I think that is one of the best ways you can spend your time. Priority one is to find ways to bring joy into your life and then you will be in a much better place to help others bring joy into theirs.
A shot of my amazing hiking pack that has been with me on every trip I've been on so far in Europe.
So when I was telling my friends about my Sierra Nevada trip I was talking to my one friend Jack and was telling him about how nobody else wanted to come or was able to come on the trip. He looked at me and simply said, "Sometimes you gotta go at it yourself" thus the quote in the title. Those words are so damn true its beautiful.
So remember when there is something that you want in your heart, go for it. Don't sit back and wait for it, make it happen. You may not think that there is any way in hell things will work out the way you want but you will never know unless you try.
Alright now I just gotta blog Lagos, Paris, and Madrid and I will be all caught up. And I leave for Florence tomorrow but we will see what we can hammer out. I love you all back home and am only a month away from returning! As much as I am enjoying every minute here I can't wait to get back to see my family and friends.
