Sierra Nevada and Granada Part 1

First Run! After a day on the mountain

This past weekend was epic in its adventures and length...to say the least. I know that statement is very overused and has lost its hyperbolic shock value, but I can safely say that no three day weekend of travel could compare to the unexpected fun a group of nine students could have. This was the first weekend the program allowed us to have no Friday classes on. With that date set, it took a good two weeks of procrastination and discussion to decide on how to best maximize our time and budget to make travel plans. Sean, Ryan, Taylor L., Dave G., Hope, Leah, Eliza, Suzzane and, myself settled on an ambitious weekend to Granada and the Sierra Nevada mountains. The train schedules to get from Valencia to Granada were few and far between, so much that the only way to get there was to take an overnight train there and back. The train to Granada left Valencia at 00:51 or 12:51 AM (not the European way) and the return train left Granada at 21:55 and arrived at 5:05. Brutal, but we didn't have anymore options. That took care of our transportation issue. Next we had to settle on lodging and skiing arrangements. The ever-handy hostelworld.com and hostels.com once again provided us with ample cheap hostels and one-star hotels that fit nicely within our meager little budgets. Hotel Niza won our business and at 28 euros/night it was a great find. I highly recommend it as do other users on the website. Now, 28 euros isn't much if you actually stay two nights and don't book another hotel the same weekend (I'll get to that later). Now all we had to do was figure out the logisitics of skiing. Luckily, the Sierra Nevada mountains are only a 45 minute bus ride from city center. Our scheduled arrival time at 8:30 in the morning allotted us enough time to get to the hotel and change into our ski gear and catch the 10 am bus to the Sierra Nevada Resort.

Surprisingly, our group managed to change and catch three cabs to the bus station, then make it on to the bus to get on the mountain right around 11 AM. The weather was clear and not too cold and the mountain were gorgeous. It was really interesting to be in Granada and see the mountains in the distance and then to take a short bus ride and be among them. They looked like the Rockies and less like the smaller mountains on the east coast of the US. Rentals and lift tickets came out to 62 euros. We received a student discount on our rentals, always a plus. It felt great to start skiing again. I hadn't been since 2006, when I went with some friends in high school to New Hampshire and Vermont. The runs were not too crowded and the snow was great (it got even better!). I somehow managed not to fall at all during the whole day but, I really couldn't do some of the more challenging ones because they had yet to open for the season. During the day, all of us noticed the deteriorating weather situation and how a snow storm begain to roll in around 3:30. At the time it made skiing even more fun and challenging because it was white out conditions at the top of the mountain and fresh powder everywhere. At some points I could not distinguish between the horizon, where the ground ended and the sky began in front of me. It was especially eerie when I ascended the mountain on the chair lift. It was like taking a chair lift into a great white void. It was very peaceful and serene, a wonderful way to clear the mind.

Despite the enchanting winter wonderland our group enjoyed during the day, the weather soon became a nuisance and source of trouble for us when we turned in our rentals and began to wait on the 6:30 bus to take us back to Granada. Our group was very eager to change out of our cold ski gear and get back to the hotel to refresh ourselves and rest up before we went out that night. We started to notice a slight problem when the bus didn't show up on time and the snow continued to fall and cause the cars there to stop moving. My deductive reasoning led me to believe the bus was canceled or never made it up the mountain. What also didn't help was our language abilities in trying to express our concerns with people there and resort workers who couldn't really give us any helpful information. After an hour, we attempted to call the bus station but it was expensive on our pre-paid phones and we were put on hold. So, without knowing anything about the expected arrival time and the road conditions, we settled into a nearby bar/restaurant to get some hot drinks and discuss a strategy for the night.

We began to hear several differing reports on whether or not the bus was going to make it up the mountain. A married couple from Belfast, Northern Ireland told us to not worry and just take the bus because this happens all the time. An English couple told us we needed to find a hotel room for the night because the road was closed because a car/bus careened off the edge of the road. Another English snowboarded said his father had to hitchhike up to the resort to come get him/still hadn't arrived. A pair of Belgium skiers kept asking us what we thought we should do. It was an international problem affecting many Europeans and Americans to say the least. After some deliberation and consulting all of our parents that we would be spending some more money on an extra hotel room, we booked two rooms at the Mont Blanc hotel right near the restaurant where we were eating dinner. It was only 48 euros, which was still alot but not as bad as being homeless during a snow storm or dead at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Despite the fact that we had no clean clothes to change into, we all took some hot showers and made the best of our time in the hotel. The Mont Blanc staff were very friendly and we even got a "free" breakfast with our stay. The next morning it continued to snow but the bus did come! The rude bus company employee did not honor our tickets from last night claiming the bus came sometime late at night, but who knows if that is true. We bought another 4.75 euro ticket and boarded the bus to finally return us to Granada. We all relaxed in the hotel and didn't get up until late that afternoon after recovering from our snowed in adventure. More posts to follow on our Granada exploring!