Viaje de Snow

Several years ago, when we started fantasizing about living in Spain, there were many images that came to mind and none of them included snow. In fact, our intention was to get as far away from snow as possible. Like every sane Midwesterner after enduring six months of a sunless, freezing cold winter we felt ready to take a winter "off" and we did last that last year. However, as the saying goes it turns out that you can take the Minnesotan out of Minnesota, but you can’t take the Minnesota out of the Minnesotan. When we discovered that we could snowboard less than three hours away from Javea, we decided we must revisit this Minnesota pastime, and thus checked ~Snowboard in Spain~ off the bucket list this past weekend.

Davin and I had left all of our snowboard gear with a friend in Chamonix two seasons ago when we were planning to make the move to Spain. He probably didn’t think it would take us a year and a half to collect it, but finally this past February, Davin and Declan took a “boys trip” to Chamonix and returned to Javea with all of our gear just in time for us to join in on the school-organized ski trip “Viaje de Nieve.”

I wasn’t sure about going on a school-organized trip but the price seemed right for transportation, lodging, lessons, food, and rental equipment which were all included. Plus, it meant less research and planning on our part. We left after school on Friday in a coach bus and I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that we would be staying in cabins at a campground. On the way there it rained and when we arrived we were rushed into an empty building basement with two registration tables. The room was filled with confused adults and energetic kids, some I didn’t recognize from our bus. These are moments where we have to just roll with it. As a foreigner, it’s sometimes nice to sit back and wait for chaos to be sorted out and let someone eventually fill you in. But at times, as a foreigner, I have to work on my patience during this process.  

We shared a cabin with two Spanish moms who each came with their own daughter. It was a tiny one room cabin with four sets of bunk beds for the eight of us and one bathroom. There was a little electric heater to warm the space. I was a bit shocked because this wasn’t like the cabins we’d seen in pictures and I thought we’d at least have our own room. Needless to say, we got to know each other well in a short amount of time. Dinner was at 9:30 pm (ugh!!!) and we as we were in the middle of nowhere this was our only option. After families had settled in and met in the cafeteria it became obvious that everyone was shocked with the accommodation as well. We learned that not only were the cabins different than expected but the organization had changed the resort we’d be going to in the morning. Javalambre Camping (where we were staying) was five minutes from the Javalambre Ski Resort, however, we found out we would be bussed to the Valdelinares Resort, an hour away.

As a family, we cope pretty well with change and reality is different than our expectations. We were ready to just accept the circumstances and make the best of it. The drive was really long the next morning but it was through incredibly gorgeous Spanish countryside. We drove through a small town called Rubielos de Mora which is considered a quintessential Spanish pueblo, filled with classic stone buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, and of course an old castle.

The snowboarding turned out to be perfect as well. It had snowed the night before and we had warm, sunny weather. Davin and I enjoyed a morning of riding together while the kids when to snowboard lessons with the group. In the afternoon, Declan rode with us and I was able to see how he’s improved since going to Chamonix. We finished the day with beer and olives on the deck before heading back to the bus. Not bad.

It was interesting to watch the drama unfold amongst the parents as we returned to the camp. A formal meeting with the director was called Saturday night in which I felt obligated to attend. A group of adults sat in a circle and complained to the director about the accommodation, the food, the changing of plans, lack of heating, etc. I tried to follow along as best as I could and in the end sorted out what happened. The director explained that this organization was designed for groups of adolescent kids coming for a weekend without their parents. Never had families, adults, or young children participated and the director and the monitors were also in shock when we got off the bus. It had been some grave miscommunication between the school and the ski organization and so nothing could be changed. It was interesting to watch something that appeared to me to be so heated, to be left so ‘cool’ in the end. I guess once everyone was heard, they could walk away satisfied.

Thank goodness for wine. Perhaps that is the one good thing about having to wait until 9:45 pm to eat dinner -- there is plenty of happy hour. It gave us an opportunity to practice our Spanish and get to know some of the families from school which is always great, even though we were absolutely exhausted. The kids had a blast playing with their friends but it was a very long day.

Sunday was fabulous as we snowboarded with both kids. The best part of the day was watching Volly bring smiles to the faces of other skiers and boarders who were amused by this little chica bombing the slopes on her tiny Star Wars snowboard. Watching both Volly and Declan push themselves made me one proud mamma. Davin and I felt such joy when we realized that we'd dreamed about the day when we'd all be able to snowboard together, as a family. That day had arrived and it was simply blissful. Olé!

Check out this video and picture collage: