Christmas Day

No skiing, too much snow!! and wind (35mph).

We drove up to the sierra nevada, as we had arranged to meet friends in one of the restaurants on the slopes. It was a nightmare journey up to the village, as it had started to snow, we eventually made it, without having to use the snow chains. Went to the kiosk to buy my non skiers ticket, to be told that the lift was closed to non skiers, but if I bought a ski pass, and took my skis and boots up with me I could have a pass!! Apparently, the reason was, if the winds got any worse they would have to close the lifts, and those who had skis could ski down the mountain to the village. I explained that the friends I was meeting were up in the restaurant and that they were non skiers, so how would they get down if the lifts closed!! Answer, they will have to stay up there until the winds die down to an acceptable level!!

I decided it was not worth spending 30 euros for a ski pass, just to go up the mountain to have a piece of christmas cake and a glass of cava, so Roy and I had a coffee, we decided to put the snow chains on in the comfort of the car park, drove out of the car park, and guess what, it had stopped snowing and the roads were clear. Snow chains came off and an uneventful ride down the mountain.

However, when are friends came down, in the lift (!!) it had started to snow heavily, they all piled onto the coach and proceeded down the mountain road, cars were sliding into one another, as they had not put the chains on, it was chaos, police, breakdown vehicles and ambulances, fortunately no one was seriously hurt, quite a few cars with serious damage.

The photo shows the snow clouds in the distance, it was cold and uninviting.