Aah, southern Spain. What a relief after the frigid temperatures of the PBRJ's in northern Europe. And Spain did not dissapoint. Whether you're after mysterious brown-eyed southern hotties, or simply prefer baking in your own fat under the scorching sun at some secluded beach, Spain always delivers.
Cruising up from the Granada airport on the palm and cacti fringed highway, it feels absurd just to think about snowboarding. However, the resort of Sierra Nevada is only a mere 30 kilometers away. After an intense climb, the palmtress are replaced by Spain's highest mountain, offering a vertical drop of over 4000 feet. From the top of the upper chair, you can not only see the Mediterranean ocean (less than an hour away by car) but all the way to Morroco on the other side of the Ocean. When the wind blows from the south, it carries with it sand from the Sahara dessert that instantly adds a touch of red to the snow snow.
Anyways, this years contest attracted more riders than ever. We had 50 riders aged 17+, 21 juniors and 8 girls. I don't know what the girls eat down here, but they sure got COJONES. All of them took some heavy bails, but that never stopped them. Instead of 3 rails, there was 4, one flatbox, a rainbow rail, a flat-down-flat box with an evil kink and finally the rollercoaster. Highlights of the day were 50-50 to backflips off the rollercoaster, butter to fs board down the kink box and fs board reverts down the rainbow. After a long day packed with free salchicha (Spanish hotdogs) free drinks and goodies for all, it was time to reward the days rippers and the compulsory product toss. Everybody went home happy.
Results
16- : 1º MARINO PALMQUIST
2º REGINO HERNANDEZ
3º BRIAN LONGLY
Girls: 1ª LAURA SAMPINI
2ª MARTA SAYALERO
3ª LEA MOESTH
17+ : 1º DANIEL GARCIA
2º DANIEL ROS
3º IGNACIO SERRANO
Big ups to Armando, Regino and family and the rest of the crew from Volcom Spain, Miguel Bonal and his crew from the Surfin' shop and the resort of Sierra Nevada
These guys sure know how to party
A very special thanks to our sponsors, Globe,Oakley, Nixon, Nitro Snowboards, Da Kine
If you ever find yourself in southern Spain, do not miss out on the opportunity of snowboarding in Sierra Nevada and taking a dip in the Mediterranean on the same day. Trust us, you won't regret it