“I mean, the worst that could happen is you tumble down the mountain…”

This weekend was definitely one of those times I stopped and said, “Holy guacamole… I can’t believe this is my life.” On Saturday, I spent the day in Verona visiting the scenes of Romeo and Juliet on Valentine’s Day weekend; I stood in an ancient coliseum and wandered around an ancient Roman outdoor theatre. Then, 15 hours later, I was snowboarding in the Italian AND French Alps. And the thing is, this is considered “just another weekend.” Seriously? This is my life? I <3 Study Abroad.

This is just to the top of the GONDOLA.
It still takes another 2 chair lifts to get you to the top.

In this edition of Sarah the Americana I’ll give you the run-down (pun intended) of the three days I got to spend in the breathtakingly beautiful Italian Alps. 

After a 3 hours bus ride on Sunday morning in which we passed multiple castles and had spectacular views of the mountains, we found ourselves at a 4-star ski resort at La Thuile, a mountain in the Italian Alps in Aosta Valley that boarders France. During the days, I spent 7 hours snowboarding from Italy to France and back into Italy; I boarded down (and sometime slid down) black diamonds… in the Italian Alps! I even went off a jump and landed it! (Well, to be fair, the first time I tried to go off the jump, I was not so successful. It’s on video and everything. It looked like I had it, then ohh... OOHHH! bam: nose-dive into the ground. I got the wind knocked out of me and my brain felt like it was no longer attached to my skull. And then you know what I did? Got back on the ski lift and did it again. And landed. Carpe Diem, baby.) My biggest accomplishment however was learning how to turn right - an issue I’ve struggled with for years. ("I'm not an ambi-turner!"- Zoolander) After spending the day on the mountain destroying our bodies and acquiring some very respectable bruises (the award going to my roommate Colleen who has a bruise the size of my head on her inner thigh and her body has somehow managed to create new shades of blue I've never even seen before), we went inside to steam in the sauna, take nice hot baths, got dressed, went to complementary Aperitivo, followed by a complementary dinner, all of which were delicious and lavish seeing as it was a 4-star resort. Yup. I know. I would hate me too if I were you. 

The trip was perfect for getting to know people and breaking up cliques. A lot of the time, the people you normally hang out with were not at the same ski level as you, so you were forced to meet new people and spend the day with those at your level. I met people in my program from music majors to engineering majors, from Illinois, Indiana, and even Hawaii. I am now good friends with about 10 new people I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise, for which I am extremely grateful.

To get to the tippy top of the mountain, you need to take 3 chair lifts in 26 degree weather. But oh man… when we got to the top, it was the most AMAZING view I’ve ever seen. You look one way toward Italy and see a little village 8,500 ft. below, then turn around and are staring into France.  I literally snowboarded from La Thuile, Italy to La Rosiere, France… and got lost for about an hour in France. We kept looking around asking each other, “Wait, what country are we in now?” It seemed like a normal thing to ask given our situation, but I stopped the group to reflect, exclaiming, “Guys… when are we ever going to have to ask ourselves again, what country are we in right now?” Not. Normal.

Sam and I next to the "Welcome to France!" sign

On the last day we went up, there was literally 0 visability. We blindly skied over 8,500 ft (we got lost a few times and had to take a few ski lifts) down reds and blacks while only being able to see less than 10 ft. in front of us... twice. It was horrifyingly awesome. One of the lifts we had to take is designed for skiers, and you take this long rope with a circle at the end and put it between your legs and let it pull you up a very steep hill. Not so much designed for snowboarders… As a snowboarder, I had to unstrap one foot, put this thing between my legs, stand up very straight yet facing perpendicularly to the base of the mountain, and hold on tight, keeping incredible balance because if I were shaky in any way, I would have literally tumbled down the mountain. (Thus the title of this entry. My friend – who was on skis might I add - in trying to comfort me, actually said, “I mean, the worst that could happen is you tumble down the mountain.” I slowly turned around and looked at him like, “Seriously?” and then he realized, oh… that may not be comforting…)

Proof that I do in fact snowboard.

There were people from Italy, France, America and London. (Two Englishmen we met on the gondola were poking fun of those of us who were snowboarding, claiming, “Snowboarders are just people that couldn’t figure out how to ski properly.” It was hilarious.) I slid back and forth between countries without a passport or airplane. I stood at the top of the Alps then boarded down them. I saw a ski patrol dog running down a black diamond having the time of his life. And, I even witnessed what seemed to be the European style of skiing on multiple occasions, which seems to consist of 2 ski poles in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The whole experience was absolutely surreal. 

Hi France!
Standing in Italy with the French border literally at the net behind us. Yup. You're looking at picture of 2 different countries right now.

...my hair seemed to have frozen a bit.
It was a bit chilly..