200 mph on a Sheet of Plastic

This last saturday we had a family trip to the Sierra Nevada mountain range and it has well established ski resorts, we went to the biggest that has a kids park

The Ski resort of Sierra Nevada



The boy wanted to go skiing without any practice and was sad to hear he wasn't allowed to go 250 mph down the hill without training. The trip there was uneventful but everyone else within a 500Km range also thought it was a good idea to go as the weather has turned for the better with sunshine and warm winds, the queue of traffic was just incredible, we had to park about 2 Km away on a mountain road and walk down, it was actually a nice walk as you got to see parts of the town you normally wouldn't see. The kids park was empty and when we asked about the rides the slide on an inner-tube was out of action but no discount, cheap bastards!.

Emma on the scooter



Paulo on the lame scooter and very expensive



The kids went on a found it was pretty tame and not much fun as it was a straight line down the hill taking 25 seconds, but the ride up took 5 minutes on a belt that was slower than a slug. the kids were frustrated and cranky, we went for a roast chicken lunch, which was OK but huge and we all felt better for that, afterwards while we were trying to get the kids to relax while the food was digesting,

Kids pretending to relax



Me trying to relax



Emma just winding up and missing teeth still



we went for a small walk at the side of the restaurant and we found many folks just walking up the hillside past a sign indication danger. the hillside was part of the lower ski runs and basically empty, there were a few kids with plastic bags sliding down a lower part of the hill and a few teenagers going higher up and a few more 20 somethings sliding down on big sheets from the upper part of the slope and getting a good speed on, I thought the kids would enjoy this so I jumped into a skip and pulled out three large black plastic bags, and we all got into the slope, the first thing the little girl did was climb to the top of the big slope with the 20ish folks and went down as fast as she could and she was zooming along and screaming at the top of the voice in between the laughs, we all kept going up and down as fast as our legs would carry us until we were all exhausted.

Emma going crazy on the slopes



Emma and Me Going Crazy together



Then we had to think about how we were going to get even more thrills, the side of the hill in the shade was very steep, and really icy, there were a few crazy folks climbing up about 50 meters and then jumping off like some ski jumpers and sliding down on there ski pants, I thought this would give me more thrills than a Kg of Coke. I climbed higher then anyone and pulled on my black plastic diaper and jumped off like Batman, I hit 200 mph in 3 seconds. when i got to the bottom my boots hit the snow and i sprayed everyone within 50 meters with a giant plume of snow, i was soaked to the skin, but it was fun, it blew out the winter cobwebs,

Me on the Slope, very icy and dangerous



Me creating the snow Plume at 200 mph



I did one more and crashed at the bottom in a fireball of corkscrews and spun round on my head to the sound of laughter of all watching, that was me done for the day, it took another hour to walk back to the car and another 90 minutes for the drive home, the day after I was so stiff, like I had run a marathon, but it was fun.