Boarding in the Alps!

Went snowboarding in the Alps yesterday (yes, I know, I'm so posh...) and it was simply perfect. Exactly what I needed. We got up at 5am to catch the 6am bus for a 3 hour ride to Champoluc in the region of Valle d'Aosta, a skiing resort very near to Matterhorn (called Cervino in Italian), so near the border with France and Switzerland (northwest Italy.) A bright, sunny day on the mountains, a few friends and some fresh powder to cushion my ass when I fell. Haha! I especially provided some awesome comic relief for at least 15 other boarders/skiiers when I face planted into a pile of fresh powder. Yep, face first, no hands involved. (I wish I had a video of it, I'm still laughing about it as I type this!)

6 solid hours of boarding is very cathartic, especially breathing deep on the ski lifts and enjoying the views from the top of the Alps on a day like this:



Paige, me, Daniele, and Beatrice. (Part of the Italian Thanksgiving feast clan!)


Psyched was an understatement!


That was one helluva long ski lift!


Although I wasn't quick enough to whip out the digicam and capture them on film, along the way on the ski lifts, you'd see this teeny wooden & stone cottages, decrepit, some with only 2 walls left, dating back hundreds of years ago, half-covered in snow and seemingly frozen in time. Beautiful.






A view from the top.










*happiness* :)