An Eventful Winter Break

Winter Break is without a doubt my favorite holiday. I can’t give you a real reason  why, but I think it’s got something to do with my birthday, Christmas, and 3 weeks of relaxation. For as long as I can remember, my family has gone skiing in Lake Tahoe, California. Now that I am living in Venezuela, I look forward to it even more. It used to be a 3 hour drive from my house in the San Francisco Bay Area, but now it is a daylong affair traveling through planes. I am always checking the weather, seeing if it had snowed over night or anything like that. For most people, waking up at 3AM for a flight is a drag; but for me, I couldn’t be happier, knowing that I will be in California that day. This break, I landed in California at 10PM Pacific Time. I ended up being so excited, knowing that the chairlifts were waiting for me, that I woke up at 5:30 that morning to go skiing. Although there were 80 MPH winds and not all lifts were running, I felt like a little kid waking up on Christmas morning.

Throughout the break, I got new skis and new ski goggles for Christmas. Volkl Bridges, the skis I got, are known for absorbing impact when going off big rocks and jumps. I also got Von Zipper Feenom goggles, which have been on my wish list for quite a while. After getting these, I knew that this was going to be an awesome ski trip.

I had a few goals I set for myself over the break. In the past, I have never had the guts to go off of big cliffs, mainly because of the potential consequences if I do not have good form. One cliff in particular that I have always wanted to do at my mountain, Squaw Valley, is the right knuckle off of “The Fingers.” I have heard about people going off and ending up paralyzed. In fact, there was one person a few weeks ago who ended up fracturing five vertebrae after going off the intimidating Fingers. I ended up getting through it fine, and also on video.

The Fingers. You better do these cliffs well... you're being watched by the entire chairlift.

Over the break, I got in about 16 or 17 days of skiing. To my liking, Lake Tahoe had been receiving record amounts of snow in as early as November! In fact, resorts such as Northstar or Boreal explained how they already had enough snow for the entire season by early December. With the downsides of this, conditions were horrible and people were getting injured left and right. Lucky for me, I only got a few minor injuries. On the other hand, I ended up taking my mom skiing and she ruptured her Achilles tendon 4 inches apart.  She in fact is still in California, getting her treatment. Hopefully she will be 100% by next winter.

As you can see, I have had myself quite the vacation. My family loved it. Only 345 days till the next winter break. My new goal is below...

The Palisades. Do not try this at home.