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Ski trip to Austria
Take a loook at the rest of the pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24351880@N04/collections/72157623546911562/
Click here to read Pete's Poem about the Ski trip 2010
Click here to see our latest OFSTED Report
Luke Sayles' Austrian Adventures
22/04/2009
Anthony Gell School student Luke Sayles ( 15 )
from Crich was one of the young people who received Derbyshire County
Councils' Young Achievers Award for 2008. The award recognised Luke's
sporting achievements , as he clinched three medals in table
tennis, basketball and fencing at a national competition- remarkable in
itself, but more so perhaps because Luke has cerebral palsy and does
his sport in a wheelchair
For people in Gerlitzen Austria however
Luke is a familiar site on their ski slopes as he is now a regular
member of Anthony Gell Schools annual ski trip. His teacher, Barbara
Boden, who leads the trip recalls how Luke's Austrian adventure began:
"Luke's brother Matthew Sayles has been on
ski trip since he was in Year 8 (now in
Y13) .On Matt's third trip I had agreed with Lukes
parents Joyce and Paul that I would look at possibilities as I had seen the snow
bikes on the Gerlitzen..I talked to the head of Ski School
Gerlitzen Peter Gfrerer and Matt and I looked at the bike, Matt giving
advice on whether or not Luke would be able to wear ski boots etc. Peter told us at the time that he had not
organised skiing for anyone with a disability before. We decided that we could give it a go but we
knew that Luke would need an instructor on the bike with him.
In Feb 2007 Luke joined the trip
accompanied by his Mum and Dad, who had
skied a little before. We first had to
negotiate getting Luke up the mountain. His Dad managed this by taking Luke in
wheelchair to Gondola. The attendants on
Gondola were very attentive and have always helped.The morning of Day 1 was a little scary as the actual
instructor could not be there until next day, and Luke fell off the bike as we were dragging
him around in the company of another instructor. We had only booked 2 hours per day on first
trip as we were not sure how tired Luke would get. When George arrived the next day everything
started to go better, though he had never been on a snowbike and certainly not with
someone else with Luke’s needs. However
he was confident and strong. He soon
worked out a way of getting Luke onto the chair lifts with the help of Paul and
the attendants. They had a fantastic time, apart from one major crash, I recall , which Luke
loved but they really were showing great speed down the Klosterle run (5+km). I
had a job to keep up and certainly Paul’s skills had to develop rapidly that
week.
The last two years things have got better
and better and Luke has been skiing for 4 hours per day with Tony
who is an outstanding instructor. He has
also become great friends with Luke and the family
This year Luke reached a speed of 64km on the speed monitor. He
Luke absolutely loves it and is already
talking of other skiing equipment he might try as he gets older. It has also given Luke new confidence in many
other areas. It is special to have him on our trip and I am so
proud that he has been able to enjoy such a wonderful time. The only time on the trip that I get a lump
in my throat is when Luke is presented with his gold medal at presentation
evening."
