As members of the ski trip staff, we had a discussion before leaving this year for Austria as to how many times we took the long 26-hour coach journey over to Villach in Austria. We started the trip, as it stands, back in 1996 running a now total of 25 successful trips lead by numerous staff members.
This year was no different, with an early 5:30am Friday start covering a journey of a little over 1,000 miles of travelling to hit the snow piste mountains of Austria. Arriving around 10am on Saturday we saw our first glimpse of our amazing hotel before headed up to our first sighting of the mountain, Gerlitzen.
Staff and students very quickly got used to the idea of clumping round in large ski or snowboarding boots as well as trying to manoeuvre around on some large skis, some for the first time ever! Everyone got to grips with the equipment very quickly and progress was swift from each of the beginners’ groups all the way through to the ‘advanced black’ ski group. By the end of the week almost all students were able to ski right from the very top of the mountain down to the nursery slopes where they had first put on a set of skis at the beginning of that very week. What an achievement in 6 days! As is always tradition, we stopped off at the bottom of one of the runs on the final morning to have a welcomed hot chocolate, before starting our final ascent up the ski lifts in 2023. There was even time for a quick group snap as pictured here!
The fun continued into the evenings, with a traditional 6th Form quiz, run by our very talented Year 13 students, a trip to the cinema (for those who didn’t fall asleep), a relaxing dip (for some) in some thermal springs, as well as a trip to Italy, some bowling and a final presentation and disco evening.
I think it is safe to say that if you were to speak to anyone who went on the trip, they would say they had a great time, but came back well and truly ready for their own beds. I know this due to just how quiet the coaches were on the way home!
Thank you to each of the students who came on the trip, you represented your school well and even more thanks to the staff – who the trip wouldn’t be possible without!
Watch this space for potential news of 2024!
Mr Lomax, Trip Lead
