During the February half term 57 students from Year 8 to Year 11 went on the school Ski and Snowboard trip to Crans-Montana in Switzerland. After a long coach journey the pupils started to see the beauty of Switzerland when driving round Lake Geneva before winding their way up the mountain and seeing the stunning views of the mountain ranges that surrounded them.
The first three days on the slopes were the perfect conditions of good snow, blue sky, sunshine and warm temperatures (up to 17 degrees). Pupils split into groups and were put with and instructor based on their choice of skiing or snowboarding and the amount of experience they had previously. The advanced groups went straight off on the Blue and Red runs, before moving onto the black runs and jumps later in the week. The beginners started on the magic carpet slope and showed great resilience when learning the basics of standing up, turning and the most important of all stopping. Over the first few days the pupils all began picking it up and for some it clicked very quickly with Ned Carswell and Josh-Scott Hooper being very quickly promoted to join Toby Evans in the top group after only a couple of days snowboarding. On day 2 the pupils went to Saillon Thermal Spa in the evening to have a nice relax, although some still had the energy to have a race around the outdoor lazy river.
On day 3 and 4 the excitement was clear to see when group after group come running over to the teachers after the lessons to say how great the day had been and how they had got to ride from the top of the mountain. Many groups were also riding all the way to the bottom of Montana and it was great to see the progress of the ski groups usually lead by Roxanne Wilson and Harry Halfyard and the unmistakable hat of Emma Calladine.
On Day 5 the students got to experience skiing and snowboarding while it was snowing which initially came as a shock that they would still be allowed to go up the mountain while it was snowing. The snow provided the extra challenge of poor visibility and colder temperatures which the students did really well to overcome. A special mention also goes to Edward Lane and Jake Gallimore who despite injuring their wrists while snowboarding chose to go up the mountain with their friends and coached them which helped them improve.
The final day arrived and while the pupils were getting ready for one final day on the slopes in the perfect conditions of sun and fresh powder the realisation set in that they would no longer be waking up to mountain range views from their windows as well as the realisation they would have to pack their own bags and tidy their own bedrooms. Many pupils bought their instructors chocolates to say thank you although Christina Reynolds went to an even greater effort of writing a message in French to her instructor with the help of Google translate. At the end of the last day it was great to see all the pupils excited by what they had achieved and taking the final photos with their group and their instructor.
After a long coach journey back the pupils arrived at Teignmouth on Friday evening with endless stories to tell their parents and in many cases the question “Can I go again next year?!”
