An engineering specialism within a grammar school

After one hundred and fifteen days of waiting patiently with count downs on our phones the ski trip 2013 finally arrives! Forty sleepy students stand in the car park at seven o’clock in the morning, clutching their pillows, waiting eagle-eyed for the coach to arrive. Suddenly a cheer ripples through the crowd of Team Ski, a bus is rolling towards us… and straight past it goes. Not impressed. Finally, after the late-comers turn up, our vehicle strolls into the bus lane, immediately our fatigue is converted into enthusiasm and excitement.

Twenty eight hours of giddy children, numerous potty stops, a ferry journey, thousands of E numbers, banterous jokes and continuous shouting of “What team?! TEAM SKI!” later, we arrive at Salzburg Sportwelt. The first day consisted of a social evening around the hotel, playing cards and painting boys’ nails. We all went to bed exhausted ready for the first day of skiing.

6:15 am in the Team Ski hotel. The groggy kiddies peel back their eye lids. Breakfast at seven o’clock was... quiet. But as we collected our skis and ski boots and rode up the chair lift, a first for some, excitement echoed through the crisp mountain atmosphere. We were up early enough to catch the fresh snow, powdery and perfect for skiing, untouched by other skiers.

The first day whizzed by after that, everyone was split up into groups based on ability, from beginners, some who had never skied before, to advanced, who we classed as ‘pro’. Catching up at lunch every day was always a laugh, discussing various falls of other students but most importantly the hilarious wipe outs of teachers. We then skied for another two and a half hours before sadly and tiredly heading back to the hotel for evening activities. After a week of our routine even the beginners had tried the steepest red runs and everyone had greatly improved, a special thanks to our amazing instructors!

In the evening we had a few hours of free time to explore the town and chat with our friends before dinner. Our food was provided by the hotel and was very good, after we finished the meal Mr Colley told us our notices for the day and announced the three awards that everyone was waiting to hear; gaff of the day, deck of the day and skier of the day. After hearing the amusing stories of the prizes, hoodies would be given out in the most embarrassing colours just to make sure that everyone would notice them. Next an activity would commence, from quizzes organised by the teachers to ice skating to an amazing swimming pool and water slide. We all appreciate the hard work put in by our rep, Giles, thank you so much.

Overall the trip was a great success and there was not one person who did not enjoy it. On behalf of Team Ski we really are thankful for all of the effort put in by our amazing and patient teachers and hope that we haven’t put them off for next year!