Over the Easter break, a group of SVPS children in Years 3 to 6 went to the resort of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley, Italy. We travelled by coach and, after a smooth and quiet journey, arrived at the resort in the late afternoon. The children excitedly went to their rooms, unpacked and got ready to walk to the Telécabine and up to the slopes to have their boots and skis fitted.
Everyone was very excited at the prospect of the first day of skiing and the teachers were hoping their ski muscles would be limber enough for the day. We all had a beautiful day skiing, with a tasty lunch on the slopes in between and made our way back to the hotel to prepare for the evening’s entertainment, karaoke.
The next day’s skiing afforded some stunning views in brilliant sunshine as the groups progressed and skied higher and on more challenging slopes. The day after offered some more challenging conditions and was very foggy. At some heights, we could not see beyond the edge of our skis. At one point, Mr Evans got lost in the fog, trying to move between groups to meet for lunch. Thankfully, he eventually made his way down the slope with only his pride wounded. In the evening, we walked into town to eat crêpes and ice cream.
The fourth day gave us a massive snowfall and there were some wonderful skiing conditions. It allowed the less experienced skiers to try out the more challenging runs and the advanced group had a go at a tricky black run that turned into quite an adventure of lost skis, poles and digging people out of thick snow! We were all very proud of making it down, despite the hard work involved. That evening we had a quiz night with some very tough questions. The teacher’s superior knowledge in the biscuits round gave them quite an edge.
Another stunning day of skiing followed and it was great to see how much progress all the groups were making. The beginner’s group were already making parallel turns and it was so pleasing to see how much they had built in confidence. This was also the day the instructors made their final decisions on the children’s levels ahead of the awards in the evening. Later, It was so great to hear the instructors talk about how impressed they were with the children in their groups as they gave out their awards and badges, and it was brilliant to hear how well behaved they all had been during their lessons.
We enjoyed our last day on the slopes and were very sad to say goodbye to our instructors, the ski technicians and all the lovely snow. We had an early supper and jumped on the coach for the journey home. It was a fantastic week of skiing and fun.
Mr Evans
Prep School Prep School Newsletter
Share