On Friday 23^rd March, pupils from Years 6, 7 and 8 began the journey to Vameinier in the French Alps to go skiing. After a coach journey, two flights and another coach journey, they eventually arrived at the Neaclub Lauza where they were staying for the next seven days. There was a lot of snow in the village which was a very good sign that the snow conditions on the pistes would be excellent.

 
Once the children had settled into their rooms and unpacked, they met downstairs to collect their ski jackets, trousers, goggles, socks and gloves. With their clothing sorted they headed to the boot room to be fitted for ski boots – possibly the most uncomfortable footwear EVER!!
 
Breakfast was surprisingly good. Pain au chocolate and a hot chocolate was a popular choice. After breakfast they headed to the boot room to wrestle into their boots and venture out onto the slopes to meet the ski instructors. Luckily, ski school meet just outside the hotel so they didn’t have to walk far with their skis. The instructors were amazing. They started off by taking the pupils to a small slope where they were taught how to put on their skis and glide. They showed the pupils how to control their speed and stop, using a snow plough. The first lesson was really encouraging; some of children were so good that in the afternoon the instructor took them up the chair lift and skied them down a simple slope. This was fantastic for the first day.
 
By the end of the second day the entire group had left the beginners’ slope and were skiing on the mountain. Miss Curry was very impressed by this as she had never seen this happen before. The pupils learned to turn, control their speed and ski with their skis parallel. They made so much progress that by day four, both groups were able to ski all over the resort. By the end of the week all the pupils were even skiing on Red Slopes which can be very steep and fast.
 
During our stay we experienced all types of weather; some days it was sunny with blue skies and other days there was so much snow falling one could barely see the skier in front of them. We skied for two hours every morning and two hours in the afternoon. It was hard work and tiring. Sometimes it was challenging, and the pupils got a little scared, but mostly it was a lot of fun.
 
In the evenings there was apres ski. This included going ice skating, bowling, shopping, drinking hot chocolate in piste side cafes and bum boarding. One of the best activities was snake sledging. This was a line of sledges all hooked together which the pupils sat on then sledged down the piste back to our hotel. This was an amazing experience and all of us left the French Alpes without any injuries and being able to ski down the mountain safely with varying levels of style.
 
Miss Curry
DT Teacher