SKI TRIP TO SERRE CHEVALIER IN THE FRENCH ALPS

A group of thirty one S3 pupils accompanied by Mr Freeland, Ms Harvey and Ms Barr headed off to the French Alps on Saturday, 2 January for a week of skiing.

The conditions were perfect with plenty of deep snow and bright, dry weather.  The pupils were kept busy both day and night between ski lessons, ice skating, bum-boarding, games and quiz nights.  Here is several reports written by our happy skiers:

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I think everyone on the ski trip was in agreement that 3.15am was an abysmal time to be out of bed and step into the cold winter’s morning.  The bus was waiting on our arrival at school and by the time we waved our parents goodbye the tiredness had departed and everyone was on a holiday high.

The journey took hours and we were beginning to question the chances of ever arriving but eventually we got to Villeneuve, Serre Chevalier, and after the long day everyone was happy when the food was better than expected and the fresh mountain water was to die for!

The next morning everyone headed out to ski and after finding our feet again and remembering the basics of how to stay upright we headed up on the ski lifts where the views were truly breathtaking!

We enjoyed four hours of fast paced and thrilling skiing and each day we were pushed to our limits and were taken higher and higher up the mountains and this is where the best part of the trip truly took place.  Some of us were event lucky enough to be amazing skiers and have the chance to go on an all day skiing trip and from what we’ve been told it was fantastic!

The holiday was drawing to a close and overall it was a huge success.  With skiing during the day (minus one or two of us who were injured) and the activities such as ice-skating, bum-boarding at night, everyone had a fantastic week in France and slept most of the way home.

By Lynsey Brown and Chloe Yuill, 3DU2

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We left a very snowy Strathaven in the middle of the night on 2 January to travel to France for a week of skiing.  Thirty one students, three teacher, Ms Barr, Mr Freeland and Ms Harvey.  We were all tired when we eventually reached Serre Chevalier in the French Alps.  After getting kitted out with skis and settling into the hotel, we were all looking forward to skiing the next day.

Once we were all sorted into groups we met our ski instructors and set off up the mountain.  To get to where we were skiing each day we used several different types of gondolas, chairlifts and tows and it was a laugh trying not to fall off.  The instructors were brilliant and we had a great time learning to ski.  We all skied in different groups depending on how often we had skied before.  The instructors were brilliant and we had a great time learning to ski.  We all needed lots of layers to keep warm up the mountain and wore helmets to protect our heads.  Each day we skied back to the hotel for lunch and a rest before going back up the hill in the afternoon.  Everyone was exhausted at the end of each session.

We were sharing rooms with five or six people.  The hotel had a ski store and boot rooms where we kept our skis and kit over night.  In the evening after we recovered from the days skiing we had lots to keep us busy.  One night we went skating on the open air skating ring.  Some nights we went into the village to the shops to buy souvenirs and sweets.

Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the skiing.  After packing all our bags qwe left on the Saturday morning to fly home from Chambery Airport.  Everyone was glad to get back to Strathaven expecting the snow to be gone only to find more snow.

By Roddy Neill

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‘On 2 January 2010 we set off on our amazing ski holiday to Serre Chevalier in the French Alps.  Those of us who had skied before were put into the top class which was an amazing experience for us all. 

Our instructor, Didai, took us on the bubble straight away whilst the other classes stayed on the nursery slope.  We took a chairlift and then a poma tow.  He took us through long winding tracks and we skied off piste where we had to dodge trees and rocks.  Later in the week we went higher into the mountains where we were pushed by our instructor to try our best.  We were taken up to the snow park where we went over jumps.  We were also taken on a day trip to a nearby valley and then into Briançon which is the highest town in Europe.

Overall we all felt that we learned new skills from the trip and we all really enjoyed ourselves and would love to go back for another fabulous experience.’

By Katie Summers, Alex Meldrum

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