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Ski Trip 2008
The Hollins Ski Trip is a great way to socialise with others, find out what it is like to be away from your own country without your family and overall it teaches you how to appreciate other peoples’ lives.
This year the ski trip took place in Montgenèvre, a small village in France close to the Italian border. This meant that we had to fly into Turin airport and then cross the border into France on a gruelling 2 hour coach trip.
Excitement and anticipation for the trip was high. We all met at school at the unreasonably early hour of 8.30am; and of course one person overslept, leading to a line of ‘tutting’ parents as he boarded the coach. Female luggage was clearly identified by the Barbie glow from under the coach, with the boys sticking to the more sensible blues and greys. Having said that it was down to Miss Crosland to bring the biggest piece of luggage weighing in at a massive 27Kg!
An uneventful yet fun ride to Manchester seemed to be over very quickly and we were soon dragging our bags in through the Arrivals door. Yes, our intrepid teachers had got it a little bit the wrong way round! Soon we were back on course and in Departures being handed our boarding cards for the flight to Turin.
When we arrived at our 3-star hotel called Les Rois Mages we were allocated our rooms, unpacked our bags and were given dinner. After the meal we went to get our boots fitted and were allocated our ski equipment for the week.
Over the next 6 days there were 3 ski groups, one was for the people who were very skilled at skiing, there was another group for people who were just a little less skilled and finally there was another group for the beginners on the ski trip.
In the evenings we took part in lots of different activities. On the second night we had some games of bingo where the prizes were different items which had been bought from the local village. Some of the prizes were t-shirts with the ski village logo and ski gloves.
On the third night we all went to a restaurant in Italy by taking a taxi to the bottom of the mountain and then boarding a ride on a skidoo which took 4 people in a cart and one person behind the driver. There were 2 skidoos so it took 3 trips for all of us to get to the restaurant. When we reached our destination we were given a delicious hot chocolate drink and caramel tart.
On other nights we took part in ice skating, pool tournaments and karaoke. Our pool tournament was a very close competition but in the end the winners were Sebastian Van Noortwijk and Joe McDermott.
Skiing on the slopes around the village was fantastic if a little scary at times because of the ice. A fresh fall of snow on Friday night, however, meant that we were falling into soft mounds of the ‘white stuff’ all Saturday; a great way to end our skiing adventure.
By the last day, Sunday, most people were getting tired and starting to feel homesick for England and their families. When we arrived back in Manchester we drove back to school in a coach which had been used by a professional football team early that week (not sure which I’m afraid but very nice all the same). On arrival back at school, parents were waiting in the pouring rain to welcome us back – some things never change. The end to yet another successful Hollins ski trip!
Report By Robert Evans 9LFB