Easter Ski Trip April 2024

15th April 2024

By Mr Winfield

Students and staff from Windsor High School set out on an unforgettable trip to Italy over the Easter holidays on the school’s Ski Trip. For most, this would be their first experience of skiing on snow and they were in for a week of fun, exercise and building their resilience.

We travelled by coach leaving on the Saturday morning, and arrived at our hotel on Sunday lunchtime. As the coach rolled off the ferry in Calais, this was some of the students’ first experiences of being abroad. Once we had arrived at the hotel and found our way to our rooms, it was time to head out to our ski resort to get our equipment fitted for the week. Students had to show great responsibility to look after their equipment throughout the week.

The next day we set out to the slopes for our first day of skiing. For our more experienced skiers, the instructors took them off on a ski run straight away, whereas the rest of the group set to work learning how to control their speed, safely stop and turn. Some of the group were quick to pick this up and others took longer to get it, but eventually everyone had mastered the snowplough and had made their first steps into skiing!

On the Monday evening, we explored the caves underneath the slopes that we would be skiing on throughout the week. We learned about how some of the natural features of cave systems are formed, heard from our guide about a science experiment that had taken place in the cave about the effect of living out of sunlight, and even saw a bat! Upon leaving the cave, our guides had made us some night time snacks which we could eat round the fire before making our way back to the hotel. 

On Tuesday, we returned to the slopes to continue our learning journey. Overnight there had been a lot of snow so we had to wait for the roads up to the mountain to be ploughed before making our way to our instructors. This made for beautiful skiing conditions and the luxury of being able to ski in fresh snow. We enjoyed our second day making progress towards being able to take the chair lift up to the top of the mountain. After our second day skiing, we had a night out at a local shopping centre to explore what Italian shops have to offer - apparently a lot of sweets!

On Wednesday there was yet more fresh snow which we were able to enjoy, as an increasing number of groups were able to take the chair lift up to the top of the mountain to ski down the runs. Our advanced group were continuing to progress really well, including on the resort’s black runs. Being able to ski while it was snowing was a unique experience and something you definitely won’t get at the SnowDome! Wednesday night was quiz night and we all enjoyed a very well put together quiz by Miss Freear. The students particularly enjoyed being asked to identify the member of staff by their baby photos.

By Thursday all of our groups had made it to the chair lift, with some of our beginner groups having progressed from blue runs up to red runs. We were skiing for over five hours a day by the end of the week to make up for lost time on the Tuesday and most were feeling the strain by today. However, making it to this point and seeing the views at the top of the mountain when you pass the cloud on the chair lift was a most memorable part of the trip. The staff were incredibly impressed with the determination and resilience shown by the students, and it was worth it for them to be able to take in the breath taking views from which the nursery slope was a distant memory.

After a night of bowling and a sing-a-long on the coach back, we had one last day of  skiing where students were awarded a progress card to show how they had performed during the week. Once we had said goodbye to our instructors, returned our equipment and had a final meal at the hotel, we set off for our overnight return journey to Windsor.

We hope that the students thoroughly enjoyed their week skiing and that they will remember how the courage and resilience they showed to reach the top of the mountain gave them an experience they will never forget!

Mr Winfield and the Ski Team 2024