Alpe D’Huez, France SKI TRIP 2019

9 days, 8 nights. 36 hours on a coach. Daily 7.15am alarm. 24 hours of ski lessons. 24 times back and forth to the ski slopes (carrying skis and poles). Many a pain au chocolat for breakfast. Quite a few sunburnt faces. Multiple falls, many a challenge to overcome and some major triumphs. All said and done... #UHSSkiTrip 2019 was well and truly worth it!

As the school's first ever ski trip, Alpe D'Huez 2019 was always going to be one to remember. However, the effort, attitude and resilience of our 33 students (and 4 staff) made it truly magnifique! Arriving after 18 hours on a coach, snow covered mountains and an altitude of 1850m made for a spectacular start. Evening 1 involved 'ski fit' (getting fitted up with the correct skis and equipment) before an early and much needed bed.

Day 2 onwards we all followed the same routine... up early - breakfast - leave hotel - ski lessons - return for lunch - back to the piste for more ski lessons - return to the hotel for some down time - dinner - Apres Ski activities - time to relax - bed. Despite the regular routine, the thrill of learning to ski kept everyone highly motivated. In fact, throughout the 6 days of skiing many students made a huge amount of progress. Our instructors said they'd never taught a group with so little skiing experience (only 4 students had been skiing before), but by the end of the week we had students going on 'red' runs (the second most challenging). Their ski instructors were all very pleased with the tremendous progress they had made and as staff we were extremely proud of every student's efforts on the slopes. Their determination to succeed was beyond all of our expectations.

The Apres Ski activities gave students the chance to have some more fun, while getting to know each other a little better. 'Bum-boarding' was a hit, as was ice skating, although many students could have done with some ice skating instructors too!

We were all certainly sad to go. Leaving such a picturesque place where everyone had made such brilliant memories was tough, especially with the knowledge of another 18- hour coach journey ahead. It was a trip to remember for everyone involved.