To celebrate the start of the Christmas break and following the Christmas Meeting, pupils across the Senior School and College departed for the slopes as they travelled to Folgarida in Northern Italy for the annual ski trip.
Situated in the heart of the picturesque Dolomite mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Folgarida is the perfect location for both beginners and advanced skiers.
The girls were divided into groups dependant on their experience levels and received expert tuition from the MaxiSki ski instructors, enabling everyone to improve and get the most from the experience.
“We stretched ourselves, went on harder runs, and improved our techniques. Prior to the trip I had only skied for one week, but at the end I was turning parallel (Ish!).”
“I had never been skiing before, but the instructors were really helpful at teaching us from scratch. By the end of the week I had learnt how to ski and had lots of fun skiing independently down the mountains. We had lots of evening activities to take part in after each amazing day on the slopes.”
Even for those who are possibly more comfortable with their feet firmly on the ground, the trip offered a variety of opportunities for post skiing fun. Following a late arrival, the girls settled down for an early night in eager anticipation of the action-packed day ahead. Their first day was spent skiing, followed by a relaxing swim/aqua aerobics session, ably led by Nurse Cindy, and ended with College winning the evenings pop quiz! All interspersed with the most amazing food and stunning scenery.
“It was amazing, especially the weather when we first got there – it was really lovely.”
Day two was just as busy as the first, with every pupil showing fantastic progression and development on their skis.
“Plenty of skiing and plenty of laughs were had! Everyone made progress, from the beginners to the advanced group. It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces.”
The girls rounded off day two with an equally impressive fashion show and Folgarida’s Next Top Model rendition – which highlighted their creativity and sense of humour perfectly. Keen to continue with the performance theme, day three began with another day of skiing, and concluded with a musical talent show. What started with snow, ended with Vanilla Ice as the Max Factor karaoke got underway.
Towards the end of an amazing week, the weather edged colder, and thoughts turned to celebrating Christmas back home. Despite heavy overnight snowfall and tricky conditions on the final morning, everyone braved the elements one last time and made it home in one piece – ready to reunite with family and soak up even more of that magical festive feeling.
“My favourite part of the trip was in the evenings once we had finished with our instructors. We took to the slopes with nurse Cindy and Mr Knill and was able to go down some slopes and did loads of jumps and freestyling. Going for hot chocolate was also a highlight, it was so thick and lovely!”
See the girls in action in our gallery
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