Ski Trip

NEXT TRIP GOES TO EHRWALD, AUSTRIA FEBRUARY 2014, 70 PUPILS FROM YEAR 9-11 

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ANDALO, ITALY FEBRUARY 2012

 

The ski trip was an epic success for the pupils and teachers of Dromore High School. Not only was the weather and the skiing brilliant but the scenery and atmosphere in and around the hotel was AMAZING!!  We left on Saturday 18 February and returned on 25 February.

Our daily routine consisted of getting up at 7 am, breakfast at 7:30am then the first session of skiing started at 9am and finished at 11am. We had lunch at a pizzeria in the village before our afternoon ski session from 1 – 3 pm. We usually had an activity in the afternoon before dinner at 7pm.

There were some good highlights then there were some bad highlights, we got to go to the local supermarket to buy our sweets and drinks, there was a ski night show which was one of the best experiences we’ve had yet. Some of the teachers liked to set targets for the pupils, such as, Amie Keery getting her ski boots on by herself, Lauren Sloan not going crashing into trees and Adam McCauley to stay away from the ladies !  Amie and Lauren were successful !

The Pian Castello Hotel was a great hotel, set on the hill overlooking the village. Our rooms were very spacious and we all loved the cinema room which doubled up as a disco / karaoke room for after dinner entertainment..

The skiing conditions were great, it snowed the second night we were there so that gave us really good powder.  The jumps and the moguls (the big humps in the middle of the pistes that the snowboarders made) were great because we got “good air”. There was a snow park which had all sorts of jumps in it. There was one jump where you skied up a ramp of snow and landed on a big air bag. At mid station on the gondola we had a snowball fight on our last day, which was brilliant fun. We also got to see just how fast you can go down a black run as the European Ladies Slalom Competition took place on Friday – the speed and skill were incredible. The teachers all seemed to have fun racing each other down the slopes and being competitive, especially Mr Sidor.

After our afternoon ski session, we had various activities before dinner. Some people went swimming at the leisure centre, most of us went ice karting ( go-karting on ice ), which was a lot of fun and of course shopping in town. One night there was a ski show in Andalo which was brilliant. We saw how people used to ski many years ago, the instructors showed how to ski using only one ski, the skidoos jumped right over the piste and the snow ploughs “ dances “. The night was rounded off with a fireworks display.

On Saturday we stopped in Verona on our way to the airport. We couldn’t wait to see around the town – after we stopped at McDonalds – it had been a whole week after all !! We saw the Roman Coliseum and Romeo and Juliet’s balcony. There also was a local market which sold many different souvenirs. We got free time for a couple of hours to walk around the market and shops, there were people dressed up as statues, which was hilarious especially the crying baby in the pram.Verona is a beautiful city to visit and we would recommend it.

The weeks ski holiday was great fun and an experience most of us would like to repeat but of course there would be a few cuts and bruises along the way -  the most unfortunate was when poor Drew Bustard fell literally in the last 10 minutes of ski time on Friday and fractured his leg. Even with his leg in plaster though, he was smiling.

Overall everyone had an amazing time in the hotel, in Andalo, on the pistes and doing all the fun activities. We would like to thank Mr Sidor, Mr Annett, Mr Wright, Mrs McCalmont and Mrs Rose for organising us and to Mr Kirk of Kirk’s Bakery for sponsoring our hoodies.