Skiing at Montgenevre

Stoneygate Ski Trip 2010

On January 2^nd children and staff gathered at Stoneygate in the morning to set off for their great skiing adventure.

We had a long journey ahead of us – longer than we realised – and after a flight from Luton to Grenoble, we travelled across the mountainous countryside of the Italian Alps before reaching Montgenevre at about midnight.

The next six days were action packed and full of challenges, excitement and fun. The hotel was just across the road from the ski slopes and most people skied all 12 sessions with their ski instructors giving them new techniques to practise and encouraging them to tackle steeper slopes every day. The highest runs started from around 2600 metres. The mountains were spectacular and the weather mostly very good with excellent snow conditions.

Will Buckley was very unlucky to have an accident which resulted in a trip to a French doctor then a dentist. However, he was incredibly patient and courageous throughout his ordeal, and still took a full part in the activities, even skiing the next day.

Mr Raven photographed the ski presentations on the last day, and many of his pictures can be seen on the school website and will be displayed in school.

In the Après Ski sessions, we had fun activities and games.

Mr Palmer’s tower building and ‘I want my mummy’ games were a clear favourite, although the local shops noticed a bit of a run on their stocks of toilet paper! There was also French Bingo and a games night organised by Mr and Mrs Jelly.

One highlight was a karaoke evening where Stoneygate pupils had the opportunity to strut their stuff at loud volume with microphone and dance moves. The panel of judges (Lizzie and Helena Palmer and Alys and Chloe Marshall) certainly told the acts what they thought of their performances, in the style of X factor celebrities Louis, Simon and Cheryl.

The winning team were led by Harry Neal, though the song title escapes me….just as well, I think! The staff joined in too with a rendition of ‘Build me up, Buttercup’ complete with expert dance moves from Mrs Raven and vocals by Mr Hudson!

Having asked the pupils, their favourite activity seems to have been the exciting skidoo ride up a mountain in a nearby Italian resort. In a mountain-top restaurant they enjoyed crepes and drinks before descending and travelling the short distance back to the hotel by minibus. My group had a fantastic snowball fight while we were waiting for the bus to arrive.

Our journey home was long and difficult at times, with a frustrating delay at Grenoble airport, meaning that we did not get back to Leicestershire until 4 am.

These were difficult circumstances. The airport was crowded with passengers from other cancelled and delayed flights and the staff felt very proud of the way the pupils dealt with the situation.

I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ again to the brilliant staff team and to the pupils for making this a fantastic trip. 

Here are some of their memories and comments:

‘The disco and karaoke were really fun.’

‘My best moment was skidoo riding.’

‘Montgenevre has lovely slopes, a lovely hotel and people.’

‘My best moment was feeling proud of myself when I finished coming down the mountain.’

‘I found it difficult to go down this red run which was really icy.’

‘Everyone was so happy and my roomies were so funny.’

‘My best moment was when we came down a black run on our bottoms!’

‘The town was beautiful and the evening activities were relaxed and fun.’

‘I found the black runs challenging.’

‘I loved the karaoke – it was so much fun.’

‘I enjoyed all of the evening activities.’

‘The view from our window was lovely.’

‘I remember going up the mountain on the chairlift and going to the French disco.’