CANADA SKI TRIP: CANADIAN WINTER WONDERLAND

Sam M, Year 11 writes...

Half-term, a brand-new holiday to behold, new challenges to be faced, new opportunities to be found, new discoveries to be made, and pupils hitting the deck for a Canadian ski trip to Panorama with the wonderful Miss Mauroudi and Miss Miguez joining the great Mr Underwood and Mr Tucker in a relaxing holiday. Years 10 to 13 were present on this illustrious trip to Canada, and the long-awaited day of our trip was finally here.

We all converged at Heathrow, after numerous reminders to arrive at the correct terminal! Security was stress free for all, meaning we got off to a surprisingly good start with everyone in high spirits and discussing what shenanigans they were going to pull off on the Canadian ski slopes. Our destination: Calgary Airport.

We had a nine-hour flight, over the nations of Iceland and Greenland on our 787 West Jet service. During the flight, we enjoyed dinner before getting some shuteye to knock out some of the jet lag we would experience when we landed.

When we touched down in Calgary, baggage drop was a bit of mess, but everyone got their luggage in the end, and we got through border control and were officially on Canadian soil. We brought food and drink from a little store next to a lit-up Alberta sign emblazoned with the nation’s flag colors, red and white. After spending a few more minutes at the airport, we were finally on our way to Panorama.

The next leg of our trip was by bus. This journey was another three and a half hours before we reached our destination with the bus falling relatively silent after the first hour.

We arrived in Panorama in the dark, during a Canadian winter night with the temperature at a freezing –12 degrees Celsius. All of us, including our teachers, were tired beyond comprehension. At this point we were given our room keys, and we all went to bed.

Each day consisted of the same enjoyable schedule: wake up, breakfast, ski for three hours, lunch, then ski again for another three hours before the end of the day.

Day one was stress free and many got their legs back within minutes. Although we stayed close to the summit, we did not stretch it on the first day as our jet lag was already in full effect.

Days two through to four saw everyone become more adventurous. Our climbs to the summit were in full force, with new members of the group involved every day.