Ski Trip 2008

Ski Trip 08

February 23^rd – 1^st March

We set of from Aldergrove International Airport heading to Austria. Our 2 1/2 hour flight took us to Salzburg Airport. We got a coach that took us through Germany and we arrived in Ehrwald 3 hours later. It was midnight and everybody just wanted to get some sleep.

For the next few mornings we would be woken at 7:30am. The first morning everybody was worried about whether they could ski, but we got our skiing equipment and headed for the slopes. We met our instructors and started to ski. After the morning session we had got used to the speed of the skis on the snow and had learnt how to stop! After the first day skiing we were very tired, and still another five days to go. Fortunately the first night was free for meeting the others from Coleraine Integrated and unpacking.

On the second day temperatures were around 20ºC which made skiing conditions difficult. We had to ski on and we really started to get to grips with skiing. By now we knew how to stop and turn. Later that night we attended a local ski show which was great entertainment, showing great skill with young children, to men in their eighties, and to finish the evening they had a brilliant fireworks display.

The next day we went up to the higher slopes and the views were just amazing. We were all scared of these steeper slopes but we managed to ski down them no problem. The next day we would be going to Zugspitze (A glacier on which you can ski on all year round). That evening we were ask to go to the local swimming pool. This pool was modern with great facilities and was a great evening spent with friends.

On Wednesday we tackled Zugspitze. We got the cable car up to 2962metres (Three times the height of Slieve Donard). It was around -10ºC and it was just a white cloud of snow causing the visibility to be very poor. We skied through the morning having great fun even with the difficult conditions. In the afternoon we made the best of the weather and had an excellent time. So after a day full of skiing we went ice skating. We all had great fun including a jovial Mr Barron and a curious Mrs Cromie who had never skated before.

Day 5 was one of the most enjoyable days as we had a slalom race, which was great fun. We had great fun with the snow, friends and teachers on Thursday. It was decided that there was to be a pool competition. At first it was just to be Rathfriland but others from Coleraine showed interest and there were twenty six people put their names into the hat. At the end of it a pupil from Rathfriland High School Alexander McCrum won the competition with a prize of €12.

Final day of skiing. This day started with rain, which didn’t look promising but we skied through it, and we all enjoyed this day the most, as we knew what to do and we were now confident on our skis. We had a snowball fight which was great. There was a prize giving and a disco to finish of a great week away.

It was an early start on Saturday and we left the Alpen Hotel at 9:30. It was a long coach trip with gale force winds and snow. Once we arrived in Salzburg we met up with our tour guide, it started at Mozart Plaza and finished at the fountain featured in “The Sound of Music”. We were then allowed to roam around Salzburg for an hour then we met up at the Salzburg Museum.

We got to the airport where our flight had been delayed. We finally got onto the plane for a 3 hour flight in strong winds. When we were waiting for our luggage, we were saying goodbye to those who we had met and become friends with especially Richard with Shannon. We were all glad to get home to our own beds after an exhausting week of skiing.

On behalf of all the pupils we would like to thank the members of staff: - Mr Barron, Ms Barbour and Mrs Cromie

By Alexander McCrum and Richard Frazer