Oct 2008 - Morrison's Academy

Page 114 The Morrisonian | 07/08 Co-Curricular
Escape Commitee
It has been a frustrating year for the
Escape Committee with two of our
four Breakouts foiled by the weather.
Saying that, our successful Escapes
have been very special, probably
raising the bar still further as we plan
for future trips.
However back in the Autumn term we
went just a little mechanical, even
‘petrol head’. In our never ending
search for new excuses to journey a
bit, and play a lot, we rode Rigid
Hulled Inflatables through the
Corrievreckan, the second largest
whirlpool in the world, blazed around
a highland estate on quad bikes and
blasted away with shot guns hunting
low flying orange clays (never mind
the beach games in the rain, or the
Extreme Ironing opportunities at Tralee
Bay).
So then, just an average term for the
pupils who get really involved!
Our thanks go to the Rector for his
faith in the Risk Assessments
presented, the skilled and professional
Licensed Providers who made these
opportunities possible for our young
people, and the parents who
supported these ventures.
For all that the above reads like a
rather breathless account of what we
have got up to lately, the Monday
morning after the RIB Ride to Jura truly
was a morning more ordinary. If the
towering rain lashed cliffs, the boiling
waters and standing waves, the grey
scudding gun-smoke clouds breaking
over the mountains and the awe
inspiring ocean swells that had rolled
there all the way from America,
hadn’t together touched something in
every one of us, something was
wrong.
It was then a double blow to lose
both the Bothy Breakout to Glen
Feshie in February and the Bike
Breakout to Glen Kinglass in March
due to forecasts of unacceptably
poor weather ( forecasts that proved
correct on both occasions as it turned
out). This only leaves us planning,
dreaming and scheming what we
can get up to next session.
The Escape Committee has quietly
been growing, but what we achieve
would be greatly diminished without
the enthusiasm of the escapees who
try us, and themselves, out. Is it your
turn yet?
R Anderson