Stopfordian 2010–2011 - Stockport Grammar School

The Stopfordian 2010–2011
our complete trust as he led us relentlessly past “Danger”
warning signs and into the dark depths of the trees, only to be
welcomed with breath-taking, unexplored, alpine scenery. It
was these slopes that really allowed us to appreciate the
extraordinary beauty of the Alps. Our skis cut easily into the
deep, crisp snow; the gentle sound of skis sliding over soft
snow and the calls of occasional alpine creatures, were the
only noises to be heard on the face of the tranquil mountains.
This composure was often disturbed by a tremendous bail by
one of the team members, resulting in a huge pile up of skiers,
which was always followed by the roaring laughter of the
fellow pupils who had been lucky enough to dodge the chaos.
Once those who had not fallen had finished shrieking their
amusements at the victims, a huge effort was always made to
pick them back up again. The teamwork shown was
exemplary. Fortunately, the hilarity of these falls were
regularly caught on camera by Charlie Smith using his hightech
head camera.
Despite the chaos we often created, Christiano was
determined to keep us challenged throughout the week. This
included teaching us to do front flips in our skis. After
watching him do this himself, we each attempted to mirror his
actions which left us all with freezing faces covered in snow.
After laughing at us all, Christiano repeated the flip in an
extreme attempt to show off, only to result in breaking the
binding off his own skis, which then flew dramatically into a
large heap of snow. After what seemed like hours of finding
his binding and then fixing his skis, we were able to set off
once again on our journey. This journey was short lived as
Charlie Smith had one last attempt at a forward flip, failing
miserably and resulting in his ski being buried deep into the
snow; Charlie and I were left to dig furiously like a pair of dogs
in the thick snow. Our heavy ski boots sank deep into the
mounds of powder and we were forced to wade waist deep
through the snow.
By night, we thoroughly bonded as students from SGS. Age,
year and form did not matter; throughout the week we made
new friends through activities such as ice skating and bowling.
Fifth Year pupils had the privilege of exploring the town later
at night, something that we all thoroughly enjoyed and I am
sure will remember for years to come.
Overall the trip was fantastic; we each achieved things we
never thought possible - from managing to lose a member of
our group who was wearing a bright orange suit, to flying high
into the air off extreme jumps.
We cannot give enough thanks to all the staff involved in the
organisation and participation of this year’s ski trip. Without
them, it would not have been the trip it was. On behalf of
everyone on the SGS Ski Trip 2011, I would like to thank Mrs
Muscutt, Mr Bayley, Mr Ehegartner, Mrs Lockwood and Mr
Corbett for making it the best school trip to date.
Martha Watson (5E)
Trips 53