February half term saw dozens of school groups flee the UK to embark on the ultimate ski adventure in some of Europe’s highly acclaimed ski resorts.
Katie Peggs, Tour and Events Co-ordinator at Rayburn Tours, accompanied Tudor Grange Academy to the popular Italian resort of Tarvisio. Mastering the mountains and capturing some unforgettable moments along the way, it was a trip that left fond memories with the students.
In the words of student Imogen, here’s how it went down…
The beginning…
We started off our trip with a 26 hour coach journey from Birmingham to Tarvisio, going through several countries including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Austria. We arrived at our hotel for around 6-7pm.
“We progressed to the steeper blue slopes”
Our first day of skiing was on Monday, and to begin with we got our skis, poles, helmets and boots and got into our groups. I started off on the blue slopes (which were not very steep and quite easy to ski down) but by the end of day we had progressed to the steeper blue slopes.
My group had the best instructor ever (Alberto), so we were able to progress quickly. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t shattered after 5 hours of skiing. After that, we went to a spa in Austria and it was so relaxing, there was a heated outdoor pool and a normal pool with some slides.
“Everyone can agree that it was great”
My group progressed on our second day of skiing and started to go down red slopes. These were a lot steeper and narrower, but also the most fun. In the evening we went on the alpine coaster which went really fast, and to be fair I thought I was gonna go flying down the mountain it was that scary 😂.
Finally pizza…
On Wednesday we progressed around the mountains. We loved the cable cars because we got to know people a little bit better and it’s way scary, so having company was nice. Wednesday was also pizza night. After a week of pasta non-stop we were so looking forward to this.
“I wasn’t quite ready for the back runs…”
On Thursday my group tried to go down a black run which was a complete failure since only one person made it down without falling. I fell down and my ski pole so my teacher swapped my broken one with his good one and I ended up telling people he broke it because I was too ashamed to admit to it lol. On that same evening we went to Slovenia and witnessed some beautiful views of the village.
The final day…
Friday was pretty chilled, we spent the first half skiing down some fun mountains then ended the day with a race. I came 9th (lol) but I had fun. After we finished the race and presentation, we had to return our skis which was really sad. Then we went back to the hotel for our final meal and started to make our way home.
Want to live to tell the tale like Imogen did?
Want to live to tell the tale like Imogen did?