On 9th February, 40 expectant Theale Green students departed for a skiing holiday promising to be exhilarating, exciting, challenging and anything but dull!!! We were heading for the snow tipped mountains of Aosta, only to find on arrival, a severe lack of snow. With a slight dent in everyone's enthusiasm, things soon began to look up when we were introduced to our holiday rep, Rob. 'Rob the rep' surprisingly was from Reading and we hit it off with him straight away. After eating our way through a few bowls of pasta (and that was just the starter!) we were ready to step up to the stage for the specially arranged Karaoke night. Affairs on the snow front soon changed for the better, in fact, to absolute extreme, with so much snow it was hardly believable. Before long we were hitting the slopes by day and partying at night with our evening entertainment including bowling and pool, ice skating, a pizza and brief shopping evening and a quick ponder at what the Nike outlet factory had to offer. There were also opportunities to 'lunch with the locals' with numerous restaurants and eateries strategically placed in the mountains. On odd occasions, some of us sneakily took 'elevenses' with a cup of hot chocolate to embrace the warmth when the cold got a bit too much! Soon, however, we were back on our skis and raring to go, eager to make the most of what little time we had left, and to navigate new runs and higher jumps! With expert tuition whilst skiing, everybody made the most of the snow and extended their skiing ability tenfold. There were, however, some incidents preventing the injury list from surviving unscathed but these were only in the minority allowing progress to continue for the rest of us enthusiastic skiers. Following these incidents were numerous occasions at chair lift queues where the 'human domino effect' commenced. All of these unmistakably foolish acts were applauded in the traditional way via the voting system of 'Wally of the Day' award! This award was liberally banded around and many people received a share of the riches! With six days of skiing, early mornings and late nights, by the time the coach awaited for the journey home, the events of the chaotic week were taking their toll on many of us. I'm sure the teachers, who worked extremely hard throughout, felt these effects to a greater extent. The ski trip was fantastic but we were all pleased to be home and to recover for Monday morning!
Written by Jo Baker (Year 13 student)