"Good cold"

Fay, our resort sports coordinator from Interski, hit the nail on the head this afternoon when summarising the day’s weather: “Cold, but good cold.”  The resort today looked fantastic; once again, crystal clear blue skies, no wind and no snow, and the sun blazing down from above.  But it was probably the coldest it has been all week.  The ‘Beginner’s Bowl’, where the majority of our pupils found their boarding and skiing feet this week, was reputedly -4⁰C today, and obviously the higher up you went from there, the colder it got.  Jacob, after his altercation with a tree yesterday, and Mr. Suter went up to Cresta D’Arp (at 2755m the highest point in the resort) and Jacob will testify to the fact that the feeling didn’t come back into his toes until back at the ski hire centre!

We did once again have some ‘sicknotes’ today.  Eoghan stayed at the hotel, having won the prize for the best vomit seen for a long time last night (pure exhaustion), while Georgia L. didn’t ski as she felt she might (although if you see the size of the pizza slice she ate at lunchtime you’d know she was feeling better).  Jessica managed to wipe out on her snowboard, and instead of landing on her backside, which she usually does, she landed on her wrist.  Wrapped and strapped, she’s hoping to get back out on her board tomorrow.  What was more embarrassing for her was the sling Mr. Suter made her wear as she made her way down the slope.

It is difficult each day to comment how the children have been doing: we’ve six different groups heading up in six different directions each day, doing their own thing under the expert tutelage of their instructors.  Each child has overcome obstacles that have tested them, challenged them, exhausted them, frustrated them, but few of them have thwarted them, and the general consensus from their instructors is that this group of children have done really well with their snow activities as the week has progressed.  This was emphasised this evening, as we had an awards ceremony that recognised their progress during week: each child received a certificate stating the level they have received, and a brief eulogy from their instructor about their progress.

In a lovely touch, at the end of ceremony, Noura sang her own ‘eulogy’ back to the instructors, with a parady of ‘Dynamite’ by Taio Cruz.  We’ll post the lyrics later but here’s the chorus:

I put my poles up in the air sometimes,

Saying Ay-oh, Come on let’s go,

I wanna ski down now in half the time,

Saying Ay-oh, I feel so pro.

So on to the last day tomorrow.  Hopefully, the conditions will be as good as they have been today, and we can finish our holiday here in the snow with a fantastic final day on the slopes.