Ski Trip 2010 - Mulbach, Austria

Day 1: Friday - We are setting off at 9.30am for Dover via luxury coach with DVD, toilet, reclining seats and air con. The Ferry is at 6.25pm to Calais, a trip of just 90mins. We will travel through the night and arrive in Muhlbach at about 1.30pm on Saturday. Once we arrive I will post a message on here and hopefully via the school messaging service direct to parents mobiles. PH

Day 3: Sunday - Wow! The skiing is great here. We all skied today in three groups; a top group of children who have skied over four weeks or so, a middle group of those who have skied a bit and a beginner's group of total novices. One or two found it tough going but they were encouraged to stick at it and they all progressed today and were proud of what they had acheived by the end of the day. The top group skied the better slopes and the beginners and middle groups skied the easy slopes. Two of the groups progess to the next mountain tomorrow and the beginners will join them in a day or two. Mr and Mrs Debil will stay with the beginners group tomorrow and Mr Hill and Mr O'Sullivan will go with the top group and middle groups. Tonight, we are having a quiz night with prizes. Later in the week we will go out for some activities in the evening such as swimming. Everyone is fine, in good health and very happy in the hotel. PH

Day 4: Monday - Hi everyone. The weather today on the slopes has been quite hot and we have all needed suncream on. The beginners stayed at the novice slopes, worked on their technique and getting on the tow lift. They are spending one more day there and will then probably join the other two groups up at the larger skiing area. All in the beginners group have progressed although it is still very hard work for them. The instructor is called Andreas. The other two groups skied at a much larger area today with a large number of runs and various lifts from Telecabin to 4 and 6 person chairs. The top group are coming on very well and increasing their skills - some, such as James Lancaster, to a high standard. All have had tumbles but no one has hurt themselves. The instructor is Tom and he an expert skier. The middle group has been at the larger ski area now and is making very good progress. The instructor is Flavvi, a young lady. Everyone is fine and in good health once again. All are, however, very tired, including the staff. The meals in the hotel are very good and all chidren are eating the food. Yesterday was spag bol and today we had hamburgers with potato and crunchy veg. There is salad available too and plenty to drink. The breakfasts are bread rolls with a variety hams, salad and cereals. We make our own packed lunches and the children take what they want and some buy chips on the slopes.

Top group: James L, Katie, Lilias, Alexandra, Alice, Mennalas x 2, James G, Tilly, Henry McA, Xavi plus PH

Middle group: Hector, Jamie, Henry C-S, Alastair M, Katherine W, Francesca Bell, Francesca Dav, Liam, Matty, Charlie Allison, Mhairi, Ru and TO'S

Begginers group: Ethan, Walid, Alastair McL, Brooke, Georgina, Jessica M-A, Sam C, Lucy M-W, Matthew R, James A, Josh, Sophie C, Alex Reynolds and RD/AD

PH

Day 5: Tuesday - Good evening viewers. Today has been a very busy day. The skiing was excellent. Group 1 went ski touring all day and had covered over 70km by the end. This involved skiing through five villages and five mountains at some speed. Everyone fell today including me! I had to administer first aid to myself for arm scrapes. The rest of the group did not have any injuries. Some of them are becoming very good skiers. Group two skied well throughout the day and enjoyed the new runs they went on. The snow has been getting very heavy by lunchtime due to the sunshine. The next two days are to be somewhat colder. Group 3 progressed too and all have graduated to the bigger skiing area for tomorrow. Tonight we have been bowling in a hotel opposite this one. Each night we have had a 'Spar' trip to stock up on supplies. Tonight we had a room check and I am happy to report that all eventually passed. PH

Day 6: Wednesday - Well thats day four over! I skied with group 1 this morning and they were working on long turn technique or carving. The group is now skiing very well and at some speed. The instructor is excellent and his phrase at the end of his instructions is "some kvestions about it" in a strong Austrian accent, is popular with the group. The group went on to do some jumps in the afternoon - just little ones! In the afternoon I skied with group 3 and was very impressed with how they have come on. They are all skiing now although in snow plough, and enjoying the wholeexperience. They met challenge after challenge today which finished with their first experience of a chair lift. Group two happily went along today with some more difficult slopes and nearly all are skiing very well. It had snowed through the night and there was about 10cm of new snow on the ground. This was tricky for all. Tonight we travelled on our coach to the swimming pool in a local village which had slides. This provided great entertainment for the children for an hour or so. We have been using our coach to travel the 1.5km to the slopes. We have two more full days skiing. PH

Day 7: Thursday - Today started with a very funny April Fool prank by the staff at breakfast. I took a call in the room which informed me that the Gondala was broken today due to an electrical fault, and that we could not ski today. The staff played it out for ten minutes, and came up with an alternative programme for the day which included orienteering around a 12 mile course, and that it was usually for old people. The children were all drawn in to the tale! I took another call later which asked me to answer what day it was - April the first. No one thought that it was a trick. The skiing went very wll today with ski tests in the morning and the presentation by the instructors before the evening meal. The evening event was a talent show with lots of the children entering from year 3 age to year 8. We rounded off with some prizes for a variety of children. An excellent day all round! Last day of skiing tomorrow. Everyone is fine with no injuries except the odd blister, although all are very tired. PH