Primary School Ski Trip

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All is very well here, the snow is fabulous and the kids are great. They were tired last night after a full day's skiing or boarding and went to bed without complaint. The snow conditions are pretty much perfect at the moment as you can imagine with all the snow you’ve had down in there in Bucharest, with nice freshly groomed trails waiting for us each morning and soft, powdery snow up to our knees off trail- the kids are having a great time.

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Today is supposed to be a clear day, so we should get some good photos from the top and will send more photos for the school website this afternoon. Well, time to close the laptop, rally the troops for slumber for breaky, and thereafter head on up into the land of white fun. It’s a difficult life.

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The sun shone on the ski slopes this morning, the air was crisp and so were the pistes. Many of us spent the day practicing the skills we have been taught over the last couple of days, or marveling at the breathtaking views from the top. The slopes were quiet and pristine, perfect for a day's skiing. Impressing their instructors the most today were Gruia, Victor and Ralph, our young beginner snowboarders. Learning to snowboard is really difficult, with lots of walking back up the hill to try again and again. Those of you who have tried will remember those first couple of days, when using the drag lift is a real challenge. Well, Gruia found a much better solution by hitching a ride on the lift with his instructor. Clever thinking.

Tomorrow they predict more snow is on the way - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

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Today, they forecast snow, and my goodness they were right. Up on the mountain it was a complete white out and I was very glad we had instructors with us who know the slopes like the back of their hand, otherwise we’d still be up there trying to find our way back. But all that snow made it the most perfect day for skiing and snowboarding, especially boarding. The snow was silky, soft and up to our knees in places. You will be able to see the conditions today from the pictures below.

Last night we had a snow fort building competition for those hardy enough to brave the cold. They had a great time building and an even better time throwing snowballs at each other afterwards. Right now the children are watching a movie before dinner and packing ready for their return to Bucharest tomorrow. They are very tired and I think most of them will sleep for the whole weekend.

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Well we made it to the end of the week and all in one piece! A fantastic week was had by all, with only a few minor mishaps (such as being locked out of rooms on the odd occasion!) and lots and lots of snow. On our last day the Skiiers took part in a slalom race - well done to Claudiu and Andrei M who were both first in their group! A special mention to our three little beginner snowboarders who made excellent progress throughout the week. There was plenty of fantastic skiing and snowboarding going on, including Miss Cami who also mastered the Teleski! All in all, a superb trip!

You can download the PowerPoint presentation file from here (size: ~ 8 MB).