On the first Saturday of February half term week, 11 intrepid HSDC Alton students set off for the Italian ski resort of Frabosa Soprana, 90 kilometres south of Turin and about 25 kilometres southeast of Cuneo, to experience five full days of glorious sunshine, skiing and team-building exercises. The start of the trip didn’t go to plan: the journey across the Channel was incredibly turbulent during Storm Dennis with Gale Force 10 winds, a 5-hour delay crossing from Dover to Calais and, in total, it took 26 hours to get to the resort.
Once there, the students immediately got stuck in. They worked well as a team, helping each other on the slopes. The progress they all made was terrific to see and all learned valuable life skills along the way. Grant Gallacher, a Uniformed Public Services lecturer and one of the staff supervising the trip, was incredibly proud of the students: “I looked around at other schools and colleges in the mountains and along the journey and could honestly say I have never been so proud to work for HSDC Alton and what fantastic ambassadors the students were for our College and local community too.”
All the skiers achieved their goals of being able to ski competently on blue and red runs and five students excelled themselves by exploring the whole resort and beyond at the highest level of skiing. First year A Level student Hannah Runyard summed up her experience: “Really fun trip with loads of time to ski as well as free time in the afternoon. There was lots of snow and the instructors were very friendly and funny.”
The annual ski trip is one of the enrichment activities offered to our Alton students to supplement their academic experience. Click here for more information on our Alton provision.