Hyndland Secondary School

1) We have struggled to get onto the bucket lifts, so Miss Lawson and Miss Monaghan (with their new hats) investigated an alternative route to the Instructors meeting point. This meant that the ‘Experienced’ group…to quote Miss Monaghan “Well…that was a VERY civilised way to get to the slopes”, we at Hyndland love a little civilisation from time to time.

2) The same group traversed off-piste to experience a forest trail, knee deep in powder…..although Milo Lockhart (Intermediate) has been doing his own version of off-piste since Monday! This included ten pin style crashing into Gabriel Herlihy-Martin, George Prince, Steven McWilliam and Iain Black….STRIKE!!!!!

Euan Urquhart and Martin Monaghan found their new vocation…..sweeping up the sprawled ski-less bodies strewn across numerous slopes; Mr Elder was particularly thankful!! 

The BIGGEST success of the day has to go to the Beginner Group, who are now officially known as ‘INTERMEDIATES’ too! Well done to all, but Rachel Taylor and Katie Brown shone above the rest with their slick parallel glides down a BLUE run. While we are talking about this group, it must also be noted that Mr Morrison has had to do a little thread work on ripped clothing. Although the whole group were aware of this fashion faux pas, it was decided that Mr Morrison would only be informed by the next person to fall. Following an unplanned spin, it looked like Cuinlan had drawn the short straw but by some miracle, and despite a 200 metre backwards slide, he held his nerve and remained standing. Ben McD laughed so hard at Cuinlan’s antics that he lost his footing, stumbled and tumbled and was told by Christian the instructor “Ben, you must now do zour job. Tell heem!”

Back at the ranch the snow was now so heavy that our planned trip to the outdoor ice rink had to be cancelled. After a petit gateaux chocolat for Francesca Macmillan’s birthday, we headed to the in-house cinema for a date with James Bond. Swoon! At least tomorrow night’s entertainment is the disco so hopefully this won’t be snowed off…

The Bold Beginners :- The pupils continued to improve their technique of snowplough turns…sometimes even without poles (and they were asked to bring them with them), Holly Martin put them to good use in her impersonation of a Dutch windmill as she overtook Christian (the instructor) screaming towards the next tow….the screams were of laughter (we hope!!). Fin Rogers turned the slopes into a fashion event whenever possible.

The ‘Immaculate’ Intermediates:- Their day continued much as they had left Monday….Ruben, Ruben, Ruben!!!! Or should we say Ruben (‘I’ve lost ma ….’ you can fill in the blanks – your guess will be correct as he’s lost EVERYTHING!!!)). But things got better as his ski pole lost an argument with a chairlift….he was left with ½ a pole in his hand!!! Anna O’C battled the blizzard with strength and courage to be most improved performer of the day – Well Done Anna!!

The ‘Energetic’ Experts:- They tackled their 1^st BLACK run in whiteout conditions, lead by their fearless instructor our (VERY French) Bernard. Although he is becoming confused with Tom Cameron these days, as Tom is ALWAYS 1^st behind… Blizzard conditions are always better when attacking black runs for the 1^st time…. as Bernard said ‘zumetimes it eez better not to know how zteep a slope eez until you get to zee bottum’. Angus Russell also had an altercation with a chairlift…and yes you guessed right the chairlift now leading 2 nil!!!!

Unfortunately tonight’s trip to the local Amusement Arcade had to be cancelled as we had TOTAL whiteout and the snow was horizontal….so instead we sent a man out to collect our pizza’s for us…mmmmm! Everyone was kept entertained with the countries’ flag quiz….although (Mr Livingstone cover your ears) Alison Ainslie, Sophie Johnson and Emma Barrett got confused with Middle Earth and Europe!! The night entertainments continued with a 4 team Mega Challenge, The Hobbits took on, Mac Blaster 3000, Steven’s Angels and Lawson’s Loyal!!! Euan Urquhart won the ‘Plank’, and although Ben McDonald’s nose isn’t very big, it did prove to be VERY successful in the ‘sniff’ competition where he beat Milena Kotloby into second place … pity she didn’t know what a banana, vinegar or French bread smelt like! The surprise of the night has to be awarded to Euan Anderson who managed to beat Anna O’C, Chloe Crawford and Cuinlan Davidson in a General Knowledge comp….Well Done Euan :)   Ultimately Lawson’s Loyal proved to be too much for any other 3 teams and were proudly presented with their 2” Gold Plastic Replica Lightweight ‘Very Cheap’ Trophy!!!

Everyone now more familiar with the day’s events and timings, we were on the slopes by 9am prompt. The weather turned on the team, and visibility worsened. Determined to battle through, the superb Hyndland Skiers took to the slopes in their teams with ease. Some skiers a little more confident than others (Mr Elder) found themselves in a snowballed heap at the bottom of the run. Luckily a fresh carpet of powdered snow cushioned his fall and his pride. This was not the end of the calamity tumbles. Euan Anderson confidently tackled a tricky Red/Black slope. When he finally dusted himself down he realised he was 100 yards from the rest of his ski equipment and 200 yards from the rest of the group.

The “expert” groups suffered the worst of the wipeouts, Involving over half of the group, a tree, two unnamed (female) members of staff and a confused instructor scratching his head. The beginners proved to be the experts of the day finishing off with a number of high speed moguls and ski jumping. Chloe Crawford, Milo Lockhart and Iain (Styles) Black all improving significantly.

The Total wipeouts continued as the troops were taken to an aerial assault course. Francesca MacMillan impressed us all with great gymnastic, speed and strength skills. Rosie Slater, on the other hand, struggled with a number of the tricky obstacles as she commented “I didn’t know that giant, stationary, bright yellow ring was there.” The activity centre offered a number of activities including Table Tennis. Matthew “ping pong champion of the world” Beckett took on Mr Elder in a heated grudge match. The game resulted in a specular 2 set 11-3, 11-5 trashing and Mr Elder lifting the Victors trophy. The kids returned to the hotel for some well-deserved grub and some hasty repairs to ripped trousers (Mrs McIlroy will be impressed!!). Tonight’s challenge was Red or Black which was won by Martin Monaghan, last seen waving his 2 inch gold plastic cup high above his head!! The pupils then headed to the in-hotel cinema for a date with the ‘Dark Knight’…albeit some didn’t even see the opening credits before seeing the inside of their eyelids.

The long journey was behind us and the kids were keen to hit the slopes. Quickly up for breakfast at 7:30 sharp, down to the boot room to gather the vital equipment, then on to the rather unusual “bucket” ski lift to the foot of the resort. When we departed the lift the reality of our adventure hit home; blue sky, fresh carpet of snow and mountains as far as the eye could see. The resort proved to be everything and more, as Lauren Elliot commented “that is one snowy mountain.”

The groups were divided into their abilities and led away by our instructors for the week. Christian with the bold beginners, Bridget with the inquisitive intermediates and Bernard (pronounced with a thick French accent) with the excellent experts. It was clear there were some nervous kids, even in the expert group who were in awe of the vast Alpes. Spurred on by some confident skiing by Miss (The Eagle) Lawson and Miss (bob-sleigh) Monaghan the groups were led up the mountain.

Within moments the fall count was building up, but to quote Euan Urquhart “it’s the ones who fall over the most that are the best skiers.” Guess who was falling over the most then? The Prize of best fall of the day will have to go to Ruben Taylor, who during his own dramatic tumble was able to knock over three others from his group. We all know that on the slopes in France it is not who is the best skier, it is who looks like the best skier. This award will have to go to Heidi Gruber, who sporting an all in white number looked En-Vogue all day. Our final first day award is the most improved. This award was given to Liam Weir who skied superbly well with the experts despite believing himself he was only an intermediate.

At lunch time on day one, we came in and were called to dinner, hearing some unusual loud “BANGS.” These echoed throughout the mountain and came from the highest peek at just over 3000 meters. The instructors informed us that there was nothing to worry about “the demolition experts are just doing some avalanche testing on the black slopes in the other ski village.” Feeling hungry we hastily departed the slopes for a tasty lunch!

The afternoon skiing was as adventurous as the morning. The beginners continued to improve with every woosh down the slopes, the intermediates were tackling ever more challenging runs and the experts, well, they were doing what they do best. We returned back to the hotel tired and worn out ready for supper.

 After dinner, the staff: Miss Lawson, Miss Monaghan, Mr Morrison and Mr Elder created a number of après challenges. Tonight was the Crisp and Sweets quiz won by a very knowledgeable girl’s squad from room …(…). The teams were then issued maps and given an orienteering adventure about the town. And finally if the day was not long enough we still had time to celebrate three Birthdays with a delightful rendition of “happy birthday”. Steven McWilliam, Lauren Elliot and Cuinlain Davidson were given giant cakes, hugs and high fives.

3am meet at the school and all seemed to be going well, but it did not take too long for things to change. All 40 Hyndland Heroes boarded the plane expecting to fly out to our Alpe destination (after Gabriel relocated his passport). After two hours of waiting in the plane before take-off, all 40 were promptly ushered off. The captain announced that due to a “small” engineering fault there will be a slight delay. 7 hours later and a number of athletic, card playing, gym and time passing games we boarded with delight back onto the plane. Despite the problems and difficulties everyone remained in high spirits and the cabin crew commented on how great we all were.

It wasn’t long before another problem occurred. To the sound of umms, errs and groans the captain informed the passengers that we were unable to land in our destination for a further 45 minutes. Finally landed in France to face the chaos of the baggage reclaim. Two hours on a bus and some slightly queasy travellers we arrived at out ski hotel the “Vallee Blanche.”

The team was greeted with smiles from our holiday hosts and welcomed in with a healthy dinner. The resort looks fantastic, the snow picturesque and we can wait to start skiing tomorrow!