 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
||||||||
Senior School |
 T R I P S |
|||||||||
|
 Print
|
S K I T R I P 2 0 0 7 Snowbasin, Utah – Russellian report Another year, another fantastic trip to the States. I will let Jamie Ivory tell the story… I think I knew from early on that our ski trip to Utah had the makings of a great holiday. Upon arriving at Gatwick, one of the world’s unanswered questions hit me; "Why on earth do they sell suitcases at an airport???” After an eight hour flight, we finally arrived in Atlanta, where our doubts about whether Cat Kingston would actually be allowed into the country were confirmed. Upon arriving at the immigration desk, she was asked to place her left index finger on the fingerprint detector. Poor Cat (bless her heart) was put on the spot and in a state of panic pressed her right pinkie onto the desk. I think it was from this moment on that I knew our trip to Utah would be one packed with constant laughs and happy memories.
I can honestly say that during our time on the slopes, I have never spent so long sliding down a mountain on my rear in a single week. After the first hour, I had fallen over more than the average person on the whole trip, yet still with high spirits I battled on (encouraged by Maddie's constant giggling) determined not to slow my group down. By the end of the first day, my intermediate group was given the opportunity to ski through one of the many forests on the mountain. After losing balance Jordan, at the head of the group, decided to grab a nearby tree, completing a 360° spin in the air and causing a complete pile up. The rest of the group had little option but to throw themselves into the surrounding snow in a desperate attempt to avoid the mass of people now lying on the floor in a state of hysterics! The difficulty I found was being forced to turn under pressure. I knew full well that if I wasn't concentrating I would collide head on with the ever-oncoming tree - this is perhaps why I decided (with Sadie) to create my own path through the forest! This usually resulted in my lying on the floor, covered from head to foot in snow. However, perhaps the funniest "crash" of the week award deservedly goes to Mr Baron, who innocently decided to remove his ski half way down the Olympic downhill black run in an attempt to photograph the advanced group. Upon doing so, his foot slipped and the result was JSB sliding backwards down the slope, trying desperately to slow himself down using his camera! Looking back over the week I find it hard to believe the sheer number of birthday parties we had as a group out in Utah. Over the course of seven nights we celebrated five different birthdays - "You do the maths!" However each special day was not forgotten and activities were planned almost every night so that whether celebrating a birthday or not, we all had an enjoyable and memorable evening with different activities on offer. During our time in Utah we experienced the many different restaurants on offer, from all-you-can-eat steak houses (where many locals literally ate all they could eat) to a cowboy themed night out where groups of eight were each given their own covered wagons. After being asked whether he would like "soup or salad' by an American waitress, Josh, who misinterpreted the question replied "What's in the super salad?" Every night on the holiday was spent discussing the various different crashes and falls that happened on the slopes earlier that day, so we were never short of conversation. Perhaps for me, some of the greatest views which will stay with me for a long time, other than the 8000 feet drop from the top of Snowbasin overlooking "Devils Canyon" were the 21000 seater Mormon Conference Centre in Temple Square, Salt Lake City… and the grand piano inside McDonald's at Atlanta airport. This took me aback and made me wonder, "Why don't all Mc Donald's have grand pianos in them? Should I try to make this global, perhaps starting the trend off in Croydon?" As it was only a few minutes away from the final birthday of the holiday, Ricky and I ensured that Sadie had a birthday request sung on the only piano I have ever seen in a fast food restaurant! It was the least we could do; Sadie was after all unimpressed with the natural flavours that appeared in some of her fruit drinks throughout the week. I can honestly say that I have returned from the ski trip a different person. This was not only a holiday for me but a perfect opportunity to meet many people in the school that I would perhaps have never met before. The wide mixture of year groups on this tour made it virtually impossible not to meet new people and in turn create new friends to last longer than just that one eventful week. I feel I have returned from the trip a more rounded individual, having to make a small speech in front of the group to congratulate our coach driver. He was, it had to be said, slightly better than the second one who somehow forgot to turn into the ski resort and decided to reverse halfway back up the mountain on the wrong side of the road, before getting stuck in thick snow! It was a moment that was strangely reminiscent of the "cliff edge" scene from "The Italian Job"! Perhaps throughout the week there were some arguments – some avoidable, others less so - however in all I feel these merely brought the group together and rounded off a memorable week. We left Gatwick airport on Saturday 17th February as a group of individuals but returned as a group of friends after spending a fantastic week packed with memories in Salt Lake City. Many thanks to Mrs Kirby Jones, Mrs Clower, Rev Padfield, Mr Finch and Mr Baron for looking after us so well. Jamie Ivory
|
