THE LAST DAY!

What an amazing last day skiing! As we arrived at the gondola we were greated by heavy snow fall, in fact it was dumping it down ... hopefully we can bring some home.

All groups competed in a down hill slalom race competition and prizes were awarded at the end of the day by their ski instructors. Jamie (Group3) gave out her prizes and 1st prize went to Adam Hunter for a time of 19.75secs. Holman (Group2) gave out his prizes and 1st prize went to Joe Short. Lars (Group1) gave out his prizes and 1st prize went to Jake Lord. I won't say too much about the staff race but it was won by ME :-) and no, I didn't cheat!

Group 1 skied all the runs on the mountain that were open, including the most difficult one in resort, black 14. Needless to say there were a number of wipeouts, including Alicia hugging a tree and then sliding down on her backside; Megan doing a face-plant off piste and Alicia again being taken out by Jake Lord and then forward rolling down the steepest part of the slope! It had to be the best day's skiing we have ever had!!!

Group 2 worked on their technique on the blue slope, rode the large red slope at speed, then finished off going down the cat-track. In the afternoon they learned how to ride 'switch' by linking turns together, then skied all the way to the top and then skied really fast to the bottom and finished off riding formation, girls versus boys, needless to say the girls won!

Group 3 continued to work on their technique on the main blue slope and get used to skiing in difficult conditions. Once they all got used to it, they were taken on the gondola and up to the red slope where they skied at speed to the bottom.

After our evening meal at the hotel we presented our awards to the pupils:

Tidiest Room - Joe Short & Jake Lord
Laziest Tourist - Adam Coles
Sheeps Head of the week - Kyle Leighton (for whacking on all tour)
Clown of the week - Joshua Hadden
Helper of the week - Rebekah Windsor
Star of the week - Megan Grist (AKA: Miranda Hart)
Superstar of the week - Alice Pritchard
Best Wipeout of the week - Chloe Smith
Airhead of the week - Karla Spellman
Most improved male - Sean Johansen
Most improved female - Katie Johansen

I'd like to take this opportunity to say what a fantastic trip this has been, every pupil has behaved impecably and been a credit to both Newport High and themselves. We expect to be back at the school bus bay tomorrow evening at approximately 6pm but will stop at Leigh Delemare services for pupils to ring home with a definate time.

Have a great Christmas all and see you in the New Year!

BLUE SKY WEDNESDAY

Today was a bluebird day ... white snow, blue sky and red faces - amazing! All groups made huge progress on their technique. Group 1 ventured over to new territories, as did group 2 & 3. Group 1 instructor (Lars) spent all morning building up the pupils confidence before taking them on 2 black runs in the afternoon. Chloe Smith had fall of the tour ... whilst managing to ski both black runs without a fall, she took a tumble on the nursery slope which resulted in a trip to hospital (see the pics for a close up of Chloe's plastercast!)

Group 2 had the best day's skiing yet, everyone perfected their turns. Group 3 even made it on the red runs!

Awards of the day:
Best skier of the day - Kayleigh Probert (has made excellent progress this week).
Perseverence and blues player of the day - Joshua Hadden (fell over and got up, then fell over again and got up, then fell over AGAIN ... then entertained us with his harmonica through the village)

Winner of tonights Town Trail:
PLASTER MASTERS
Kris Maybry
Alice Pritchard
Chloe Smith
Alicia Redman
Emma Barne

Right, we're off to bed now, so nos da pawb! :-Zzzz

TUESDAY'S AWARDS & APRES SKI

Tonights awards:

Fall of the day, more like FALLS of the day - Megan Grist (for taking out almost every male member of group 1) Mr Waring felt rather left out therefore he didn't award her a chocolate bar.

Best skier & top tourist in group 1 - Jake Lord (an amazing skier and a pleasure to have on tour).

The 2 best skiers in group 3 - Adam Coles & Lisa Mansfield (for persevering and achieving numerous blue runs).

Tonights apres ski saw us hitting the bowling alley in Saalbach village. 4 teams of 8 competed for a round of applause and the results were:

4th place - The team with no name
3rd place - Toast
2nd place - Connor and Megan's ladies
1st place - The Banter Crew (Joe Short, Lydia Rees, Jake Archer, Jack McDonald, Tyler Keepin, Katie Johansen, Ellis Redman, Ashley Fleming)

Signing off for the night as we are all exhausted and ready for bed.

Nos da pawb :-z

TUESDAY'S CARNAGE ON THE FRESH SNOW

After a dumping of fresh snow overnight, the slopes were full of powder and ready to be skied ... so we did!
Night all, see you tomorrow x

Zell am Zee links

As we are now skiing in Zell am Zee, click on the links on the right to access the webcam and the piste map.

MONDAY MADNESS IN ZELL AM ZEE

Day 3 up in Zell am Zee seen all skiers progress from yesterday. The weather was colder and cloudier than yesterday, so armed with a good breakfast, a snood and extra woolies we all made it up to at least the first lift station. Group 1 attempted their very first black run (not always on their skis!). Group 2, led by our Ozzy instructor were skiing their first red run, all with good pace and technique. Group 3 made a huge improvement on yesterday and are progressing steadily on their parallel turns.

Awards of the day:
Fall of the day - Karla Spellman (for taking out the fencing at the side of the chairlift)
Group 1 skier of the day - Alice Pritchard (attempted her first black run and off piste, followed by wipeout in the deep snow!)
Group 2 skier of the day - Ashley Fleming (for being quiet long enough to listen to the instructor)
Group 3 skier of the day - Emma Barne (made a huge improvement on yesterday and ended the day with a beaming smile)

Tonights apres ski was the best yet ..... we caught the 'Noddy Train' up to the local ice rink - WOOP WOOP - and was entertained by a rendition of YMCA. As we approached the ice rink, it started to dump down with snow ... we soooo can't wait for tomorrows skiing on fresh powder!

Nos da pawb from Austria xxx

MESSAGE FROM ALICE PRITCHARD (AKA - SICKNOTE)

"Having a great time finally learning to ski after going for 4 years and spending most of it in bed poorly! Loving Austria, Pharmacy looks good - well stocked, just hope I don't need it! See you all soon."