Over the Easter holidays, Chigwell School took a group of year 12 students to Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria on a ski trip. It is very common for the snow at the end of season to be slushy or the slopes to have a thin cover of snow. However, the staff and students at Chigwell School definitely did not expect there to not be any snow. During the week the weather reached almost 20 degrees Celsius, and the sun was shining everyday.

 

The trip started with an early morning meet at Stansted Airport where students said goodbye to parents and began the journey to the Austrian state of Salzburg. When the group landed, the temperature on the tarmac was 24°c and the sun was shining. The four-hour journey to Saalbach was filled with beautiful views of Salzburg, Zell am See and the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately, on arrival to Saalbach, sprits dropped as the coach entered the village and there was no snow in sight. When the group reached their accommodation the only snow visible was on the higher slopes, at the top of the mountains. Regardless, they got settled in their rooms and had their skis and boots fitted in preparation for the week ahead, no matter how disappointing the skiing was looking. 

 

The first day of skiing saw the students split into two groups; advanced and beginners. During the day the advanced group went higher into the mountains, coming across some snow, wet and slushy, but snow nonetheless. The same cannot be said for the afternoon, where, with the closure of chair lifts due to an oncoming storm, meant the group had to make their way down the mountain on a closed slope. Closed for the right reason. While at the top of the slope there was more snow than grass, the final 400 metres of piste was a green and brown field. “We had to walk down some of the way on our skis before we gave up and took them off. There was so little snow that it was easier to walk down in ski boots than try and make our way down on the metre wide patch of snow that remained”, said Hannah, a student in the advanced group. The beginner group had slightly better luck in the sun that afternoon. Confined to one beginner slope, they had snow, but the heat meant the snow quickly became thick and slushy. Disheartened from a day of bad skiing the group set off to the town of Zell am See to spend the evening at the swimming pool, and walk around the town. 

The following day the weather had turned, “when we stepped off the cable car in the morning we couldn’t see five feet in front of our faces. Everything was white and it was snowing really heavily”, Hannah told me with a smile. That day, only the advanced group saw good snow, as the beginner group stayed on the same beginner slope as the one before. 

The rest of the week saw the snow conditions slowly get worse, “we had everything, fresh powder, ice, slush, mud, we even skied down some grass slopes by the end of the week!”, Hannah showed me a video of the advanced group leaving the snow on the slope for a small off-piste that was a green hill, making the best out of a bad situation. Regardless of the conditions, Chigwell School were entertained with different excursions through the week; nine-pin bowling, pizza, ice hockey, and some table tennis matches in the hostel. 

 

Despite the last run of the season being down a grassy hill, the staff and students at Chigwell School seemed to have an amazing time, whether they were seasoned skiers, or if this was the first time they’d ever donned a pair of skis.