Whitworth students skiers take to slopes

Whitworth Community High School skiing trip

A spectacular skiing trip saw 43 students taking to the slopes of Austria.

Whitworth Community High School makes the trip every two years and Headboy Alex Park has been lucky enough to go to Austria three times.

Alex, 16, has been a keen snowboarder since he was six and has tried out the slopes at Ski Rossendale and is a regular with friends and family at Manchester’s Chill Factore.

He said: “It was brilliant. I started snowboarding when I six on holiday in The Netherlands and I have never tried skis.

“The instructor was amazing and we went off the top slope on the first day.”

Novice skier Lucy Farrell, 13, was the only Year 8 to attend the trip but she had a great time and made new friends.

“On the first day I fell a lot and by the end of the week I was quite good, but I still fell quite a lot,” she said.

“However I did improve my skiing skills and my mum is now talking about a skiing holiday.”

She also enjoyed a host of social activities. ‘Après ski’ they got to socialise in a spa hotel with heated outdoor swimming pools, where student Ewan Nicholas celebrated his birthday. They went to an ice hockey game and bowling.

For 14-year-old Sian Morton it was her second time on the trip but exhaustion on the last day meant she didn’t slow down quickly enough on a fast ski run and ended up twisting her ankle.

“I think it was just because I was tired and my reactions were not as good as at the start of the holiday,” she said. “At least it was on the last day and not the first.”

Trip organiser Science teacher Dave Duxbury said: “The students had four hours ski and snowboard instruction every day from an accredited Austrian Ski School.

“Many of the students had never swam in an outdoor heated pool at -5C with snow all around them. Many students and parents said they can’t wait until the 2017 Ski Tour.”