Ski fields welcome Year 11

Year 11 PDHPE

Filled with excitement we departed Cecil Hills High School for our trip to the snow. For some of us it would be the first time we had ever seen snow and were able to learn how to ski or snowboard.

Our first stop was at Goulburn for lunch where many of us enjoyed some McDonalds and really nice pies from the bakery. It was then on to Cooma for another stop to stretch our legs, check out some snow gear available for purchase and more eating.

Drop Bears

Departing from Cooma we were ahead of schedule to arrive at Bungarra Alpine Centre which would be our accommodation for the next three days. On the way we passed Lake Jindabyne and our bus driver Richard informed us about some history of the lake and other landmarks. We saw our first snow on the outskirts of Jindabyne and students remarked about seeing native animals including Kangaroos. Some students even indicated that we were in the outback, much to the amusement of Miss Saliba, Mr Dunn and Richard (Watch out for those ‘Drop Bears’ guys!)

On arrival we met our Snow Coordinator (Paddy) who took us up to the hire shed to get our snow gear for the following two days. We settled into the lodge for the night where we played some pool and ping pong before we went to sleep ready for an early start.

After a very early wake up it was up to breakfast and then back to the lodge to get our gear ready for the day. The snow report was good - three degrees with a chance of snowfalls throughout the day.

Friday Flats

Arriving at Thredbo we were met with some light snowfall and a few snowball fights whilst waiting for our first lesson on Friday Flats. Once the lessons began many of us were soon aware of how challenging skiing and boarding actually were. Needless to say there were plenty of falls and laughs. By the end of the day many of us began to pick up the skills and some of the boarders headed up the Gunbarrel lift with Mr Dunn to board some green runs over at Merrits and even a blue run known as High Noon. Feeling very tired and hungry it was back to the lodge for hot showers and dinner.

Snowgum and Kosciuszko Lifts

Wednesday began with tidying up the rooms and packing our bags ready for a day on the mountain and the drive home. We arrived to a sunny and much warmer day in the snow resort. The morning consisted of a lesson before we had the rest of the day to board and ski with friends of similar abilities. A group of the best boarders accompanied Mr Dunn to the terrain parks and over to the other side of the mountain to some of the runs on the Snowgum and Kosciuszko lifts. Some of us even managed to head to the highest lifted point in Australia! Miss Saliba took some of the girls skiing and boarding over at Merrits and on Friday Flats. After a big day of boarding amd skiing we farewelled Thredbo as we headed back to Bungarra to return our gear and make the trip home.

Thanks

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this trip and enjoyed some amazing snow conditions. Thanks to Miss Schell for all of the hardwork she put into the organisation of the trip. We would also like to thank Miss Saliba and Mr Dunn for a fun trip and putting up with us for three days. It is an experience none of us will forget and lifelong memories were made.

written by Year 11 PDHPE students