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Year 10 Outdoor Education Cross Country Ski Camp – Lake Mountain

The Year 10 Outdoor Education class got out of bed ridiculously early to meet at school, so we could be on the mountain and skiing as early as possible. With a fear of missing the bus, all students were punctual, and we were on our way with plenty of time to spare. A quick stop at Marysville for last minute supplies and then a steep, slow drive saw us arrive at the Lake Mountain Village ready to collect our hire gear. We had a safety briefing from the Ski Patrol, a chance to put on some warm clothes and then it was straight to the practice slope.

Mrs Buckland ran the group through a thorough introductory session, covering the basics such as putting on your skis, how to walk uphill and, probably most importantly, how to stop in an emergency… fall over gracefully. Once the group was demonstrating some good skills, we headed off to the trails. We quickly learnt that cross country skiing involves going up and down hills, with Royston Trail ascending for what seemed like for every. At the top we stopped for lunch and snow play, with the afternoon seeing us practice more of our skills before a very welcome long descent, back down Royston Trail.

Mr Greaves thinks that this is the least ‘outdoor education’ of all of our trips and students enjoyed the luxury accommodation of Marysville Caravan Park, with hot showers, warm beds and a games room. After everyone was settled, we went for a night walk to Steavenson Falls, a spectacular waterfall which is lit up at night, a short walk from Marysville.

Day two saw a much more civil wake up time and students were tasked with making sure their cabins were clean and tidy before we headed back up the mountain. Some cabins were sparkling, others needed a bit of work before we could go.

Back on the mountain, with a little more practice, students were ready to tackle a slightly harder loop. Again, the first part of the day was mostly uphill, with a few little downs to keep our spirits up. We had lunch on the trails, which again allowed students to have a bit of snow play and sample ‘real’ snow-cones. For our final run, we linked back to Royston Trail, which allowed the students to show their improvement developed during this camp. Many students were able to complete the run and some even skied back up to have a second go at the steeper sections.

After packing up, we headed off back to school. Unfortunately there were some delays on the narrow country roads and we returned to school after dark, tired and ready for a hot shower and bed.

Mr Greaves