2023 Ski Tour
Koonung Secondary College
Snow Tour 2023
During the first week of August Koonung Secondary College students and staff went on the much-anticipated Snow Tour. An eager group of forty-eight Year 10/11 students spent 3 days and 3 nights at Mt Buller packed full of adventure.
Huge thanks go out to the dedicated staff of Trevor Vanden Dreisen, Claire Murray, Chloe Stimar, and Ella Cogger who along with ex KSC student leaders Lynden Gare, Isaac Moores, Bonnie Aylen, James Robinson and Elissa Schembri made this a fantastic time and many memories for years to come.
Challenging activity camps are vital for student growth, connection and resilience. And as tour leader I would like to acknowledge and thank the wonderful attitudes and behaviours of all the students.
Snow much fun,
Amy Mclellan(Tour Leader)
Below is a recount of our days:
Tuesday - Cooper
The whole of Tuesday, all I could think about was going up to the snow. Every class was spent talking and looking forward to skiing or snowboarding, we were all nervous, but excited to get up there. As soon as the bell went at 3.15, everyone was rushing to the office to collect their bags, but I was rushing to the toilet because I knew I wasn’t going to last a few hours on the bus without a toilet stop!
The bus ride up was very relaxing and warm, but no one could hide their excitement. When we got to the top of the mountain, every student looked out the window to see the snow. We all were amazed and so keen to get out there the next day. But the harsh reality of how freezing it was took over when we stepped out onto the road.
We all rushed inside to the accommodation and got ready to eat. Tonight, on the menu was spaghetti, it was quite nice, but I do remember going back up to the room and pigging out on some snacks with Harry and Beau. We got all our clothes and gear ready for the next morning and jumped into bed. I remember lying there, being so eager to get on the snowboard for the first time, but that didn’t last long because Harry started vibrating the room with his snoring!
Wednesday - Romy
Our first day of skiing and snowboarding began with an early start, with most people waking up at around 6am, and breakfast at 6.45. There were lots of choices for breakfast, and once we were done, we headed over to get fitted with our boots and helmets, as well as our skis and snowboards. We then began our ski lessons from the base of the chairlifts. My group was the intermediate skiers, and even though we had skied before it was really great to get a refresher on Bourke Street, which was Mt Buller’s main run. We were able to do some free skiing after our lesson, and explored some of the other runs such as Wombat, Little Buller, and Summit. After all this skiing, we were all ready for lunch, where we got to choose from a selection of mains and sides, as well as juice and cake. After lunch there was more free skiing, and a couple people from my group even had the opportunity of seeing Ms Murray stack after attempting a jump. Everyone was so tired and in a bit of pain after skiing for the whole day, but my friends and I still played lots of table tennis in the games room afterwards. At night we went to buy some snacks for the next day, and went to the community centre to talk and play card games with our friends.
Overall, our first day was so much fun, and I really recommend ski camp to anyone who is interested!
Thursday - Nana
On Thursday, we began with an early start, greeted by a foggy and chilly morning. Despite some low visibility, the day was a sublime experience, spent exploring multiple runs and soaking in the beautiful scenery. With my group, we were able to go down paths that extended from the runs, specifically Family Run. This was one of my favourite runs as there was an isolated trail where you could travel as fast as possible all while immersing yourself in nature, which made the experience even more surreal. During my group lessons, we learnt the fundamental basis of skiing such as learning how to stop by using the pizza position and how to use a t-bar. Despite the many attempts and bruises, my group was able to persevere and reach the bottom of the run successfully while laughing with each other. At sunset, we all gathered back towards our hotel where we enjoyed a thrilling movie to end our rather wild day. Along with watching the movie, groups of us brought several snacks to enjoy during the film, such as 12 hot chocolates made with a group of my friends (would not try again…). Overall the entire experience, which was accompanied by all the wonderful teachers and staff leaders, was incredible and I will cherish all the memories made. Thank you for everything!
Friday - Chloe and Jess
The last day of ski camp was quite a day to remember, starting out as the average day in our ski gear and ending in a bang. Melbourne's hectic weather reputation really pulled through as the ski lifts were shut down for the day because of strong winds, leaving us with Buller Central to explore. We were given the opportunity to roam around where some people went tobogganing, some ate donuts, and some had a hot chocolate, before heading into Buller AirZone. The year 10's and year 11's battled each other in a game of multiball before going on the trampolines and rock climbing. After lunch at ABOM, we had free time again before leaving for Melbourne. We stopped at Yea for dinner before again setting off hoping for a quick ride home, but of course our bad luck got the best of us again. Our 7pm pick up time got pushed back to 9pm due to an incident on the road. Our back emergency window got smashed as we went over a pothole leaving shattered glass everywhere, and a bus full of agitated people singing. We were left stranded at Yea for more than an hour before another bus arrived and we set off again back home.
Despite the bumps in our journey (literally), we had a blast, and we give our biggest thanks to all the leaders and teachers for giving up their time to make this trip possible!
