Not a huge post today as I thought I’d let the pictures below speak for themselves.
Yet another beautiful day up in the clean mountain air but we’ve got a few walking wounded this afternoon. NOTHING SERIOUS, Just a bruised finger, a couple of twisted knees & a twisted shoulder. Everyone is A -OK, just a little on the tired side.
Hopefully there will be enough time tomorrow to post some more photos from tonight’s awards presentations.
After much deliberation the Skiier of the week award went to Matt Cann for his all round brilliant attitude and approach.
Boarder of the week award went to Alex Ely for developing into an absoloutly cracking little snowboarder with a perfect attitude and always a BIG smile.
Wally of the day went to Wes’The Wezmysta’ Knowler for falling off a jump & into a stream.
Hazard of the day went to Kieryn AGAIN for crashing into Mikey Merrick who fell on top of Wes in the stream and then just skiied off and left the scene of the crime leaving them stranded.
1) The WHOLE gang
2) The Beginners team
3). The intermediate crew
4). The advanced posse
5). Last but not least the Snowboard crew. “Stylin”
Will try to write a final post tomorrow before we leave at about 5pm
Until then……
Ciao
Alberto
The snowboarders on top of the world.
Yet another stunning day in the Tyrol with blue skies & sunshine from the start.
Today’s reports come straight from the horses’ mouth so to speak (No offence intended as NONE of our students look like horses, well….not many of them anyway)
Asked for a quote to sum up their day this is what they said…………
Matt : “Whoops were the hell are YOU going?”
Danny T: “What are you doing? Do it again & you go to beginners group!”
Will: “It was absolutely fantastic day BUT I nearly broke my leg!”
Colin: “Danger signs are dangerous”
Joe: “Solid defending Miss Bloxham”
Arnie: “An interesting, painful yet awesomely fun day”
Alex: “Oh the left BUTT!
Hannah: “Ice burns bl**dy hurt”
Wes: “Whoah! that jump was a lot bigger than I thought”
Mike: ”Make one up for me I’m too tired to think”
Dani: “It was absolutely amazing. Take my pole we’ll make it, I swear”
Nathan: “Watch out Dan’s coming”.
Emily: “Watch out Chelsea’s coming”
Tash: “They are the nicest goggles I’ve ever seen”.
Jesse: ”The FUNNIEST day EVER”.
Ben: ”A GREAT day”
Kieryn: “I’m hungry”
Miles: ”Fab”
Kirsty: “ Hot, Fun & pretty damn good”
Hannah: “I felt ill”
Elliot: “Thanks for locking me in my room guys” B
radley: “Hot….TOO HOT ”
Kasey: ”The snow was a bit too icy for comfort this morning”
Katie: “It was quite cool”
Chelsea: “Mind Blowing, do I really have to go home?”
Emma: “Pretty amazing”
Jess: ”Skitastic”
Sophie: “Hot & Cold?????”
Rowan: “I wipe out two people EVERY day”
Josie: “Tired, Achey & tired”
Emzo: “Hi Mum”
Steve (Bex): “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”
Beth: “Skiings like bowling, always a strike!”
Mark: “BEST day of skiing yet”
Nat: “Ohhh you idiot! I wanted to jump that”
Foxy: “Didn’t even hurt”
Tom: “4 ½ feet of air! Well when you add up every 6 inches”
Charlie: “Fun day apart from the faceplant in the snow”
Carl: “It’s nice to crash in soft snow but….not early in the morning when you fell like your legs are gonna blow up”
Mr Palmer: “Success!, I didn’t nearly splatter my brains all over the piste today”
Mrs Reay: “Snow badgers were out in force today”
Mrs Bloxham: “At last my pro ski skills have returned”
Mr Bloxham: “Progress, first time I was able to bomb it in a straight line”
Mr Reay: “Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” (he was fast asleep when asked)
Mr Knowler: “Cough, splutter, wheeze”
Mr Funning: “What do you mean my ski wear isn’t fashionable anymore, it’s only ten years old”
We are off bowling in Innsbruck this evening so no time for Wally & Hazard nominations on the blog yet, we’ll update that as soon as possible……….
UPDATED 9th April 9.52pm
Wally of the day went to: Arnie for crashing into an ‘Achtung’ warning sign with his manly bits & also dropped a pole from the chair lift.
Hazard of the day went to: Kieran for crashing into small Austrian boy & nearly making him cry.
The top scorer in the bowling session went to Matt ‘Triple’ Cann with an awesome 136
Until then.
Ciao Alberto
The beginners group not looking like beginners at all!
Tonight’s post is bought to you from the crazed & warped mind of Arnie “The pen is mightier than the sword” Knowles. Away you go Arnie…..
I awoke at the crack of dawn and as my unstable bed wobbled I thought to myself “Is that aroma Colin again?”. I gazed bleary eyed at the cloudless sky whilst eating soggy sugar puffs wondering what the day may bring. Skiing was the obvious answer but one never knows.
After booting up we went left at the bottom of the chair lift. What a surprise!
Riding to the top with Nina my Ski instructor I was waiting for reassurance as we were just about to ride a black mogul run for the first time and all she said was “I hope I don’t have to call the helicopter”. Dissatisfied I gingerly skied down. I’ll explain what it’s like….
Imagine strapping two slippery, plastic things to your feet and sliding down the stairs in your house which are covered in sleeping dogs which you cannot ride over. Does that paint a realistic enough picture for you?
Next I shot a video as we went down one of the red runs on the mountain and nearly killed myself in the process by inadvertently riding up a snow bank off piste.
Lunch back at the hotel.
I ate half of my soup and started on my main with the intention of returning to the soup but then the Gold Lame clad waitress removed it from the table when I wasn’t looking.
In the afternoon we skied with the beginners’ group for a bit while our instructor helped them out and then we made it down to the end of the run through some off piste routes.
I was stylishly skiing, if I say so myself, amongst the jump field (An area of snow covered in multiple jumps & bumps) when I looked up & saw Colin E get up close & personal with a rather attractive tree after popping out of a hole! Wes K was in front of me when he managed to whiz out of control in deep snow which forced me to collide with him and end up head first in the rather deep snow.
Now we are travelling on the coach to go shopping in Innsbruck, accompanied by some rather extraordinary music, who knows what wonders are in store for us. As we drive into the legendary city I have to say that all in all it’s been a “Wunderbar” day so far in averagely awesome Austria.
Today’s Wally & Hazard awards
Wally Nominations: Elliot for blocking the loo 3 times, Danny T for putting his ski boots on the wrong feet. Charlie for putting his clothes on inside out & back to front TWICE.
Hazard Nominations: Elliot for whole catalogue of team wipe-outs, Will for skiing over Colin’s ski’s & for skiing “Like a Grandad”, Chelsea for wiping out numerous snowboarders & injuring herself with the scars to prove it. Bradley took out his own instructor.
And the winners are…..
Wally of the day goes to: Elliot “Danger to shipping” Horwood.
Hazard of the day goes to: Brad “The instructor destroyer” Parsons.
The beginners group doing Snow Badger impersonations!
WOW! What a day! Bright & sunny again right from the start and although virtually everyone woke with sore muscles it was all forgotten as soon as we got out on the snow. Mrs Reay spent the morning with the beginners group & watched them progress steadily after a few initial tumbles but with lot’s of smiles all round. Mr Reay hung with the intermediate posse as they got their first proper taste of the mountain pistes, more smiles there as in fact there were with the Snowboarders who should be up on the mountain proper for the first time tomorrow.
We were back for an early lunch at 11.30 and all out again on the snow at half twelve.
Mr Palmer & Alberto spent a hugely enjoyable afternoon, skiing & snowboarding respectively, with the advanced group under the guidance of ski instructor Nina whose relaxed & informal approach is a firm favourite with the group. They’ve enjoyed being allowed to choose which routes they want to follow with her observing & picking up on those little technical errors and advising when needed. We stopped for a mid afternoon drink at the Sunnalm Café, half way down the Schonboden run (See the piste maps on the Lizum Website) The group are working well together & seem to be enjoying it immensely, so much so they even wanted more after the timetabled period and did another run with Mr Reay! The Austrian snow badgers appeared to have it in for Alberto this afternoon, nipping at his board & ankles on numerous occasions sending him rag dolling down the pistes. Oh how Mr Palmer laughed!
The beginners’& intermediate groups returned to the hotel beaming with accomplishment this afternoon too so it would be fair to say “A cracking day on the snow for all”.
Nominations for Hazard & Wally of the day are as follows:
Hazards: Jesse knocked over 5 people in one go, Emily wiped out 7 during the day. Elliot for wiping out his group while overtaking them, Natalie crashed into another school group, Arnie for consistently knocking people over all day even his instructor! & Karl for wiping out ½ snowboard group.
Wallys: Casey taking ½ an hour to get a ski on. Dan T for chucking snowball at instructor and complaining about having to snowplough then falling over straight away.
Karl for front-flipping on snowboard when saying ‘hello’ to Alex, and falling off numerous times.
Arnie (AGAIN! 7th day running) for skiing into a tree!
Today’s winners are……
Hazard: Jess!
Wally: Danny T
After dinner tonight we will be running an Olympic Games night!
Pix to follow tomorrow.
Tonight’s blog post is bought to you by the lovely people at the hotel Olympia who are letting us use their laptop! Yay!!
Today we hit the snow for the first time like a bunch of crazed eager beavers. Breakfast was timetabled for 8.00 but virtually everyone had stuffed their faces on mountains of cereal, rolls & Brioche by then and just couldn’t wait to get outside! Everyone was divided in to groups (Snowboarders, intermediate & beginners. Skiers, beginners, intermediate & advanced) relating to these skill levels and then introduced to their instructors. Staff explored the piste’s & runs to the east & west of the highest run Hoadl house in the morning with the advanced group following in their footsteps in the afternoon. We were all suitable refuelled at lunchtime with a hot meal back at the hotel (It’s amazing how much everyone ate!)
It’s been very sunny most of the day with a bit of cloud cover later in the afternoon. It even managed to start snowing at the top by the end of the afternoon. However it’s been warm & the sun cream is a necessity, especially down on the nursery slopes.
Mr Knowler (Alberto) has already nominated himself for the 1st Ever Homer Simpson award (Staff only) after leaving his helmet & bag at the bottom of the ski lift just after running back to the hotel before the afternoon session because he’d left his ski-pass behind. DOH!
The first coveted ‘Wally’ & ‘Hazard of the day awards…….
Wally Nominations:
‘Arnie’ crashed into ski-bank
Will skied past someone’s scarf & only told them about it at the bottom.
Hazard Nominations:
Lewis Foxy Fox who wiped out his whole group & broke a Ski too!
Colin for showing off and nearly crashing into an Austrian Grandad
And the winners are:
Wally - Arnie
Hazard - Lewis
After supper this evening we have had an hours chillout session & then we are off down the mountain to the nearby Village of Axams to go swimming.
Until tomorrow
Ciao
Alberto
Hello & good evening from Axamer Lizum. We all arrived safe & sound about 1.30 pm local time to beautiful snowy mountains high above Innsbruck and warm sun. The journey here was pretty smooth really with only the M25 slow. The Euro tunnel train left at about 8.20 and we all tried to get some shuteye after watching a couple of DVD’s as we crossed France in the dark. As usual sleep was hard to come by, interrupted by the usual mass fidgeting about & fits of giggles while trying to get comfy. (Especially all the girls in the back!) Most people finally dropped off at about 2.30am. Woke up to early morning sun just outside Munich. Although not far as the crow flies the last bit from Munich to Axamer seemed to take ages.
The Hotel is bigger than anywhere we’ve stayed before but very clean & tidy and with brilliant views all around. The ski & boot fitting session was a breeze with our by now well rehearsed plan swinging into action. Everyone sorted within an hour. (Record time we think.)
It might be warm & sunny down at the Hotel but the word is that the snow conditions are still good just a little bit higher up.
This is quite an amazing setting and although we are all a bit travel weary I’m pretty sure we’ll all be raring to go first thing tomorrow.
Supper at 5.30 then a quiet-ish (If that’s at all possible) evening.
More soon, Ciao for now
Alberto
Here are the latest snow conditions & Weather forecast info for Axams.
Just HOW excited are we about going?
Ciao
Alberto
My kind of Board meeting (Above)
The date has now been set for the next Ski Trip Meeting.
Come along to find out all the really, REALLY important stuff about the trip on Wednesday the 25th Of February, 5.30 in Stucley Canteen. (The meeting will last approx 60 mins).
Download the meeting letter HERE
See you there.
Ciao Alberto