Have quickly cobbled together a montage of all of Mr Reays Vid Clips.
Hope you like um’ – “Ciao” – Alberto

Check out the new tab on the blog to see all the photos we took. Any you want to have then just contact either Mrs Reay or Mr Reay at school.

Reayreay

Just a quick message to say that there will be a HD DVD made from all of the footage captured over the last week. I will do my best to get it to you asap!

This will then be available for you to copy from each respective school IT department to gain your own copy.

This time I hope to have footage of both skiers and boarders….unlike last year when it was a bit one sided towards the boarders.

Anyway hope you all slept well and don’t miss the mountains too much.

Reayreay

Well doesn’t a week just fly by when your having fun.  Today we headed back to Zauchensee for another fun filled day packed with perfect snow and beautiful weather.  Because it was our last day we ensured that the pupils were out early and the coach picked us up at 8.30 and we were at the base of the lift station by 9.15am.

The instructors whisked the groups off onto the mountain and everybody ensured they made the most of their final day.  We rode with the beginner group to see just how far they had come from their first days on the slushy nursery slopes back in Flachau. Well what a difference!  They were folllowing their instructor Jake like a weaving serpent down the slope with control and balance and I can honestly say i hardly remember any of them falling over.

The boarders and advanced skiers occasionally past us either overhead on a chairlift or in a cloud of snow as the hurtled by.  Although it was our final day and we all knew that in 4 hours we would be getting back on the coach, we all still showed no signs of being grumpy.  It was just so perfect up there.

The advanced boarders did some freestyle board/rail riding at lunch to the amusement of the spectators in the cafe.  However in the dying minutes of the afternoon one of their group members Mr Paddon unfortunately became our first on piste victim.  With only 200 yrds to go on this last home run Mr Paddon fell hard on his wrist and after a quick trip in the ambulance to the local doctors the resulting outcome was a broken arm.  Mr Paddon said “it doesn’t matter,I still got a full week on the board”, which was a great way to look at it. At lunchtime I took photosof all the groups with their instructors: -

Here is the video from the final day on the mountain: -Last day on the slopes

We returned to the hotel in the evening and Bideford presented their two awards prestigious awards.

Skier of the week: - Went to a young man who picked up the technique of skiing very quickly, he showed superb controll (by the end of the week) and maturity beyond his years whilst on the mountain and in the hotel.  When he took a fall he just brushed himself down and got back up.  Our Winner this year went to Will

Boarder of the week: – This young man has skied for 3 years and decided that it was time to learn to board.  After the first day he was moved from the beginer boarders group straight into the advanced group which only goes to show just how good he is.  With a layed back surf style on his board the winner this year went to Brad P.

Hazard and Whally award: -

Todays final awards still had plenty of nominations.  The votes were close for the Whally award but when they were processed the 5 beginner boarders who accidentally went up the completely wrong chairlift won the mankini.  They each had to wear the mankini for a section of the journey home and Lewis B had the unfortunate responsibility whilst on the ferry.  The Hazard award was close between Ben for breaking his arm and Jago (an award winner 2 times last year) who took out a wooden post whilst crashing of the side of the piste.  Jago took it with the narrowest of margins.

This has been one of my best ever school ski trips for so many reasons.  The snow has been epic; the food and accommodation superb and our Rep Julia has been so helpful. The teachers have all worked well together from both schools to make it feel like we were one big school group. However the people who make the trip such a success are the pupils who have been truly superb. They are a credit to their schools and have made our weeks such a pleasure.

For the last time, thanks for reading these posts.

Reayreay

Today we travelled to Zauchensee which is just around the valley from our hotel. It is a spectacular resort, which is at high altitude, and as a result we found some of the best snow conditions on the piste that we had ridden all week.  The resort is more of a locals resort and we noticed a considerable reduced number of skiers on the piste than at Flachau. All photos from the resort were taken by our trip photographer Elliot.

Here is a video of the action: -Today in Zauchensee

There was also so much powder at the edge of the pistes which all the groups had a chance to sample to their delight. In places it was over 1.5 feet deep.

The groups are all really accomplished skiers and boarders now and are fully capable of riding red and blue runs.  The advanced skiers and both boarders groups also rode a black run today with control and poise and this shows just how confident they are on the mountain.

Our staff from both schools rode around with both the advanced skiers with their instructor Wolfgang and the advanced boarders with their instructor Mischa.  It was superb to see the interaction between instructor and their groups and reminded me of my childhood going on my own school ski trips.

After a quick lunch break with the traditional snowball fight we headed back out and hit the slopes for the afternoon. I rode with the advanced boarders in the afternoon and they worked on riding with relaxed style and some freestyle work on the pistes.  They were ripping!

We are going out for a traditional Pizza later.  We told the kids to take it easy with their meal tonight as they needed to leave room for pizza later. Unfortunately the hotel chef had other ideas and we were served chips and spicy chicken wings along with hand made pastries.  The food has been truly superb all week and the kids have not complained once about the food, which for 37 kids is really saying something.

Tonight’s nominations for Hazard and Whalley went to Dan J for constant appalling singing with added hair flick for extra gusto, which was captured on film. His constant singing was making all who heard it want to hurl him down the nearest black run.  The hazard nomination went to………me!!!!!!  Whilst ridding an off piste line through some trees I may of accidentally fallen off a small cliff and landed on my head. This was captured by myself on my camera and can be seen here: -Reayreay meets cliff

Last day tomorrow. We are going back to Zauchensee.  I can’t wait to show off my new vest!!

Reayreay

Sorry the Blog has not been updated till this morning but we did not get back from the thermal baths till 11.15pm last night.  So here it is today.

Jago turned 18 today and as if by magic the skies cleared this morning to leave stunning blue sky and a foot of fresh powder on the top of Flachau. What a birthday present!

We got on the coach early today and with a great team effort we were on the gondola and whisked up to meet our instructors before 10.00 am.  The groups could not wait to get out onto the perfectly groomed pistes and fresh powder.

We decided to ride with the beginner boarders to see how they were improving and give them some support. They were superb and were linking turns on both blue and red pistes. They looked like they had been doing it for much longer than 3 days and we had a blast bombing about with them.

The advanced skiers went on a ski-trek into the back country and made some fresh tracks amongst the snow laden trees.

The advanced boarders worked on freestyle tricks on the piste and had a wail of a time in the fresh soft snow.

The beginner skiers really started to motor and covered a great expanse of the mountain today.

We are off to the thermal baths of Bad Hof Gastein now for a relax in the thermal spar. They also have some cool slides and you can go outside and lay in the snow then jump back in the hot water for a sensation like no other. Ideal for those tired and weary muscles.

Hazard and Whally nominations today included a vast variety of excellent incidents including crashes, spills and hilarious comments. When the votes were cast Jake got the Whally award for skiing down completely the wrong piste and having to be repatriated to us via the Austrian ski school.

Hazard went to Hayden who said just before exiting the chairlift “I a m not very good at getting off these things”. Seconds later he fell on his face and had to crawl on his hands and knees whilst 3 chairlifts slowly went over his head. Hilarious moment.

Here are two videos from the last 2 days shwing the conditions and what we have been getting up to: -

Ridding with advanced skiers and boarders in Wargarin: -Yesterdays Moments

Crusing the freash powder with the beginner boarders: – Riding with the beginner boarders

Reayreay

Sorry for the late blog today but we have only just got in from ice-skating in Wargrain.  I have captured lots of footage but have no time to create a big montage video tonight so I will try and get one tomorrow for you all.  There is a little vid down in the Hazard nomination section further down the page.

Todays has brought even more snow to the mountains and replenished the tired and weary slopes that we enjoyed on our first day. The snow at the top of the mountain in Flachau did not stop falling for the entire day and at times it was difficult to see the bumps on the piste (the excuse Mr May used for why he fell twice today which is highly unusual)  Tonight we have travelled around to the other side of the mountain and it has snowed heavily there throughout the afternoon and into the evening.  There was half a foot of fresh powder around the ice rink and if it continues there could be a foot of powder at the top of the mountain tomorrow.

Today the beginner boarders and skiers all took the gondola up to the top plateau of Flachau and had their first taste of using a chair lift which was great. They were really pleased to ride new runs and see what the other groups had been raving about in previous days.  The intermediate skiers and boarders covered large areas of the mountain throughout the day with the odd venture into the fresh snow with the inevitable wipeout occurring in the process.  One noticeable mention goes to Allanah who skied into a fence and got tangled up only for Mrs Marshall to arrive and instead of helping the poor young lady in distress, decided to burst into hysterics and then keel over herself.

The advanced boarders and skiers were taken on a ski tour and dropped down the back of Flachau into Wargrain and then caught a bus at the base to the opposite side of the valley and then ascended the next resorts mountain to reach a new area they had yet to ski.  The first run down was truly epic and even left Lillie speechless which is saying something. The snow squeaked under foot and made no sound as we sped across its surface like white velvet. It was a truly awesome run.  To top things off Mr Reay knew a famous café that sold the best Doughnuts with every filling under the sun. Needles to say we all stuffed our faces.

Hazard Nominations tonight included Dan J for an original new fashionable haircut found in most monasteries, Charlie R for an extreme head plant whilst pulling of a gnarly jump which left his head spinning (he’s ok now) and finally Liam who received a double nomination for biting a blood blister with his own teeth which exploded into his mouth……. yuck and then crashing at full pelt into a bright orange aluminous safety netting and ending up in a heap. Check the actual crash right here: -Liam’s crash And the winner went to Liam

Lets hope it keeps snowing all night and we can get our fill of powder again tomorrow.Night night

Reayreay

We were not forecast snow so it was a pleasant surprise to be awoken by Mrs Reay knocking on the Bideford pupil’s doors at 7.00am in frantic excitement shouting “it’s snowing, it’s snowing!”  As the pupils opened their curtains they were met with the landscape being transformed over night into a scene from a Christmas postcard.

Everyone was keen to get skiing and boarding as soon as possible, so we all got down to the coach and loaded up the boots and gear as quickly possible. We were whisked over to Flachau once again where the groups met their instructors and got straight into their lessons.

You could see that the fresh snow had renewed the lower slopes and as the advanced and intermediate skiers and boarders climbed the mountain on the Super-jet chairlift, you could see that around 2-3 inches of fresh powder had fallen.  Throughout the day the snow continued to fall and it wasn’t till 3.00pm that the sun began to appear making the visibility 10 times better.

The lower slopes remained a bit heavy but the beginner skiers and boarders showed no evidence of finding the conditions difficult. They have all now picked up the basics and are perfectly capable of going further up the mountain to a new area tomorrow where they should find the snow far more light and responsive and the views truly breath taking. They even started to try the jumps at the side of the piste.

The advanced skiers and boarders all managed to blag free orange hats from a promo event happening on the piste and have since all begun to wear them. They had already secured 15 hats before the lady promoter had even started her advertising campaign.

Both advanced groups rode the long red runs on the back side of Flachau down to Wargrain which is a whole new resort. The groups skied past the Hotel that Bideford College stayed in last Easter and many fond memories from last year flooded back.

We once again skied till the very last lift and stopped off at the Aldi supermarket to stock up on sweets and crisps……..and that was just the staff.  Tonight we will eating our evening meal at 7.00pm and then heading into the sportshall for some basketball and other games.

Hazard nominations came in thick and fast and some were truly superb. Brad P took out 4, 6 yr old kindergarten skiers in a vicious boarding assault, Chris S walked into his room to find that the room now had a round table and everyone was asleep. Only then did he realise that he had not gone up enough floors and in fact had walked into a Dutch schools’s room. But the winner tonight was Little Will who singlehandedly had become sick of the queues at the nursery tow and decided to crash straight through the queue to the front. Classic!!!

Finally here is a video on what it was like on the slopes today: -It’s Snowing!

Reayreay

We awoke early and were all down at breakfast for 7.45am. The breakfast buffet was superb with a huge range of cheese and meats. There was hot chocolate, coffee and tea as well as cereal.  Everyone ate their fill and made their packed lunch and by 9.00 we were all loading the coach. We took a short coach ride to Flachau, which is a bigger resort than Radstadt with good nursery slopes for the beginners to get their first taste of skiing on snow.

We were quickly sorted into our ski groups and then the instructors took each of their groups onto the mountain.  Most groups initially stayed on the lower nursery slopes whilst the instructors assessed their abilities and got them all familiarized with the conditions.  They then skied with their group for 2 hours.

The beginner skiers and boarders quickly picked up the basics and some excelled looking like they had been on snow for weeks rather than days.  The lower slopes quickly turned to slush but once you got to around 1000m the pistes were in excellent condition.

The groups skied all morning then met for lunch in the beautiful sunshine and then headed back onto the mountain for a further 3 hours. By the end of the day everyone had big smiles on their faces and we returned to the hotel for a swim and our evening meal.

Today is Lewis B’s birthday and he was presented with a stunning birthday cake brought from home. We all sang Happy Birthday and then everyone stuffed their faces with delicious cake.

Nominations for Hazard of the day came in thick and fast and the shortlist included Katie for dropping a ski from the chairlift, Emily for asking her Ski instructor “have you skied very much” and when he replied in broken English with an Austrian accent Emily followed with “oww your Australian!” Our final nomination went to Josh D who was given multiple nominations for terrorizing most of the rear of the coach on the way to the resort, with spontaneous singing, plastic bottle rampage and allowing absolutely no one to sleep.  When the votes were cast Josh D came out an unanimous winner and was dutifully awarded the Yellow Hazard vest, which must be worn at all times until the next winner receives the vest tomorrow night.

Have a look at the pictures and the video below to see what’s been going on: -Day 1 on the slopes

Well as I write this blog we are still aboard the coach and 60 kilometers from Salzburg.   It is now 4.22pm and we were due to arrive in the resort at 2.00pm. This gives you a clear indication on just how busy the roads have been on the continent.   It seems like everyone from both France and Germany have decided to go skiing this weekend.

The journey didn’t get off to the best of starts with an impromptu visit to Bideford College car park for 45mins due to the driver needing a rest break. This put us behind schedule and would you believe it we missed our ferry and had to wait a further 1.5 hours at Dover.  Then while driving through Germany two lovely Police officers decide to pull us over and check our driver’s taco graphs. After a quick check they decided to fine the drivers on a ridiculous technicality because they had been driving 100kph without the appropriate certificate!!!!! The mind boggles; anyway this only put us further behind schedule.

The students and staff are all in good spirits and have already sampled most of Adam Sandler’s back catalogue with a brief dip into the world of Will Farrell.

We have just received news from the resort that it has started to snow. This has got everyone excited and we are starting to see small hills from the motorway.  There are pockets of snow at the side of the road in shady parts of the countryside but no large expanse of snow visible yet.

Update at 10.30pm

We have arrived at 6.30pm. We lost most of the traffic at the Innsbruck junction and finally had clear roads all the way to the resort. As we entered the Sportwelt Region the snow depth rapidly increased and in places at the base of the valley 20cm lay across the fields.  The mountains have cleared and the tops were lit with the last beams of sunlight as the sun set. A beautiful way to arrive.  The coach has quickly been unloaded and and Budehaven headed to ski fit whilst Bideford went to eat.  Then they swapped round and eventually everyone had top of the range ski hire equipment and bulging bellies after some superb food.

The hotel is trully stunning and both groups have already had a swim and a swimming pool volleyball competition. Now everyone has finally retired to the rooms tired but smiling.  We are heading to Flachau tomorrow. Gonna be epic!!!!

Here is a little video of some of the trip.We have arrived

Reayreay