With icy snow, rain and slushy conditions “nothing [was] gonna stop us” (Heart, 1987) from having a great time! Each day began with a downhill walk to the run and then lessons atop Halley’s Comet Chair. After lessons and a quick break, it was skiing all day with friends in ability groupings. Staff changed from group to group. There was an intrepid course for the advanced skiers while all other groups had their own challenging courses. At the end of each day people celebrated their stacks and earned a stackname (nickname) to celebrate this term’s theme of grit. By the end of camp everyone had a nick name. Even on the rainy day, students went out and challenged themselves to learn skills. At the lodge there were inter-year level board games and a never-ending Monopoly card game. Students made snow people and cleaned the lodge without complaint after each meal. The most heartening thing was to see students who had not been skiing before the camp be able to land a jump on the final day. – Damien Green, Senior School Teacher

Below are some reflections from students about the camp:

This camp pushed my boundaries like I could never have imagined. From interacting with other year levels to learning how to parallel turn from the first day, this is a camp I will never forget. My friendships have grown stronger and my fear has weakened. I never knew flying down slopes would be so much fun. The teachers never failed to make my our day, playing Monopoly and hanging out in the common room was the best fun. We were given nick names by Damien based on how we stacked in the snow, for example my name was ‘Splitzer’ because if I went too fast I would do the splits. There was other stack names such as Stackasaurus Rex and the Fliposaur. This camp is one of the best memories I will ever have. This year and onwards, I will always try to get accepted into this camp so I can keep the memories going. – Koby, Year 7

Going into this camp I was nervous as I have never been skiing before! Once I hit the slopes for the first time I fell over a lot but by the next day I could go down many runs without falling, even a blue! One highlight of mine was after skiing when everyone sat in the living room together and we had so much fun, I also really enjoyed the night walk when we walked down a run. On day four I was so sad to be leaving but It was my favourite day by far because we got to ski with friends and with my group we went down so many Fox Trails which are little paths with so many jumps which I had so much fun landing. This camp has been such an amazing experience and opportunity and I’m so grateful I got to learn how to ski and go on this camp. – Abi, Year 8

Being able to participate in this camp was an incredible experience that I thoroughly loved. Waking up early, walking to the mountains carrying snow gear, having lessons and then skiing the entire day with friends was a blast. My highlight of the camp was trying new runs with Damien and a few others and being able to complete the jumps. Another highlight was the night walk when a group of us had a snow fight on Wombats run. Overall, everyone had an awesome time bonding with one another and improving their skills. – Simone, Year 10