On the the fourth day of the School Ski Champs, whilst our Senior Girls and Juniors enjoyed some more top-quality race training, our Senior Boys took on the GS.
Tristan Hart skiing for Reading Blue Coat School
Plan B
Sadly, we’d woken up to more strong winds and lots of lift closures. Luckily, we had a Plan B. Thanks to this, we were able to relocate the races to a course further down the mountain.
Once again, we were impressed by the incredible support our groups gave each other. As the week has gone on, more and more parents have arrived to cheer on their children. It was lovely to see them rallying together (MPI cowbells in hand) with the children and their teachers to cheer on their schools!
Again, standards on the race track were incredibly high! Nearly all our Senior Boys improved between their first and second runs, with many knocking off a good chunk of time!
GCSE PE
Our videographer Sam from Blink Video, also took this opportunity to film some more footage of our GCSE PE skiers. Each of these students will go home with a video evidencing them completing a variety of skills required by their respective exam boards.
Shout Outs
Big congratulations to Augustin Bozzetto of Whitgift School who finished first with a best time of 28.88 – and after being disqualified in the first run! You can find the rest of the race times here.
We’d also like to give a shout out to independent racer, Charlie Cooper who didn’t let a nasty fall and a broken pair of skis dampen his spirits. Also not forgetting Kit Bellman from Whitgift School who lost a ski halfway through his race but finished the slalom on one ski, not missing a single gate!
Après Time!
After some more race coaching in the afternoon, another action-packed après schedule began! Sadly, the windy conditions meant the very popular airbag activity had to be cancelled. However, our marvellous Event Coordinator, Kaeti Breward, jumped into action and organised for some of our groups to go and play Laser Quest instead. Unsurprisingly, this proved very popular!
Halsbury’s Founder, Keith presenting the Mayor of Les Deux Alpes with the Best Ski Resort award
Some of our staff also enjoyed a pretty special après event of their own. After collecting the Best School Ski Resort award from the School Travel Awards in November on Les Deux Alpes’ behalf, it was time to hand over the trophy! The resort organised a drinks reception to celebrate the award. It was a great opportunity to thank the many organisations in resort who have made this event a success.
Photos
As usual, you’ll find professional race photos on Matt Birch’s website as well as some fun pictures, videos and updates from throughout the day on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
What’s Next?
Tuesday is our last full day in L2A and we plan to make the most of it! The wind has died down and more of the mountain is open today. In the morning, our Senior Girls and Juniors are taking to the Grand Slalom, whilst the Senior Boys join their instructors for more coaching.
This afternoon, our schools will go head-to-head as they pick their best skiers to represent their school in a tense inter-schools race!
This evening is one of the highlights of the whole trip – the ISSC awards ceremony. From 5pm our skiers can expect an evening full of fun, laughs, celebrations and prizes! Afterwards, we’ll decamp to the Belambra Hotel for a disco!
