Bye bye Brighton

So, our time in Utah is almost at an end. We are sad to leave but looking forward to seeing everyone that we've been missing at home. It's been an eventful couple of days on the slopes. Most of the group continued to have a fantastic time discovering new territory at Brighton, however, we've had a few casualties. This was the reason for the missing blog yesterday! We wanted to wait until all parents had been contacted. The good news is no broken bones but we have requested a few aisle seats for the return plane journey back home for sprained knees. We night skied yesterday which was amazing as we more or less had the slopes to ourselves. Tonight, we have unwound with crazy golf, fairground rides and arcades. The students continue to be brilliant and fingers crossed there will be no dramas tomorrow!

New snow

Our third day at Brighton started with a cloudy morning. We only saw glimpses of the sun we have become accustomed to, but that did not stop us. A new sprinkling of snow fell as we hit the slopes after lunch and the sun came out to play again just before we finished for the day. So we skied and boarded in three different conditions in one day - no sweat! Some of the students' highlights of today were; skiing off piste, skiing through trees, the skiers and boarders all headed to new lifts and seeing the teachers fall over (that always gets a laugh!).
We got back from the mountain with enough time for a quick swim and now it's off for dinner and a cinema evening.
We have a little lie in tomorrow morning before we head to a mall on the way to the mountain for the afternoon and NIGHT SKI!

Grizzlies lost but HWS are still happy

Another great day on the slopes, massive improvements all round. The sun has been shining all day and the runs are still lovely and snowy. The evening consisted of Mexican food for dinner followed by watching the Utah Grizzlies play Ice Hockey. Even though 'our team' lost we had fun waving foam claws and Hinchley Wood School got a mention on the big screen at the game! Off to bed now for so much needed rest before we hit the slopes again in the morning.

SKI TRIP 2013

Jealous?

One of the ski groups at the top of a lift

Having lunch on the mountain

Day 1 on the slopes of Brighton...

Wow. If we had tried to pick the perfect day for our first day of skiing I doubt we could have picked a better day. The conditions were amazing; the snow plentiful and the sky bright blue. After a hearty American breakfast we set off to the slopes of Brighton. Boots, skis and boards were waiting for us and it wasn't long until lessons were under way. All the groups had a fantastic day making great progress. In particular the beginners ski group that made it all the way down the mountain by the end of the day. My favourite quote of today was "I thought I would have a good time but I didn't know I would love it this much". The worst complaint from HWS was that they were wearing too many layers and were a little too warm - from a student and a member of staff!
We had a yellow bus full of happy faces and tired legs on the way home. A quick change before dinner at Applebees. Time to digest and then a swim in the pool. The waterside was fun in the dark and pool basketball match finished off the day. Just time left for quick showers and bed, ready for a repeat of today on the slopes (fingers crossed) and watching the Grizzlies play ice hockey in the evening.
We will try and post some photos as soon as we can.

A day later...

We have arrived in Salt Lake City safe, albeit tired. It's been a long day of travel and we are ready for bed so that's it for the blog this evening. We will report back tomorrow after our first day of skiing. Wahooooooo!!!

Early night for ski-trippers

I know it's going to be tricky to sleep for the few hours we have before we have to meet back at school. It's a 4:30am start for us to get to Utah for the powder that awaits!
There are a few more trips going out over half term so don't worry if you read about New Orleans or Barcelona, we will still be in Salt Lake City, and blogging as often as we can.