Ski Trip to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria

At 3:00 on February 10th, the journey for a small group of Years 8 to 10 began.

We set out on the road from DCGS to Heathrow, with people falling asleep left, right and centre, but incredibly excited for what was to come. Our flight to Stuttgart Airport was an excellent chance for everyone to catch up on their lost sleep, but an even better one stood between us and the ski resort - an eight hour coach journey. With traffic everywhere we looked, the only consolation was the towering snow-capped mountains encircling the motorway.

At long last, our final destination was nigh: the Buchegg Hotel, in Austria’s Saalbach-Hinterglemm, perched on the edge of a deep, winding valley. After ski fittings and dinner, we could finally go to bed, an opportunity I, at least, relished.

The next morning, we were split up into groups and all headed off to different locations - a full five hour day of skiing which pushed some of us to the limit, and hurt everyone’s shins. The days followed this pattern of waking up early, heading off, and skiing for five hours, and there were, for me, some standout highlights. Fantastic crashes all around, some of which you might find on the school X (formerly Twitter) account, some incredible runs completed at high speeds (my highest being 47.3km/h), and seeing some of the teachers ski, while the hotly debated topic of who was the best, arose again.

We were also treated to some fantastic evening entertainment, arranged by the teachers - notable examples include Mr Buchanan’s room competition, with crazy and enjoyable challenges, and Mr Cullen’s quiz, which was won by my room, in a fiercely contested battle. Buchegg’s cinema room also gave us a chance to watch films on two nights, which we all greatly appreciated.

There were also chances to go to the local shop, to keep stocked up on snacks - I would be lying if I said they weren’t some of the best deals I’ve ever seen!

At last, it came time to return home, and the journey back was just as daunting - we left the hotel at 9:00am and arrived back at DCGS for 10:30pm. I will always look back on this trip with fondness and, on behalf of everyone who got to experience this wonderful trip,

I’d like to thank Mr Love, our trip leader, for making it all happen, and the other teachers that made the ski trip of 2024 one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.