Once again, Blackheath High School took to the beautiful slopes of Crans-Montana, Switzerland for the half term ski trip. It was the turn of 32 (yes, 32!) Year 5, 6, 7 and 8s to experience 007 Roger Moore's favourite and final resting place, and to witness the stunning scenery capped by the near 180 degree panorama that sweeps from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn. The trip was led by myself, more than ably assisted by Miss Reed, Mrs Smith and Miss White.

Leaving school at 5am to fly at 8.30am on a Friday enabled us to get ahead of the game, getting to the resort a day before most, kitted out and ready to go early on Saturday morning. All transfers were completed successfully with the fluorescent orange hats being a great aid to spotting each other in airports!

With students having a massive variation of experience on the slopes, getting the groups right took a couple of days. Some forgot how to ski (we'll mention no names!) and other, very good skiers chose to build up their confidence again gradually. Every student had successes throughout the week and the support for each other was amazing - special mention to the Year 8s.

The weather was great for a few days and the snow was amazing as we were hit with a fresh fall on a regular basis. Many of the first time skiers were surprised at how tiring it all was and the top group were put through their paces by instructor Crazy Dimitri who had them over jumps, occasionally off piste and up and down the half pipe. Luckily, I skied somewhere else that afternoon!

The final day was a total white out/blizzard, but the holiday was epitomised by the first-timers who disappeared over the edge of a red slope to fearlessly ski down behind their instructor (who incidentally shed a tear as he said goodbye to his first ever group).

Thalia (Year 6) and Kunain (Year 5) won special awards for top skier (Isabella the 'pocket rocket' from Year 5 came a very close second) and most positive student respectively. Kunain NEVER stopped smiling!

All in all, it was a challenging but worthwhile week, whereby every member of the party discovered new things about themselves. Well done and we look forward to next time!