Canadian Ski Trip

Simon P (Lower Sixth)

The journey to Jasper was certainly a long one, with us leaving school for Heathrow at 9AM and arriving in Jasper at 10PM local time (or 5AM as it would have been back home in the UK). The flight was the easy part of the journey, for it was followed by a 6 hour coach journey through the heart of the Canadian Rockies, where we stopped for dinner at what must be the most beautiful Wendy’s in the world in the picturesque town of Canmore.

Jasper is often referred to as the most striking place in Canada, and from the very first morning in the town it was very clear why. It was a brutally cold start to the day down at -20 degrees, but this was immediately overshadowed, rather literally, by the epic sunrise over the snowy mountains that enveloped the town that we had been unable to see on our night-time arrival.

From Sunday to Friday we enjoyed full days of skiing, with the views from the Marmot Basin ski area surely being some of the best in the world. The week flew by. My ski group had the privilege of having Mr Firestone in our group, which allowed us to witness many minor wipeouts. A large amount of our time was spent learning how to do jumps, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. On the Friday afternoon we were lucky enough to be given an area of a slope that we could do ski racing on, thanks to Mr Firestone’s kindness in completing an immense amount of paperwork. The highlight of this was surely James Jackson technically beating me while he was only on one ski, since I had crashed into the netting at the end of the slope!

Overall the trip was wonderful and our only gripe can be how quickly it was over. Of course we all are very grateful for all the teachers who helped to make it such a good trip, and a very special thanks to Mr Shirley and Mr Firestone for organising the trip.

Adam A (Divs)

This half term, we had the opportunity to do six days of skiing with the school. We flew to Canada, which is seven hours behind the UK. Luckily, the jetlag was not too severe and we adjusted quickly. Canada was a beautiful country with many sights that were new experiences to us. Luckily we had surprisingly good weather in comparison to the expected -40°C. The snow was perfect and at the top of the mountain and it was knee-deep! We even managed to have some snowball fights on top of the mountain with Mr Shirley and Mr McGowan! We could see the entire town from the mountain.

The trip had many other highlights, including pizza night and regular visits into town. The town was relatively small and allowed us to explore the nuances of Canadian culture. We saw the local elk many times throughout the trip and observed them as they carefully crossed the roads, with everyone trying to take a video of the elk.

My favourite night was when we watched the Sunday League ice-hockey game. Some of us were lucky enough to keep some used ice-hockey pucks as a souvenir. Everyone can agree that the highlight of the night was the large fight that broke out between the teams over a tackle made by the '16 year-old prodigy'.

This trip would not have been possible without the teachers and our tour guide. Thank you to all.

Peter B (Divs)

The MTS Ski Trip to Canada was an action-packed experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Each day we enjoyed five hours of skiing followed by a variety of activities in the evening.

My favourite part of the trip was when we watched the local ice hockey teams in Jasper play a match in the ice hockey arena. It was interesting to see a sport that is less commonly seen in the UK. I also enjoyed going into Jasper for a walk in the evening, it was fun to take in all the nightlife.

I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who is adventurous and wants the opportunity to visit Canada and to either learn to ski or improve your skiing.