During February half term week, a group of 50 boys and staff made the trip to Sestriere with the sole purpose of racing down a gigantic snowy mountain,
as fast as possible, on nothing other than two big planks of wood, foam, fiberglass, plastic, steel and epoxy. In reality, although the planks were
at times extremely useful; some of the more flamboyant members of the group, including myself, decided to spread our time evenly between different
modes of transport down the mountain…50% on skis, 50% on an array of our anatomical elements. This, of course was done with a ludicrous amount
of panache, and in fact, thinking back, I wholeheartedly believe that it is not physically possible to possess a fraction of the grace that Mr Patterson
exudes in such abundance. However, like many other boys on the trip; I have not been gifted with such elegance; balance and poise, with the result
that I arrived back home in Dublin on the Ryanair 10:15 flight from Turin with pride and body bruised in equal measure.
Sestriere itself is a beautiful town located in the province of Turin, standing at 2,035 metres above sea level. It is best known for being chosen as the
centre for the alpine events in the 2006 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games. Its name, derived from the Latin ‘ad petram sistrariam’, translates to
mean ‘60 Roman miles from Turin’. It sits at the heart of one of Europe’s biggest ski areas known as the Via Lattea (Milky Way). With 146 skiable pistes,
together totalling 390km of runs. It is also home to ‘Le 2 Stagioni’, which serves hands down some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Over the course of the 8-day trip, boredom was never an issue. Between a full 6 days of skiing, organised evening activities like tobogganing, a quiz
night, a trip to the swimming pool, where the Year 9 pupils swam in the freezing air beneath the stars, there really wasn’t a moment to spare.
Of course, being a school trip, education was absolutely paramount over the course of the week and like the rest of the group I learnt many valuable lessons
that will stay with me for years to come. Firstly, just because it’s snowing does not eradicate the need for sun-cream. Secondly, queues don’t exist
in Italy and thirdly Mrs Reid may be small in stature but she will battle any Italian ski instructor or indeed the entire German population if they
are not seen to treat ‘her’ pupils fairly!! A vivid example of our school motto; “With knowledge comes opportunity”, put into practice, just as our
founders intended.
On a serious note, I’d like to thank Mr Irwin, Mrs Reid, Mr Patterson and Mr Gaston on behalf of all the boys for planning and organising such an amazing
trip, and keeping all of us safe for its entirety.
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