Les Menuires 2019

Saturday 23rd March started very early for 22 Year 5 and 6 girls. At 5:00am Gatwick airport was abuzz with enthusiastic children, all wearing their white ski hoodies (yes, that was the colour that Mrs

Bradshaw chose!) and grey beanie hats. Parents said their goodbyes while Mrs Bradshaw, Miss Macdonald and Miss Swan repeatedly counted passports, just to be sure!

A two hour flight to Geneva was followed by a three hour coach journey to reach our hotel in the resort of Les Menuires. Over the next few hours the hotel would be filled with over one hundred GDST girls and 14 members of staff from 5 different schools. Everyone unpacked, went to have their skis fitted and dinner was served.

Each school brought girls with a wide range of skiing abilities; this year, we had a large number of beginners. The girls, although keen to learn, were understandably wary on day 1! Each group had an instructor who taught them the correct techniques and guided them around the slopes.

Over the next 6 days, the girls went to the top of mountains, posed for pictures in front of Mont Blanc, practised turning on the slalom slopes and some even experimented with jumps and off-piste skiing. The progress made by all the girls was quite remarkable and the confidence with which they attempted new challenges grew with each passing day.

If you thought that after a busy day of skiing the girls had the evening off, then you would be very much mistaken! Each evening held a different après ski activity. These ranged from the ever-popular bum-boarding, shopping, movie night and quiz. During these activities, all the girls had the opportunity to interact with one another and friendships across schools began to form.

A disco was held on the penultimate night and the girls danced and sang for hours. It was an excellent way for them to celebrate the end of a fantastic trip. A particular highlight for all was witnessing Mrs Bradshaw’s legendary dance moves as she showed the girls how it was done. Clearly deciding that they could not look more foolish than Mrs Bradshaw, Miss Macdonald and Miss Swan soon joined the action!

Well done to all of the girls who attended. They represented the school brilliantly and should be proud of themselves.

Miss Macdonald