In February Half Term, 10 students from NCW had a trip of a lifetime learning to ski in the glorious Italian Alps.
Setting off from NCW by minibus, spirits were sky high and the excitement levels off the roof. The students were giddy wondering who would fall over first or fall over the most! A short drive to Birmingham airport, a smooth two hour flight to Turin, a quick bus transfer to Sauze d’Oulx and the group had reached their resort where they would then have a full 4 days of skiing on the slopes.
The trip was arranged by Seable who provide accessible tailored holidays to the vision-impaired community. The students had 5 hours of ski lessons each day from Sciabile. Sciabile is an ambitious project, started in 2003 which aims to enable people with various types of disabilities to participate in skiing and snowboarding in Sauze d’Oulx.
Students and staff enjoyed breakfast and evening meals at the hotel and then had lunch at restaurants on the mountains.
Activities Coordinator Phil Bresnan says, “It was the best trip ever by far. The students had such a great time. My favourite part was watching each student graduate from the nursery slope and head on to the mountain. It was amazing! All the students were exhausted at the end – what a great 6 days!”
Head student Amy who went on the trip said, “The ski trip was a great opportunity for me to learn a new skill with a qualified instructor. We are all extremely grateful for having the opportunity to attend. It is extremely hard for me to pick a highlight. The 3 words I thought of to describe the experience were “unforgettable life-changing and magical”. My favourite part was skiing down a slope with my instructor and going fast and the fact that we had an unspoken bond. I liked going up in the chair lift each day, especially up the mountain. I enjoyed having a daily routine of having a tasty breakfast, skiing for a couple of hours then a delicious lunch, skiing again for a couple of hours, relaxing, going to the spa, getting ready for the evening, going for a walk, dinner, relaxing and bed. This has been an experience that I will never forget and I hope to go skiing again soon. I would also like to take the opportunity here to thank the staff who came with us, we would not have been able to do this trip without them.”
