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BIS-NY staff, students and parents take on Mount Stratton
Posted on: Monday, 2 February 2009
On January 30th 2009, eleven students, three members of staff and four brave parents headed off to Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont. After lunch at school on Friday we divided up into four vehicles and set our course, relying on our GPS navigation systems and inter-car radio handsets.
Mr. McElhone (with family) was the lead driver, followed closely by Mr. Wright. Third position was held by Mr. Jenkins with Mr. Davies comfortably overseeing proceeding from the back of the convoy.
It wasn’t long until we thought we’d lost Mr. Jenkins somewhere in the New York/New Jersey area, as he had drifted out of both sight and radio contact range. However, all was well and we eventually met up at a service stop for some light refreshment. Everyone that was except for Mr. Wright, who had gone confidently ahead, missed his turning and was now off-roading in his jeep through someone’s back field somewhere in Vermont. We caught up with Mr. Wright a little later, who was now sitting at a local post office waiting for us, and we headed into the resort itself. Our only problem now though was that, due to Mr. Zwerling’s cell phone navigation, Mr. Jenkins was somewhere approaching Canada!
The rest of us settled down for a nice meal and warmed our toes while we waited…..and waited…..and waited…..until finally the group reunited. We checked into our four condos with Mr. Davies, Mr. McElhone and his family looking after the four girls (Grace, Jasmine, Honor and Carmen) and Mr. Jenkins kindly taking on the challenge of the seven boys (William, Zach, Luke, Truman, Temisan, Ralph and Jack). The entire resort was covered with plenty of snow and the setting could not have been more wonderful.
Saturday morning was an early start for our first day of skiing and we all made it successfully to the rental shop on time. Honor and Zach were enrolled in the “Magic Trax” program for beginner skiers and Grace and Temisan took part in the “Learn to Ride” program for beginner snowboarders. The remaining seven students and seven adults then hopped on the gondola and headed for the summit. The snow was deep and the smiles were broad as, after a few wobbles, everyone found their snow-legs and we cruised down “Mike’s Way” without incident. The smell of the waffle hut was difficult to ignore and it wasn’t long before Mr. Jenkins led the group in for a morning snack.
After a few more pleasant trails Mr. Davies suggested it was time to take on the “Black Bear”. Not a black run, as the name suggests, but nonetheless it did claim more than a few victims. After this, lunch was needed so we collected the beginners and headed into the restaurant. They had all done extremely well for their first morning on the snow and the feedback from both instructors was very positive. The sun came out in the afternoon and this set the tone for some first rate skiing. Day one passed without any broken bones or broken spirits and we all headed back to our condos for some well-earned rest and relaxation. The only Saturday night drama was Mr. Jenkins initially navigating himself to the wrong restaurant, but he managed to remedy that quickly enough and nobody went hungry.
Sunday morning dawned and there were some very tired looking student faces at roll call. By the afternoon of the second day the students had progressed so well that we decided to divide them up into smaller groups and ski more difficult runs. Even those in ski school were given the opportunity to experience some easier parts of the mountain. I could tell later from the tales of woe exactly how they felt about that. It was mentioned by several chaperones just how much progress the children had made in only two days, so well done to everyone, from the first time skiers and boarders, managing to get off the bunny slopes, to the more experienced students who successfully conquered some very challenging terrain.
We departed on schedule, stopped off at a diner on the way home, and made it back to BISNY by 10pm Sunday night. All eleven children were accounted for, along with parents, staff and yes, even Mr. Jenkins. Many thanks to all the parents who supported the ski trip and especially those who came along for the weekend. It was clear to see on the faces of the children just how much they enjoyed the whole experience, so keep an eye on the newsletter for the early planning of next year’s even bigger and better expedition!
