March 2018

School ski trip – Crans Montana

Saint Mary’s Catholic School

Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Leyland had done ski trips before; in fact annually. Never before had they been joined by a total stranger for the week. Joining the pupils on the trip were headmaster Phillip Mooney and two other staff; Stephen Tattersall and Jade Thornhill. I have to confess having a headmaster with you does put you on your best behaviour !

My role was purely to support Thomas 1:1 whether in the hotel or on the ski slopes but quickly found I was very popular with the kids on the trip. This was for one main reason; I ski wearing a koala bear rucksack !

Koala Bear

With the exception of Thomas I’d not met any of the school prior to the trip. When I turned up to meet them at Geneva Airport with a koala bear rucksack they must have thought I was bonkers. In fact my previous boss on the dialysis team (Jessie Rahim) will tell you I am indeed totally bonkers. Koala certainly raised a few eyebrows. There was definitely some sniggering, pointing and whispering going on.

There is in fact a serious side to my bonkers rucksack; it makes me very obvious and traceable. By the end of the first day the pupils from St. Mary’s had realised just why I’d got it on.

In the busy ski gondola lift station the children had something to follow. At lunchtime I was an easy to find adult. Even children from other schools staying in the same hotel would come up to me at lunchtime. They all said the same thing:

‘we can’t find anyone else … you’re really easy to spot because of your rucksack’

On one of the days I tried to not take my rucksack and leave it behind. I failed.

‘Miss …Miss … where’s your rucksack … you’ve not got your rucksack on … you can’t go out without it … we need you to wear your koala bear … we really like your rucksack’

My koala bear rucksack proved so popular that I was nicknamed Nurse Koala.

Vincent

As part of the trip we all had group ski lessons with École Suisse De Ski Crans-Montana (ESS Crans-Montana). Our instructor was called Vincent. He was a French man from Nimes who had been travelling through Australia for a year and taught himself English whilst there. In the summer Vincent worked as a land surveyor. Or so he said. The internet is wonderful, you can find out all sorts of things. I would later find out that he wasn’t who he said he was and discover his real identity.

Vincent is in fact a talented individual who has taken that talent all over the world. Had he said who he really was and what he really did the focus and attention would have been on him; the week was about the children skiing. To this day I am the only one on that trip who knows the real Vincent and I will be keeping it that way.

Ski School

So as to support Thomas I joined his ski class with Vincent. I have skied since the age of 6 but recently had all but practically stopped. Having reached top ski class many years previously I found when I joined classes I didn’t learn anything and skiing alone can be quite … well …  lonely. Having lost the enjoyment from skiing I mostly did winter walking. If it was a sunny day I might put on a pair of skis.

As we set off in a group for the first time Vincent took us down a gentle slope. When I say gentle, it was almost flat.

‘Make the pizza shape … nice and slowly …’

I could walk faster ! I was definitely in the wrong class. So was Thomas.

Thomas

Thomas hated skiing. The class was far too difficult and he spent much of the time at the side sitting in the snow; he wouldn’t take part. The class were brilliant, rallied round him giving gentle encouragement and support along with his brother. It was all to no avail. Nothing would make him get up from the snow. Whenever I approached he would turn away and jab at the snow with his ski pole. All I could do was stand patiently nearby, not too close but close enough so that he could still see I was there.

Finally my patience was rewarded and Thomas beckoned me over.

‘I don’t want to do it’

I suggested that I take him back down to the hotel but he didn’t even want to do that. At lunchtime he sat quietly eating his sandwiches. I again offered to take him down from the mountain but once more didn’t want to. Much later afterwards I would come to realise that Thomas was in fact very homesick.

The ski class continued after lunch. I sat with Thomas watching the group skiing down the piste and I occasionally joined them so that I kept warm. Returning from one of my runs with the ski class I found Thomas plodding up a little slope of snow and skiing back down. He skied up to me

‘I’m going over there where we were this morning’

Then he was gone. I headed off in hot pursuit. As I passed Mr. Mooney the headmaster I had just about enough time to shout to him what we were doing and where we were going. For the remainder of the afternoon Thomas skied with me. I tried to help him on occasions but my actions were quickly rebuffed.

‘Stop helping … I can do it myself’

That was me firmly put in my place then.

Now there is a rule on school ski trips, a rule I didn’t know about and quite a major one; you don’t ski away from the class. In skiing with Thomas on the beginner slope away from the class we had broken the rules massively. We did get away with it though; just. Since I’d not been on a trip before I wasn’t aware of the rules. In keeping Thomas with me I had in fact stayed within my remit of supporting him 1:1. The next day Thomas moved into an easier class but the two of us would continue to be naughty and break the rules. Well, for a little while longer at least.

Under the nurturing guidance of another instructor Thomas thrived, he loved skiing and couldn’t get enough of it. At lunchtime all he wanted to do was practice and the two of us would sneak off to the nursery slope. Now, wearing a koala bear rucksack on my back was making the two of us pretty easy to spot. In order to be a little more discreet I would leave my skis elsewhere and stand watching from the side. That way it appeared that I was just stood people watching but if Thomas needed me I could still quickly get to him.