Our annual February half-term ski trip once again took us to fabulous Verbier in Switzerland. It was brilliant to see our international students reuniting and catching up since their October half-term trips to Dubai.
Almost 70 students flew into Geneva from boarding schools throughout the UK for their alpine experience, continue reading to discover how they found their first Academic Families ski trip.
Verbier is famous as one of the largest ski resorts in Europe with its varied ski slopes catering to all levels of skiing proficiency. It is a great choice for our students with their wide range of skiing abilities, especially with lots of complete beginners. The town is also famous for celebrity spotting, with regular visitors including the Beckhams, Leonardo DiCaprio and even Prince William and Princess Kate!
On arrival at our camp Les Elfes, we unpacked in our cosy chalets before heading straight for the slopes. Our boarding school students were allocated to ski classes based on their ability, making sure everyone had as much fun as possible whilst being safe.
Over the next few days, everyone quickly fell into the routine that can only come about on the snow-filled mountains of Switzerland. On waking, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast and bonded over discussions of who would be skiing on which slopes that day. Our students and their ski instructors met the bus at 9 am sharp and skied all day, only stopping for lunch and the occasional hot chocolate to warm them up. It felt like we were living in a postcard, especially when eating lunch and looking over the beautiful snow-capped mountains.
After skiing, it was time to shake off the snow and relax. Some students stayed in their chalet while others explored Verbier, catching up on the boarding school news from the semester so far.
Dinner was enjoyed back at camp including a traditional Swiss fondue one evening. Evening activities were also a source of constant fun including bonfires, disco and quiz games.
We took Wednesday off skiing to explore the region and visited cheese and chocolate factories. Learning how world-famous Swiss chocolate is produced was especially popular – this may have had something to do with all the samples we enjoyed!
After our week in the mountains, we enjoyed the weekend in Geneva before flying back to the UK and returning to each boarding school.
It was incredible to see how quickly our students’ skiing progressed and with their increased confidence, they pushed themselves to improve even more. The experienced ski instructors were great role models who bonded well with our international students. Our young learners enjoyed bonding again after their October trips and lots of new friendships were made in Switzerland.
Our annual February half-term ski trip may have ended, but the memories made with friends will last a lifetime. We had lots of hugs and a few tears at the airport before everyone returned to their boarding school, all looking forward to reuniting at another Academic Families trip in Kenya or Greece.
Our last trip of this school year is the May half-term trip to Greece where many of our students will meet once more to enjoy culture, fun and sun!
Find out more about the exciting trips we offer to international boarding students throughout the year and how to get involved.
This article appears in the following categories Guardianship, Students
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