Ski Trip to Winter Park, Colorado, April 2019 - Ratcliffe College

Ski Trip to Winter Park, Colorado, April 2019

Sport | 24.05.2019

The ski trip set off for Colorado at 5am, at a slightly more acceptable time than the usual 2am when we head to Europe! The flight went quickly and immigration was typically brusque on the USA side. The transfer immersed us straight into Colorado culture as we swept past Casinos, Rodeo arenas and wild buffalo whilst climbing up to 2700 metres. The hotel was excellent with good quality accommodation and the outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi proved incredibly popular. The skiing was superb and provided much more of a challenge than many were used to, with mogul and glade skiing being the order of the day. Clear and sunny weather early in the week gave way to a huge dump of snow in the second half of the trip, providing perfect powder conditions for the pupils to challenge themselves once again. Oliver Welch and Lydia Bellamy were honoured as the best skiers on the trip.

Après ski activities revolved around the aforementioned outdoor pool, tubing and a Smores party (a rather high calorie, low food value treat cooked over a fire!) and an excellent dine-around option in the evening, meaning we could sample various different restaurants, with the food based entirely around a very American but slightly unbalanced make up of meat and cheese! Overall, it was an outstanding trip and, as usual, the attitude of the students made the trip a pleasure to lead. Winter Park is definitely on the return visit list.