SnowPatrol 2021 - 20th Anniversary Tour

We are pleased to announce that our anniversary snow sports tour is now launched. The QM Snow Patrol will be heading to New York state to ski in the Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains form a massif in northeastern New York. Its boundaries correspond to the boundaries of Adirondack Park. The mountains form a roughly circular dome, about 160 miles in diameter and about 1 mile high. Most of the area owes its relief due to glaciation.

We will ski Whiteface Mountain which is the fifth-highest mountain in the U.S. state of New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains.

The trip will fly out from London on Friday 2nd April 2021 and return on 10th April 2021 having spent  6 nights at the High Peak Resort and Spa, skied Whiteface for 5 days and then having an afternoon shopping on route to New York City. While in New York we will visit, Staten Island, The Rockefeller Center, Top of the rock, a ride on the Hudson and hopefully take in a show on Broadway. Coupled with this we will take a meal in Time Square and immerse our self in the atmosphere New York has to offer. The package will be delivered by Equity Ski and they have also included a fully comprehensive winter sports insurance, trip hoodies and all transfers for the trip.

Whiteface Trail Map

Just remember what Warren Miller said...

Homebound

We are making excellent progress, our drivers Roy and Andy are doing an excellent job. Once we know what ferry we can get on, we will let you know. We will be early. We would like to remind all parents that the area by gate one must be kept free.

08:00 update. We are approaching Calais docks.

We are all currently waiting in lane 14 for our call to our ferry. P&O have a new EDT of 14.45CET for our ferry. Please check the Twitter feed on the righthand side of the blog to see any further updates.

Do follow the SnowPatrol on @snwsportsqm.

We are leaving Dover with our feeder driver now. We will be at school between 9 and 9.30pm. If gate 1 is kept clear and parents are ready in waiting that would be great.

We are making good progress on the M25. We will have a very short toilet break between here and school. Once we get going students will have an exact arrival time. 

9.30pm is a good estimate at the moment. 

Well done to everyone involved with this year's SnowPatrol. All students left promptly after our arrival at 9.40pm. So I hope you enjoyed yourselves in the mountains and if you want to join us again for our 20th Anniversary tour, stay tuned in to the blog.

Mr Hinks. 

Day 6- Time to don the costumes

A snowy start

So, our final day on the slopes started well with a hearty breakfast and our last pack up of the week. As the week has progressed our quantity of Haribo sweets per lunch bag has increased and today we finished on three mini bags!!! Everyone arrived to breakfast looking relatively normal yet in the interim between finishing our food and booting up the magic began......Beetlejuice and Lydia, Supergirl, Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Crayola pink and blue materialised before our eyes......even the staff made a top effort with the Nun and Monk combo from Mrs Holland and Mr Baden and two very bright and noticeable detour cones also known as Mr Hinks and Mrs Rochfort.

The weather has been perfect today which has made the conditions out there just fab; snow falling as we awoke means that the fresh snow drop made the runs smooth and safe and we all savoured the less populated runs early in the morning. We all started our day with a walk to the Flying Mozart Gondola from our hotel which gained us numerous stares as the locals took in our fancy dress attire.

Group one took a ride up to the top of the gondola skiing down the red run to join the G-link halfway down the mountain. Taking this very busy method of transport across to Wagrain they then took the six chair up the mountain to Grafenberg to hit the steady blue down a number of times. Heading back to Flachau just after lunch followed by a huge snowball fight to finish the day!! Well done group one.

Group two have had a great day. They took the gondola up to the top and had a few decent runs down red 17 before stopping for lunch at Auhofalm. Our 'Supergirl' Chloe was on top and usual form taking a couple of tumbles with a wide and happy grin on her face. All the group have really mastered their parallel turns this week and even got to do part of the run that the Olympic team had been practicing on earlier this morning. Great skills group two.

Group three took the gondola and warmed up on red 12 which was an absolute dream of a run followed by the Achterjet gondola to take on a number of red and blue runs to end on red 4. During this Tom assessed the groups abilities from snowplough to carving which all members did very well on. After a chilled and sunny lunch they took the Flying Mozart and skied down to the Topliner 4 chair before heading down Black 14 and having a quick play on the 'funslope' before returning down red 17 all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. Good work group three.

What a brilliant last day. After debooting and handing our skis, helmets and poles back in, it was time for quick showers and any final packing. Really great to hear the ski hire's comment that we  (both schools) were the best group handover of the week!! Quick tea of lasagne and salad before it was time to say Auf Wiedersehen and begin our mega journey back to the UK. We have currently been homeward bound for an hour and making steady progress. We'll keep all family and friends posted on our whereabouts and progress as we go. Please check both  the blog and the Twitter, @snowsportsqm, feed for up-to-date details!!

Pictures and videos of the day

We can honestly say it has been a superb week; two schools have come together so well and seeing the students relax and gain confidence with one another has been just great. Here's to a number of new friendships and memories that we hope will make this trip one to remember for all our pupils; and one that will stay with them for years to come. A really successful ski trip!! Here's to many more.

That's it for this year but remember what Warren said, " If you don't ski this year you'll be one  year older when you do"

Fancy Dress

As always we are very pleased when the students join in with our fancy dress tradition that has been going for over 20 years now. All of the students that were involved did really well but a few stood out that bit more and demonstrated creativity and originality.

Our 3 winners were:

Ruby - Beetlejuice
Sarah - Lydia
Chloe - Supergirl

We then selected 2 runner up prizes, they were:

Evie - Crayola - Thing 1
Ana - Crayol - Thing 2 

Day 5 - Hey Ho Lets Go Hey Hee Lets Ski

Isabelle's 14th Birthday

An extra special breakfast this morning, not only did we have fresh powder, but it was also Isabelle's 14th Birthday.

We were lucky to receive a few cm of fresh snow overnight and the temperature was significantly lower than the past few days. The students arrived promptly at the top of the Grafenbergbahn gondola for a 09:00 start and after splitting into their three groups they were off. All groups ventured over towards Alpendorf today with Tom completing some black slopes and Amon's doing some more reds.  Dan's group did their first red slope today which is a massive achievement having only been skiing for five days.

Groups two and three did the speed trial with students reaching speeds of 58 kmph and staff 62 kmph. Groups also completed several rounds of the Funslope, The Devils trail and some tree skiing. The conditions were simply perfect; lots of fresh powder on top of groomed slopes. the morning gave a chance to experience the soft fresh snow and the afternoon everyone had the opportunity to practice their skills on soft bumps. Absolute perfection. 

Group one have achieved such a lot in the five days we have been here and today they did us all proud as they conquered their first red run. A number of pupils are looking very relaxed on the slopes now and the blue run they completed on day two looks 'so small and flat' according to a number of the students. It really is incredible what a couple of days skiing and confidence building can do- well done group one!!

Tonight a small group of us went out to have a little swim in the local pool. A couple of rounds on the flumes and a spin competition- Evelyn the clear champ with nine gambols in the water and then it was time for the presentation and awards. Really great to see Tom, group three's instructor, at the evening: sadly Dan and Amon were tucked up in bed!! The evening was full of its usual laughs and banter as pupils were awarded certificates and acknowledged for their contributions to the week we have had. All of the pupils have been absolute superstars though. 

Best Beginner - Alex
Most Improved - Abbie
Expert Skier - Jorja
Hermann Maier- Lewis
Austrian Snail - Liv
Biggest Bruise - Mrs. Rochfort
Most Wipe Outs - Joe "Sunshine"
Best Helmet - Freya
Best Hat - Bobby
Most Psychedelic Skier - Chloe
Most Punctual - Roy and Andy (Coach drivers)
Most Spectacular Wipeout - Prabjot
Poser of the week - Evie
Lift Master - Shaan
Most outfits - Ana
Reddest Nose- Lily

Dan's Group 1

Amon's Group 2 

Tom's Group 3

Pictures and videos of the day

Day 4 - Lets Wiggle!

#epic.scenery

Today we started with a 45 minute drive to Zauchensee, with everyone ready to leave at half eight, reaching the new slopes by 09:15. We were ready to start skiing after a gondola ride set against the beautiful landscape.

Morning session:

Group 1 started by doing some lovely blue runs and taking the 6 chair back to the top. They got to work on their 'pizza' skills while also improving their control and starting parallel (or as we call it -'chips'). They stopped for lunch at the restaurant cabin at the entrance to the slopes by the t-bar lift.

We can't forget the fantastic impression of moose they did for their group photo (though don't try this while skiing or a few bumps may befall you).

Group 2 went up the gondola and then did some blue runs to develop their parallel ('chip') turns and they also braved a bit of a red run. They stopped to have lunch at a mountain restaurant where the Cannock Chase High School teachers bought the group some chips (thanks guys).


                                     

Group 3 started by taking the gondola up to the view point at the top of the mountain.

Then they skied down to the bottom on mainly red runs, also bravely attempting a black. They were amazing. The stopped for lunch at the middle station in a restaurant cabin, for some delicious food to regain energy.

The amazing instructors, Dan Tom Amon (from left to right).

Mrs Rochfort with the beautiful landscape!

Afternoon session - braving the ice:

After group 1's first attempt at skiing all the way down (which took all morning) they retraced their steps, not once but twice, in less time than they did before, what an improvement!

In the afternoon group 2 carried on blue runs, strengthening their abilities before redoing a red and even attempting a small part of a black. What an amazing achievement! They finished the day with a final trip down the mountain from peak to valley.

Group 2 have finally decided on a name - THE SKIING MOOSE!

After lunch Group 3 took a trip down to the bottom of the mountain via some red and parts of black runs. They continued to work on control, especially on those icy patches which covered most of the slopes. On the last attempt on the black everyone gave it a go, even after a few worried faces, which ended with some brilliant skiing. Though we must say, Evie took the instructor's advice to slide a little too seriously! She ended up falling down most of it on her side and her stomach, after taking out out a couple of other people. After some hard work the group needed to loosen up so their instructor Tom taught them the wiggle dance for their last run. There may have been tooooooo much wiggle as it caused a few falls.

Mr Hinks with the splat hat (though he redeemed himself with no falls today!)

Isabelle with her dude hat for helping everyone who fell over yesterday.

Evening activities - CHILL TIME:

On our drive back to the hotel we stopped for souvenir shopping in Altenmarkt. Nearly everyone stopped in the well loved Spar shop.

Once reaching our hotel we had a delicious dinner before heading back to our rooms to sort our bags before the manic packing of Thursday night. (Mrs Rochfort gave a lovely example - but will everyone follow through?)

It had been predicted a 50% chance of snow that morning, and it followed through.

What a lovely way to end the day!

The HATS:

Splat - 

Jinx - 

Dude - 

Today's blog is brought to you by Evelyn Hammond and Sarah Hopkinson: a huge well done to you pair for your dedication and excellent writing skills!!