Blue Bird, is the term used for epic sunny days on the ski field. This year the Senior Snow Camp scored two fantastic days on the ski slopes of Whakapapa, enjoying clear skies, minimal wind and lots and lots of soft(ish) white snow to slide down (and face plant into)!

19 students from Years 11, 12 and 13 got up nice and early on Monday and were on the surf bus, and on their way to Mount Ruapehu by 4am in the morning. By 8.30am we are on the slopes enjoying a reduced coefficient of friction and some serious slide time.

We stayed in the Waikato Tramping Hut which is situated above the ski lifts and can only be accessed by hiking up the slopes through the snow, or, for the more adventurous skiing/snowboarding down from the top. In the evening students prepared a sumptuous feast of butter chicken and banoffee pie, and then spaghetti bolognaise and apple crumble the following day. The early rises were up by six cooking bacon and hash browns and preparing sandwiches for the day. In the evening we competed in ‘Hut Olympics’ involving sailing, fencing, charades, shot put and chocolate identification, which, was finally won by the girls!

Over the duration of the camp approximately 300,000 m of vertical descent (22 people x 2 days on the slopes x mean average of 10 runs per person x 675m of vertical descent at Whakapapa) was enjoyed by all at a gravitational acceleration of 9.8 m/s2.

Massive thanks to all the students, staff and parents who contributed to making this trip happen.