2018 TGS Ski Tour

Six days of thrills and spills on Mt Hutt was going to be hard to match and a simple site-seeing tour was never going to cut it. So, to get the adrenaline flowing again, it was off to Supa Karts in Christchurch for the annual Ski Tour Grand Prix. Students were randomly allocated to a team, providing a surprisingly even distribution of experience, skill and ambition. Each driver was then given five minutes to complete some practice laps to familiarise themselves with the track and their kart. During this time it became apparent that Makenzie, Kyle and Zac were the racers to watch. It was also clear that whilst Sachin had mastered Mario Kart on the Wii, there was still room for improvement on a real track. Before long it was race time. The aim of the game was to complete as many laps of the track as possible in 100 minutes. Driving time could be shared as the team saw fit, but they had to complete nine mandatory pit stops or risk disqualification. The first drivers exited the pit lane

Our final day on the Mountain was a pearler! The skies were blue, free of cloud and the temperatures  were high. With 1.30pm lessons scheduled, the kids eagerly took to the slopes, looking to perfect their Broadway run in preparation for the afternoon's 'summer run'. The last of our skiers moved from Highway 72 and tackled their first blue run before lunch. In fact, all skiers in the group made it to the summit, with Alex Poletto and Sachin taking advantage of Mr Ward's offer for a guided tour down Morning Glory. Janice and Roong on the other hand opted to see the summit as foot passengers, making their way off the Summit Six chairlift and out onto the lookout for some spectacular photo opportunities before catching the lift back down, a unique experience in itself. In other summit action, Emily Chambers, assisted by Makenzie attempted Fascination, a red run. She held it together at first before her board slipped from beneath her, resulting in a butt-slide that lasted t

When we awoke this morning and looked out the window towards the mountain, all we saw was a blanket of clouds; we were uncertain as to what the day would hold. As the bus began to climb it wasn't looking good, but at the last minute we broke through and were overjoyed to see the sun reflecting off the snow capped peaks. We quickly unloaded for our 9am lessons. Early classes meant that no time was wasted and we were able to take full advantage of the near perfect conditions. With many riders and skiers feeling pretty confident in their abilities, some classes opted to explore more advanced runs, while others spent their time learning tricks. The Level 4 ski group began to work on 360s and, as if that wasn't hard enough, they had a ski taken off them for some one-legged skiing. Our top board riders began to work on riding switch and learning front side 180s. Feeling inspired while riding with Mr Melchiori later in the day, Kyle tried to transfer his mountain bike riding skills to

After a somewhat dreary and bleak rainy day, it was exciting to wake up to a clear view of a snow capped Mt Hutt. Snow storms were predicted on the Mountain overnight, a forecast which had Mr Ward waking with excitement at 5am to check weather reports. A bleary eyed Mr Melchiori was equally as excited... In the end they received a fresh fall of 5-10cm of powder over night, which made for a very pretty drive up. Robin had to fit snow chains to the bus tires and was assisted by Alex Poletto and the TGS Pit Crew. Today saw some progress amongst our skiers. Emma, conquered her self-doubt and mastered Highway 72. Others moved on from the Highway and began to tackle Broadway, their first blue run. Patrick, a first time skier, teamed up with Ben and braved the Summit Six chair lift and headed to Morning Glory, a huge accomplishment after just a few days on the slopes. Our boarders also continued to shine. Karly's confidence was a little shaken after a rough start on Broadway first thi

Today we had our first "down day" as the conditions on Mount Hutt were not ideal. Our adrenaline junkies were left far from wanting though as our first activity provided them with their fix. We traveled to Alpine Jet Thrills, a jet boat operator located on the Waimakariri River. Kitted out head to toe in their ski gear, students boarded the boat which was powered by a 700 horse power engine, and boy did it have a kick! The very skilled driver began to fish tale down the river, travelling through the canyon often getting a little too close to the jaggered, rocky walls for comfort. The signal was given and the students braced for the G-Forces and freezing spray of water that came with the whizzing 360s that saw us spinning down the river. Despite the gloomy weather, the gleeful squeals of our students could be heard echoing off the canyon walls. Meanwhile, in a more serene part of the river, those waiting their turn took to skipping rocks across the pristine blue surface of the

It hasn't taken long for word to spread around town about how amazing our kids are. Last night, some of our students shared a public bus with a couple who were staying at our lodge. They were so impressed with the behaviour of our students that they made a point of finding Mr Melchiori at breakfast just to provide him with some lovely feedback. Certainly a proud moment for us! The students continued to represent the School with pride on the slopes, with one group breaking out into a zestful rendition of  Carmen Townsvillare  as they linked turns down the Magic Carpet. Zest was not the only character strength that shone today, with Teamwork and Persistence also on display. Stronger skiers and boarders offered words of encouragement and helping hands where necessary to support those who were newer to the sport. As a result, many of our beginners felt comfortable enough to take on the summit run. Exploration of the Mountain continued with Ben, Cohen and Chelsea successfully attempting