Our Chalet - Feb 2009 - Jo Williams of Leek Division

We finally arrived at Baden Powel House, London after an already tiring day. After deciding rooms and temporarily unpacking we began our 'G' themed fancy dress party, unknown to us that we would be having dinner at a local restaurant. This was highly entertaining as we had grannies, golfers, gangsters and even a gladiator, I however was a greenfly! After staying over night at Baden Powel House we began our long journey to Switzerland, eventually arriving at Our Chalet late on Sunday night.

On Monday we spent the morning in ski school which was very exciting as none of us had skied before but thankfully the instructors looked after us. In the afternoon we visited the open air ice rink in Adelboden town centre which had spectacular views all down the valley surrounded by snowy mountains. Our first night activity of the week was tobogganing down the hill at Our Chalet, this was great fun although we found the snow was too deep so we resorted to rolling instead & this was followed by the first of many snowball fights!

On Tuesday morning we set off bright and early for the slopes and it was snowing heavily, which didn't stop for the next 24hours! In the afternoon we returned to the chalet for our next activity, Igloo building. This was so much fun and there was a great sense of achievement when we finally finished 3 hours after we started!

Wednesday bought a break from skiing and we visited the city of Interlaken, about an hours train ride away from Our Chalet. We had a fantastic day out in Interlaken visiting a chocolatier along with meeting our county international advisor who then stayed a few days at Our Chalet. In the evening we took part in snow shoeing and visited a tree with supposedly magical powers!

On Thursday we returned to the slopes and ventured up the mountain! This was very exciting as I got to experience a ski lift and take in some of the most breath taking views from the top of the mountain. Coming down was a bit difficult as it was steeper than I anticipated but we all got there in the end. Thursday afternoon we caught the bus to Enstigenalp and went snow tubing (sliding down a hill in a rubber ring!) This was fantastic and thoroughly entertaining with many of us ending up head first in snow drifts. After dinner we went down in to Adelboden for a sleigh ride. Everywhere looked magical, lit up even though it was minus 11.

On Friday it was our last day on the slope and again we went up the mountain which was as spectacular as ever. This time we skied down a different route including a few metres of the world championship slope. Friday afternoon we had a snow bar barque in the middle of a snowy wood followed by the snow Olympics which involved a series of party games and team building activities. Our final evening consisted of frantic packing, swaps and of course, a campfire. Every one of us in the group felt so lucky that we have had the opportunity of going to such a fantastic place and making such great friends.

 

Jo Williams of Leek Division