September marked the start of spring and also our highly anticipated ski trip. Out of the 10 residential students, only 2 had skied before and for many it was their first time in snow. Staff kept an eye on the weather up the mountain and crossed our fingers as it looked to be changing for the worse. We left Sumner at 7am, through the drizzly rain, heading inland past Darfield and Springfield.

Excitement built as the distant mountains loomed closer and the snow more visible. Chains were required so we swapped into their shuttle bus and made out way up the steep and icy terrain to Porters Height Ski Field.

The greyness of Canterbury was replaced with blue skies and crystal white peaks. We split into two groups for lessons – skiers and snowboarders and after a morning of learning how to stand and stop, we were let loose on the bottom section of the mountain. There were falls but quickly followed by laughter and snowball throwing.

After a lovely packed lunch we headed back to the snow to practice what we had learnt that morning. There were less falls, more laughs and plans to do it all again next year. After a fabulous day in low temperatures, we stopped for ice creams in Springfield – biggest scoops I’ve ever seen!!