The Easter holidays saw 39 Knights Templar students visit Lake Tahoe and San Francisco for a week of skiing in the California sunshine.
Every year a KTS ski trip runs in the Easter holidays taking around 40 students to the slopes of either the USA or the Alps. The trip always includes a city stopover and this year was no different.
Early on Saturday morning we arrived at the KTS coach park and embarked on a 22 hour journey to the shores of Lake Tahoe. Here we would spend the next five days skiing in one of the areas best resorts, Sierra-at-Tahoe.
On the first day we were split into four ability groups and each group was allocated an instructor. All the instructors were very knowledgeable but they understood that we were on holiday so we often were able to just enjoy ourselves without feeling like we were in a lesson.
The snow was typical of spring skiing without fast, slightly icy conditions in the morning and sticky slush in the afternoons. The snow allowed us to spend most mornings in the jump park and the afternoons off-piste or in the moguls (humps of snow that you have to turn around, they are more difficult than regular pistes). This system meant there was something for everyone and halfway through the trip some groups were attempting 20-30 feet jumps runs with over 1,500 feet of vertical descent, as well as hitting speeds over 70mph. This was evidence of the vast improvement many of the students made and a credit to our instructors.
Every evening we ate at a restaurant. These included the Hard Rock Café, Bubba Gumps and an all you can eat buffet at Harrah’s. Dinner was followed by some evening entertainment like going to the cinema, which provided a rest bite from the day of skiing that preceded it and the skiing that would follow it.
The fourth day of skiing was particularly tough as the temperature reached 60°F leading to Mr. Clayton saying,” This is the hottest day we have had on a KTS ski trip ever.” On the last day everyone savoured the sunshine and enjoyed the slopes that had become our homes for the last few days one final time.
We spent the final two days of the trip visiting San Francisco’s famous sites including the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39 and Alcatraz. Disappointingly the Golden Gate Bridge was shrouded in fog when we visited but this just added to the atmosphere when we visited Alcatraz.
The group continued to enjoy themselves until we reached the airport to leave the USA. It was here we began to realize how fantastic the trip had been and how much we would miss it as well as that our flight had been delayed for 3 hours! We passed the time by shopping and playing games but we were all very tired and weary when we finally landed at Heathrow on Sunday afternoon.
Sadly this was the last ski trip for many of the teachers that came, specifically for Mr. Clayton who has been organizing them for the past 20 years. We would like to thank him for giving so many students so many fantastic memories from these trips.
The next ski trip location has not yet been confirmed but I would strongly recommend it to anyone, whether you’ve skied before or not because it is such an enjoyable experience.