LAST minute practice at the Chill Factore in Manchester didn’t stop student Philip Taylor from hugging a snow cannon as he attempted a descent in Austria.
Novice skier Philip Taylor spent eight hours at the centre practising before he headed off on his school trip to Zell am See with Haslingden High School.
The 14-year-old said: “Skiing at the Chill Factore was completely different to proper skiing in Austria. I was very good at falling over, flying through the air and landing on my bottom, but I still had a fantastic time.”
Philip was also first to help anyone else who had taken a tumble to get them back on their feet.
Lauren Jackson and Ella Carley-Jones, both 13, had already had plenty of practice on the dry slopes of Ski Rossendale where they both work in the café.
Lauren said: “It was really good fun and we did lots of different things on the bumps and jumps and I was particularly good at skiing backwards.”
Ella and Lewis Balchin, 13, won a ski competition at the end of the week when they had to complete a slalom run.
Lewis is no stranger to the sport being a member of team K2 at Ski Rossendale. He trains every Thursday and takes part in competitions.
He said: “It was completely different to skiing on a dry slope because you go down really fast.”
PE teacher Nikki Mongan said: “At the start of the week they split into three groups, beginners, intermediates and experienced but by the end of the week all had improved and we had no beginners.”
The 29 students and four staff also got the chance to try tubing and in the evening went on a horse drawn sleigh ride, played beach volleyball and watched the professionals ski.
All agreed it was the best school trip they had ever been on.