Over the January exeat weekend and into the following week Mrs Pym and Mrs Jones took Arabella Kaye, Cosima Berry and Charlotte Woodruff to Flaine in France to represent Tudor Hall at the British Schoolgirls’ Ski Race Competition.   

On the first day, Sunday 24^th January, we were allocated an ESF (École du Ski Français) instructor to give us some race training to prepare us for the upcoming giant slalom and slalom races.  Our instructor was an ex-champion himself, so we were hoping that some of his expertise would rub off on us!  The day was very hard work as we trained for nearly six hours, but it was really helpful as it enabled us to get some practise before the big event! 

Monday morning saw us compete in the giant slalom competition; this was very successful and we achieved some very good results.  Out of the 141 participants who competed in the giant slalom, Arabella came 21^st, Cosima came 70^th and unfortunately Charlotte was disqualified.  However, this did not affect our overall result for giant slalom as we finished 19^th out of 47 schools.

On Monday afternoon we took part in the parallel slalom.  This event is a relay between 2 teams and, quite simply, the first team to get all three of their racers to the bottom of the slope wins.  We beat Heathfield ‘B’ team to take us through to the second round where we then beat the Millfield ‘A’ team.  Unfortunately in the third round we came up against a tough Bryanston team and were beaten by a whisker!  This is, however, the furthest that we have ever been in the parallel slalom competition in the three years that Tudor Hall have been taking part in the British Schoolgirls’ Races.  

Tuesday morning was the slalom and the last of the races.  Again we had some excellent results with Arabella placed in 19^th position, Charlotte 53^rd and Cosima 76^th.  This put Tudor Hall into 15^th position as a team for the slalom.  After combining the results for both the giant slalom and the slalom, Tudor Hall’s overall position at the British Schoolgirls’ Races was 16^th, smashing any previous years overall team results by more than 10 places!

It was, once again, a fantastic trip and Tudor Hall are getting stronger on the slopes every year.  Mrs Pym hopes that our recent successes in Flaine attract plenty of interest in strong ski racers to ensure that our ski team continues to go from strength to strength for the 2011 races!