A Buzz About Books
A group of Year 8 ski-enthusiastic Beacon boys had a fantastic opportunity to compete in the IAPS Ski Championships 2025 which took place in Pila, Italy, departing on Sunday 9th March. Beacon Boy, Cameron R, documents the highlights of their trip.
Day 1
As we wearily woke up on a Sunday morning to start our quest of the IAPS trip, there was only one thing on our minds… those beautiful medals, their glint in the sun which would transfer to a happy glint in our eye. We were focused, determined and would be even more so after a couple of hours of sleep on the bus. After we arrived at the airport and went through a laborious queue in the house of horrors that is airport security, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast courtesy of Henry Butt’s parents (thanks so much!) . We arrived in Italy with no problems due to Miss Thomas’ airport marching and were greeted with a rental session to collect our skis which was followed by our first Italian dinner – Bellissimo!
Day 2
With our first day of racing ahead, the Beacon Ski Team looked ready for their first day of skiing. We had our race training and our first course recognition where we would observe the treacherous turns and perilous pistes that we would have to race on. It was a short walk to the lockers that held our skis, but the slope didn’t make it any easier! After 2 hours of race training, and some Beacon record times on the Time trials, we sat down for lunch at the restaurant, Hermitage. This was one of the hardest decisions we faced that day, a delightful tuna pasta with olives or a simple but delicious tomato pasta with beef; either way both were brilliant and rather “Al Dente”.
In the afternoon our coaches, Rachel and Andy, took us free skiing allowing us to see the true wonder that the Pila ski resort is. Once we arrived home, we were directed to the dining room for a fabulously entertaining quiz (in which Miss Thomas may have helped us in the geography section) followed by a mouth-watering dinner.
Day 3
The third day was the one we were all waiting for… The Plate race and the Championship race all on the same day. For the Plate boys it was a great start with exceptional performances from James L coming fourth in the plate out of 100 racers and Jackson R coming eighth.
After two spectacular races from two spectacular teams, it was time for the Champs race; this was sadly postponed to the next day due to the visibility being like that of the inside of a ping-pong ball!
Whilst waiting for the visibility to clear, Miss Tierney and Miss Thomas treated us to a cup of warm hot chocolate that was luscious. The evening entertainment was a show performed by Magic Chris in which Henry B was faced with a near death experience where three rather menacing looking knives were juggled over his head. Following the performance, the hotel dinner was one of the best with Chicken Milanese and chips followed by a chocolate pudding that could only be described as delectable. We later went to bed ready for another action-packed day.
Day 4
We all knew that day 4 was going to be one of the toughest and busiest yet with both the delayed Champs race AND the parallel slalom. As we headed towards the mountains, calamity hit as one of the team (guilty as charged) had lost his ski pass! But with speed and not much grace, I sprinted back to my room to retrieve it. After returning, the team were straight onto the course recognition session for the Championship race, we were focused, we were ready and we were also fired up and ready to obliterate this course. Dylan J was the first to do so.
Dylan achieved the third best time in the ENTIRETY of the Championship race with a jaw-dropping time of 36 seconds. After the Champs was the moment that we had all been waiting for… The Parallel Slalom! Our expert team was made up of Nikolay A, Dylan J, Henry B, Harry T and myself; our first race went well with a strong start from Dylan J and Harry T was keeping the lead, however the Knightsbridge team was slowly catching up, but it was nabbed by a quick finish from me (if I do say so myself). The second race was not as much of a fairytale, with a strong start from Runneymede we were 1 gate down and the Runneymede skiers were just unrelenting in their attack leaving us 2 gates down by the finish.
After the Parallel was the prize giving ceremony in which our Beacon B team (Henry D-H, Sebbi T and Nikolay A) received a bronze medal in the Plate race and Dylan J came home with the third fastest time in the champs, who, like a true champ, shared out his victory chocolate with the team.
We found out on return to school that our second plate team came forth overall , and our Champs team (the first we’ve ever entered) were sixth!
This was then followed by a slow ski down to the hotel at sunset when all the pistes were closed which was a truly magical and unforgettable experience.
The dinner on the fourth day was one of the best with a huge portion of spaghetti carbonara for starters that seemed to be a humungous hit with the team! A rather competitive game of team Werewolves followed after.
Day 5
At this point, our trip was coming to an end and our skiing ventures would be over, yet somehow the Beacon Ski Team could make a trip through baggage control eventful and entertaining; once again I had to sprint back to the bus in which I left my wallet behind on the coach and this sprint had no much more grace than the last one!
Once we had retrieved the wallet, we set off to WHSmith for a spot of brekkie and then rushed to boarding because of the queue at said WHSmith. Once we arrived back in England, Mr. Miles and Mr. Sanderson (also known as Dan) drove us back to school.
This trip has been one of the highlights personally for me over the past three academic years, with this one being no different.
On behalf of the whole Ski Team, I would like to say a massive thank you to Miss Thomas and Miss Tierney for taking us on the trip and providing us with care and motivation for the duration.
Reported by Cameron R – Year 8
