A day on the ski slopes is nothing short of magical. The crisp alpine air is infused with excitement as skiers and snowboarders of all levels hit the slopes. Skiers carve elegant arcs into the glistening snow, while snowboarders perform impressive tricks. The Haileybury Snow Sports program provides a unique opportunity for students to be involved in this atmosphere. The program aims to prepare students to compete at a high standard and develop student’s skills and proficiency in their chosen disciplines through training and coaching.
Each year an on-snow training weekend is held at Mt Buller early in Term 3. These sessions are tailored for students to improve their technique and cover a range of activities with experienced coaches. Time Trials and the Haileybury Family Cup — a friendly competition organised by the Parents & Friends of Snow Sports, involving parents and family members of all ages and skill levels — are also held on this weekend.
A squad of 95 students from Prep to Year 12 represented Haileybury at the 2023 Victorian Interschools Snow Sports Championships at Mt Buller in August.
Two of those competitors are Haileybury Pangea students, both taking the online schooling opportunity to focus on their snow careers.
Milo (Year 9, Pangea) joined Haileybury at the Brighton campus in 2019 and transferred to Pangea in 2023 to further his snowboarding training. Milo is a current member of the Snow Australia Emerging Talent Program (snowboard) with the Australian Institute of Sport and has had the opportunity to train and compete locally and overseas. Last year, Milo placed first in all three snowboard events at the Australian Interschools Championships at Perisher, NSW. In preparation for the 2023 season, he spent his time training at the Snow Australia National Snowsports Training Centre in Jindabyne, Perisher NSW and New Zealand. Milo now has his eyes set on qualifying for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, Korea.
Emmett (Year 8, Pangea) spent the 2023 season competing for Haileybury in the Victorian Interschools Championships at Mt Buller. This year he took to international slopes, training in Norway and Sweden for four weeks, showcasing his skills at various events including the Danish Junior Nationals (7th in slalom) and the Ski Star Winter Games in Norway and Sweden. Back in Australia, he trained with Team Hotham, focusing on ski cross but also competing in slalom and giant slalom. He had an excellent Victorian Interschools season, placing in the top 8% of competitors in the Alpine GS and skier cross events. He recently trained in New Zealand and plans to travel to Italy for more training in the coming months.
Back in Victoria, Ella (Year 6, Berwick) also had an incredible season and spent much of Term 3 on the slopes. Ella is a member of the Mt Buller Race Club and trains exceptionally hard throughout the winter. Although she is renowned as a skier, Ella achieved some unexpectedly incredible results, placing first in the skier cross, snowboard GS and snowboard cross events this year. The latter results earning her the Overall Primary Snowboard Champion (female). In the team events, Ella gathered another three first places alongside Jessica (Year 6, Berwick), Summer (Year 6, Brighton) and Wilhelmina (Year 5, Brighton).
Each year, over 7,000 school students from nearly 700 schools nationally compete at interschool events. Across the Haileybury squad, there were several outstanding individual and team performances including:
- 4 x Individual Gold medal
- 1 x Individual Silver medals
- 3 x Individual Bronze medals
- 4 x Team Gold medals
- 2 x Team Silver medals
Unfortunately, the Australian Interschools Snow Sports Championships (due to be held 5–10 September) was cancelled due to insufficient snow coverage. Despite this, 46 students successfully qualified for the event. This is an incredible achievement and one that we are very proud of. As the warmer months approach, we are excited to see many of our students venture to international slopes and look forward to the 2024 Australian season!