Teacher turns passion for snowsports into opportunity for students

At Saint Kentigern Boys’ School, skis and snowboards are being taken out of the cupboards for another season as students prepare to make the most of winter.

Though the Remuera preparatory school is located far from the nearest natural snow, Sarah Gimblett does her best to get as many students as possible to try the sport she loves.

Skiing and snowboarding provide ākonga with an opportunity to challenge themselves and have fun.

Coordinating the snowsports programme is just one of Sarah’s many duties at Saint Kentigern Boys’. Alongside her role as dean, she runs the school holiday programme, and teaches English and Character Education.

It’s all worth the effort – it’s rare to see an unhappy student on the mountain, says Sarah.

“The après ski is as much fun for the kids as the racing and being on the mountain. I think there’s quite a lot of life skills around skiing because you’ve got to be quite resilient to the cold and the conditions and the weather. It’s not for the faint-hearted some days.

“I think it’s a fantastic sport to be a part of.”

A lifelong passion for snow

Saint Kentigern Boys’ School Year 7 dean Sarah Gimblett.

Sarah was bitten by the skiing bug at the age of 11 when her family went on a one-off trip to Ruapehu.

“They never went again, but I really enjoyed it. And then from there I wanted to live it. I felt like it was something that you couldn’t go on the odd weekend and get any good at.”

So after high school, she packed her bags and went to Park City in Utah in the United States to work for a winter as a lift operator.

She later returned to North America after teacher training, where she worked as a nanny in Banff, Canada, and “just skied to my heart’s content”.

Back in Aotearoa, in her first teaching role at Auckland Normal Intermediate, Sarah was asked to take on a sport. Skiing suddenly seemed like something she could bring to her teaching role.

Her ākonga trained at Snow Planet, Auckland’s indoor ski slope, and attended North Island Primary and Intermediate School (NIPS) championships at Ruapehu.

“The kids were really into it and the families loved it.”

Skiing took a back seat when Sarah spent a decade in London, but it came back on her radar when she returned to take her role at Saint Kentigern Boys’ School.

“Chris Hansen, who runs the Schools Alpine Competition (SAC) at Cardrona, was a colleague at the time. He was running the ski team and I said I’d love to get involved, so once he left I took over that.”

Bringing the classroom to the skifield

Now, the biggest event in Saint Kentigern Boys’ snowsports calendar is the annual Schools Alpine Competition in Wānaka for young skiers and snowboarders.

Sarah Gimblett discovered skiing at 11 years old and is now inspiring the next generation of snowsport athletes.

The snowsports programme requires strong parental support, both to attend training sessions at Snow Planet and the trip to Wānaka.

Not all of the participating students’ families ski, says Sarah. “We organise managers for the team and we have staff on the mountain and for the SAC competition in particular, we take care of the kids, but the parents are around. So it doesn’t have to be that the parents have to ski.”

Likewise, Sarah says it’s important that students who don’t have strong snow skills still feel like they can participate.

“It’s not about it being for the fastest or the best, or any kind of elitism. Everyone is welcome,” she says.

“We’ve got our youngest skiers to our Year 8 confident students, we’ve got people who are brand new to the sport and just want to have a go at racing, and then we’ve got kids who literally travel internationally, or their parents move down south for a term over winter to compete.”

Snowsports opportunities for everyone

Chris says competitions help introduce snowsports to the next generation, but he often battles to gain sponsorship because people think of it as an exclusive sport.

The annual Schools Alpine Competition (SAC) at Cardrona, Wānaka, is on 14 to 17 September.

“Because it is expensive, flying to Queenstown, booking accommodation for a week and having all the gear.”

The benefits, though, are great, he says.

“Obviously you need to be fit to ski; it’s exhilarating – much like surfing, you’re going downhill. I think also it’s one of those sports that when you see someone who skis proficiently, you want to ski like them.

“Nothing beats being up on the mountain on a bluebird day.”

For teachers who might be interested in starting their own ski or snowboarding clubs, Sarah’s advice is keep parents informed and make it easy for them.

“I don’t go to every event, it’s not possible. I just advertise what’s out there, send reminders to parents, encourage the kids to go and promote it on our school’s system.”

For her, skiing is hard to beat – fresh mountain air, individuality but also an element of celebrating each other’s success.

“The kids just seem genuinely so happy being on the mountain, outdoors and the ski racing is only ever a small part of the day.

“They go off and ski round themselves and have some fun and take risks and have their snowball fights. It’s competitive for some, it’s very relaxed for others and its generally just good fun.”

The Schools Apline Competition

The Schools Alpine Competition started at Coronet Peak four years ago before moving to Cardrona in Wānaka.

The competition began for primary-aged New Zealand children from Year 2 and has since opened up to Australian schools and, from this year, high school students.

Up to 250 competitors are expected at this year’s competition which runs from 14 to 17 September. Events include:

• The giant slalom in skiing and snowboarding which all competitors take part in to be graded
• The dual slalom – skiing in teams
• The gravity cross – skiing and snowboarding (individuals).

Athletes should be registered and paid by 10 August. Late entries will be taken until 7 September.

Go to the Schools Alpine Competition website for more information alpinecomp.nz