Abingdonian 2017

17 www.abingdon.org.uk Lent Term Micha l as Term country ski-ing rugby match - played with a huge medicine ball; everyone was getting stuck in and giving 100%! It was quite a sight, and would make a great new other half activity! Boys also snow shoed in the boreal forest looking out for animal tracks and hoping that the bears were safely hibernating someone out of sight! Our patience was also rewarded by seeing a golden eagle, two in fact, feasting on a frozen arctic fox carcass. The boys also did some ice climbing, which looked easy but was much more difficult in practice. Lactic acid burned in your forearms as you made your way up, with ice splintering everywhere (perhaps due to imprecise technique!) but all boys got to the top – even if it took them 40 minutes! I was very proud of their determination; “never give up” we shouted from below, a good motto for life. During the week the boys also learnt to: make wilderness fires, chop wood (the Finnish way!), “make sauna”, perfect the “snow angel art”, make and sleep in quinzees, saw the infamous northern lights and drank in the beauty of this wonderful, untouched part of our world right on the Finnish Line with the Russian border. I hope they go back in the future and take away how important it is to protect our fragile world from climate change and from climate change deniers. I would like to thank Henri, Miriam and Mimi who were truly wonderful wilderness guides and made the trip so hugely special for us all. Also thanks to Ian Fishpool for helping to look after the students on the trip. Paul Gooding