Monday February 16th Winter Sports/Activities Update

This year marks the 11th year ABS & AO has partnered together to provide students at ABS the opportunity to ski. Through these years we have really developed a wonderful program that sees students evolution of skiing advance each year they are here at ABS. When the program first started we had only a handful of students that could ski independently to now having just our first year students in need of instruction and support. 

In watching all of our students enjoy the mountain this past Friday. I thought of that first year and the many hands that made it possible for our program to be what it is today. Which allows so many of our students a short period of time to be independent, ski with friends and enjoy the winter wonderland we do often find ourselves surrounded in during Vermont's winter season. 

So due to our students having the skills to progress onward and upwards, AO will be running the T-bar for ABS students this coming Friday. Skiers will be able to take the T-bar to the 1st stop (they will not be able to access the stop at the top of the T-bar) giving them more terrian to access and a faster way to get up. For any students who are still in end of honing their skiing on easier terrain they will still be able to access those areas of the ski hill. 

After this Friday our next ski day will be March 6th. We intent and are hopefully that the snow will remain and that we will have several more ski days this winter season!! 

General Reminders: 

Students will be bused to AO and back to ABS via our bus. 

Students must ride the bus back to ABS at the end of the ski day, if this presents a problem please feel free to reach out to either myself (annalise.ennis@wsesu.net) or Amanda Yates (ayates@wsesu.net). 

Students renting equipment from AO have access to their equipment anytime AO is running the rope tow/T-bar.

Check out the Ascutney Outdoor website here AO Weekly Schedule , they update it further along in the week, but this is place to find out if they will be open any additional days during our February vacation. 

Ascutney Outdoors Update: 

KG Moore, is the new executive director at Ascutney Outdoors. He and his family moved to Brownsville, VT roughly two years ago. ABS students who have attended Base Camp will be more familar with his two sons Henry and Sam. Henry is a base camp counselor and Sam heads up Base Camps bike program. The Moore family have been a wonderful addition to the ABS, AO, Base Camp and West Windsor/Windsor committee. 

SCIP EVENT AT AO: SCIP will be hosting another family friendly gathering at Ascutney Outdoors on Saturday February 28th from 6 - 8pm if you are interested in signing up to provide something to share this is the SCIP food sign up link.  

Thursday February 5th Afternoon Ski Day- 

The afternoon of skiing at AO was a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone who attend, thank you to all the parents, grandparents, guardians that came for the afternoon. It was so nice to be up there again for the season and I look forward in skiing this coming Friday February 13th. Here are some pictures I captured from the afternoon of skiing. 

February 13th will be a normal Winter Sports/Winter Activities Day - 

Students going to the mountain will load onto the ABS bus at 11:30 and arrive at AO around 11:45am. AO volunteers and ABS staff that participate in the ski program will be there to help students get their gear on and spend the afternoon having fun on the slopes. Once skiing is over ALL students will be transported back to ABS for afternoon dismissal. 

REMINDER - NEW THIS YEAR!! NO STUDENTS ARE BEING DISMISSED AT AO. ALL ABS STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO RIDE THE BUS BACK TO ABS. THIS IS FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL CHILDREN!! 

We have found throughout the years that being flexible in the past years has made it challenging on staff to know who they should expect on the bus ride back to ABS. Especially since there are often last minute changes. So we are going to have all students come back to ABS for the afternoon dismissal. 

January 30th - Thank you to the parents, staff, teachers that were all prepared to go outside today and brace the winter temperatures to enjoy a day of skiing. Unfortunately, the temperatures are going to be dipping down to a degree that is just not safe enough for us to ski in. Even with a fire, taking lots of breaks in the lodge and a promise of hot coco.. We have a policy as a SU that states winter activities that are of a school funcation can not take place when the temperatures are 10 degrees or less (this includes the feel like). So our apologizes in this last minute change. I know that Wendy has sent out information about this and if you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact myself or Amanda. Take care and wishing you all a warm weekend!! 

January 27th - I hope that everyone had a great unexpected/expected 3 day weekend and have recovered from digging out of the beautiful blanket of snow that has us surround. Our hopes is to go skiing this Friday. Currently the weather is calling for a high of 9 degrees w/a low of -6. We will be keeping an eye on this and so long as the feels like temperature doesn't have us at 5 or less. We will be making an attempt at skiing. We will be encouraging students/adults/volunteers to take breaks in lodge after 10-20 minutes outside and if a student becomes too cold to ski. We will have things like coloring, a puzzle and some other activities for students who are just really struggling to remain outdoors. Due to what winter activities typically are. Students participating in that program will likely remain indoors for a majority of the afternoon. Harder to stay warm when you are doing less physically movement. If anyone has any questions about this or concerns feel free to let myself know or Ms. Amanda to via email.  annalise.ennis@wsesu.net or ayates@wsesu.net

January 20th- There will be no Winter Sports/Winter Activities this Friday due to lack of snow and cold temperatures. Hopefully we will get some snow this weekend into the week so we can ski Friday January 30th. Also reminder that February 6th is an early release day and we will not have winter sports/activities on that day. 

Albert Bridge Students have the ability to select skiing as a winter sports option. Students who select to participate in skiing will be transported to Ascutney Outdoors where they will spend their afternoon skiing and then will return to ABS for dismissal. 

Students can use their own equipment for skiing. Parents/Guardians just need to bring their child's equipment to the mountain prior to our arrival on Fridays. ABS staff/teachers and the ABS bus can not transport student's personal ski equipment to the mountain and back. If your child doesn't have their own equipment or transporting equipment could be a challenge. Students do have the option of renting equipment through Ascutney Outdoors. These rentals are of no cost to families and the equipment is available for use during holidays, school breaks and weekends whenever AO is open. Equipment however can not be taken off of the mountain. BootPro comes in the fall to fit all students who choose to rent equipment through AO. *BootPro fitting for the fall 2025 has already taken place. A make up day is coming in January, please email Annalise Ennis if you have any questions regarding this* 

Students who do not wish to participate in the ski program remain at ABS to participate in a variety of winter activities. These activities can be skating, sledding, snowshoeing, building winter forts, cross country skiing, etc. 

ABS winter sports/winter activity days for the school year of 25/26 take place on Fridays starting January 16th and running through March. This is of course a weather dependent program and requires a bit of flexibility in terms of whether we can do it or not. Myself or a member of the ABS staff/teachers will send out notification of when we can, or can't ski with as much notice as possible. 

Students who are a part of winter activities that then decide they wish to be skiing. Can only switch to the ski program IF they have their own ski equipment. 

Students who are skiing and wish to no longer ski can switch to the winter activities program, but they can not switch "in the moment"/during the time the program is actually in progress. The switch needs to take place within 24 hours prior to the start of that coming Fridays winter sports/winter activities beginning. This ensures we have the proper amount of staff remaining at the school. 

All students/volunteers/staff/teachers, but especially individuals participating in the ski program need to fill out & return the Ascutney Outdoor release . This is a release that needs to be filled out/signed yearly and provides protection for AO and the AO volunteers. 

If you have any questions about this program or need more information feel free to email myself (Annalise) at annalise.ennis@wsesu.net , to volunteer for this years ski program at AO contact Amanda Yates at ayates@wsesu.net. 

PS. Please check back on this site for Winter Sports/Activities updates & pictures 

No Winter Sports/Activities January 16th- due to lack of snow we will run our school day as normal.