The National Film Unit films Kelston School for the Deaf students visiting Mt Ruapehu on a two-day trip. They are treated to a weekend at the Chateau on Saturday 2 July to Sunday 3 July 1960 by the Auckland Junior Chamber of Commerce. For many Kelston students, it is their first experience of snow and they make the most of it. A total of 40 students attended. In the video, filmed on Sunday 3 July 1960, students are seen skiing, tobogganing, playing snowball fights, and building snowmen. The trip was made possible through a variety of donations, and was intended to become an annual treat for the Kelston students.
An except from a student’s experience in the School Magazine 1960, Vol. 6 No. 2 edition:
“We went to the Chateau. We left on a Saturday at six o’clock on the bus. One of the buses had a flat tyre. We had a stop for lunch. I had a pie and a sandwich at the Railway station. I was feeling very cold. We slept in a small house at the Chateau. When the girl’s bus got to the Chateau, we played in the snow. We threw snowballs. The girls woke up early at 3 o’clock. I had breakfast at nine o’clock. We went skiing and played in the snow. The National Film Unit took a film of us. I fell over when I tried to ski. After lunch on Sunday we got in the bus to come home. We got home at ten o’clock. I went to sleep very quickly” (Christine Staunton)
