Leningrad
School trip to Leningrad in March 1985, back when it was still proper scary Russia. We'd all stocked up on thick sweaters and enormous coats, only for an incredible heatwave to hit the country - we checked the international weather in a paper in Heathrow and discovered that it was six or seven degrees hotter in Moscow than in London.

So we're in Leningrad and it's not exactly sweltering, but it's not cold. And 'cos of the heat, the ice further up the Neva has started to thaw, so there are chunks of ice the size of busses floating down the river, and inevitably a lot of them end up sitting against the riverbank, temptingly well within jumping range.

One of the third formers decided that it would be both funny and good to jump onto one of these mini-icebergs. Turns out it wasn't. The force of his landing dislodged it from the bank and sent him drifting off towards Finland. Only some remarkable quick thinking and some truly incredible leaping (onto the ice floe) and throwing (the terrified teenager) by one of the teachers saved the holiday.
(Wong Fei-Hung - now with added flickr.com (see profile), Thu 7 Dec 2006, 11:50, Reply)