Varsity Trip is the official annual Oxford and Cambridge Ski and Snowboard trip. It was started as the facilitator of the Blues Ski Races between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in Wengen in 1922[1][2]; at this time skiing was an expensive sport and it was almost exclusively attended by the racers and their families. Today things have changed, with the trip aiming to promote snow sports at as cheap a price as possible.
Varsity Trip is also by far the largest ski trip in the world run by full-time students. Around 2500 students from the two universities go each year. The trip is held at the end of the Michaelmas university term and around a third of participants are complete beginners.
In the past few years, the trip has sold for under £330 for all-inclusive skiing, often to world-class resorts such as Tignes and Val d'Isère. The destination for the 2010 trip was Val Thorens.
Numbers have traditionally been around 1000, but since 2006, the trip has been growing significantly each year. The largest Varsity Trip was in 2010 with over 2500 people in attendance.
Contents |
The trip is organised by a Committee of 8 from Oxford and Cambridge who have individual allocated roles with 4 from each university.
The organisation liaises closely with the Oxford and Cambridge Ski and Snowboard Clubs (OUSSC and CUSSC).
| Year | President | Vice-President | Resort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Anna Gibbs (Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford) | Roger Clarke (Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge) | Val Thorens |
| 2010 | Sam Kirsop (Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge) | Rikin Patel (Exeter College, Oxford) | Val Thorens |
| 2009 | Christian Camm (Downing, Cambridge) | Courtenay Watson (Hertford, Oxford) | Tignes |
| 2008 | Matt Parritt (Exeter, Oxford) | Emily Baker (St John's, Cambridge) | Val Thorens |
| 2007 | Mike Dowling (Mansfield, Oxford) | Nicholas Oettle (Jesus, Cambridge) | Val Thorens |
| 2006 | Charlie Steel (Merton, Oxford) | Lomax Ward (Gonville & Caius, Cambridge) | Les Deux Alpes |
| 2005 | Tim Wilkes (Clare, Cambridge) | William Hardyment (St Hugh's, Oxford) | Tignes |
| 2004 | Sally Knock (Corpus Christi, Oxford) | Chris Aylard (Gonville & Caius, Cambridge) | Tignes |
| 2003[3] | George Herd (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge) | Julia Harris (St Catherine's College, Oxford) | Saalbach |
| 2002[4] | Geoff Bamber (New College, Oxford) | Richard Murphy (Trinity Hall, Cambridge) | Saalbach |
| 2001[4] | Joe Faraday (Cambridge) | Val d'Isere | |
| 2000[4] | Edward Booty (Oxford) | Val d'Isere |
N.B. Prior to 2002 the organisation of the trip alternated between the Cambridge and Oxford ski club committees.
The Varsity skiing match takes place in the Slalom and Giant Slalom disciplines during the annual Oxbridge Varsity ski trip. The Blues race bears the distinction of being the world's oldest team ski event with a tradition which dates back to 1896. Most recently, a selection of supplementary events have been trialled including the Combi and Super G events. The most recent competition to be introduced was the Super G event in 2007, which was won by Ben van Zwanenberg (Oxford). The top four racers in the first men's and women's teams are automatically awarded Half Blues. At the discretion of the Race Captain, another two Half Blues can be awarded; and, if certain conditions have been met, a Full Blue can be awarded. In recent years, the competition has extended to snowboarders but this has not yet obtained Blues status although Ed Gunn, winner of the 2008 BUSC snowboarding Championships at BUSC has been awarded an Extraordinary Full Blue. Oxford Blues skier Freddie Clough (New College) was awarded an Extraordinary Full Blue for his selection to the British University team that participated in the 2007 World Winter University Games in Turin; as have Ben van Zwanenberg, who competes on the World Carving circuit, and ex-French ski schools champion Adrien Geiger. Whilst ski racing has achieved discretionary Full-Blue status at Oxford University, it currently remains a Half-Blue sport at Cambridge.
| Year | Men's University Result | Men's Individual Winner | Women's University Result | Women's Individual Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010[5] | Oxford | Pete Calvert (Cam) | Cambridge | Abby Millward (Ox) |
| 2009[6] | Cambridge | Pete Calvert (Cam) | Oxford | Anouk Dey (Ox) |
| 2008[7] | Oxford | Freddie Clough (Ox) | Oxford | Aimee Broughton (Ox) |
| 2007[8] | Oxford | Pete Calvert (Cam) | Oxford | Rachel Nordby (Cam) |
| 2006[9] | Oxford | Freddie Clough (Ox) | Oxford | Rachel Nordby (Cam) |
| 2005[10] | Oxford | Adrien Geiger (Ox) | Cambridge | Rachel Nordby (Cam) |
| 2004[11] | Cambridge | Adrien Geiger (Ox) | Oxford | Beatrix Capodalista (Ox) |
| 2003[12] | Oxford | Geoff Bamber (Ox) | Oxford | Zanna Shute (Ox) |
| 2002[13] | Oxford | Geoff Bamber (Ox) | Cambridge | Zanna Shute (Ox) |
| 2001[14] | Oxford | Geoff Bamber (Ox) | Oxford | Zanna Shute (Ox) |
| 2000[15] | Oxford | Des Kingsford (Cam) | Cambridge | Juliette Malley (Cam) |
Varsity Trip has hosted increasingly world-class events over the last few years. In 2009 Chase & Status supported Pendulum at the Final Night Party, and brought the entertainment element of the trip to never-before-seen levels. In 2010, however, everything changed yet again. The opening night party saw the first 3D disco ever to take place in the Alps, followed by DJ Yoda. The Final Night Party, meanwhile, played host to Kelé from Bloc Party, Calvin Harris and Jack Beats. Jakwob also featured at various events throughout the week.