Snow Holds Barred At Freshers Fair

The Varsity Ski Trip hit the Freshers’ Fair hard, enticing in new blood with a 30-tonne slope made of real snow.

Freshers Freshers Fair skiing Sledge Snow val thorens varsity ski trip

Every society/event/loose conglomeration of people brings out the big guns for the Freshers’ Fair. The Tolkien Society had a cracking model of Gimli.

But even a life-size Cave Troll would have a tough time competing with the Varsity Ski Trip’s 30-tonne offering of Alpine excitement.

To get as many freshers as possible interested in 3,000-strong holiday, this year to Val Thorens, the Varsity committee shipped over a slope made of real snow to give potential skiers a taste of what’s in store this December.

Despite the warm weather the snow slope held out all day

Varsity Trip Committee member Roger Clarke was blunt about the trip’s appeal, telling The Tab: “You can’t go skiing for cheaper.”

The trip, shared with The Other Place, has an impressive pedigree. “It’s the longest-running trip of its kind” said Roger, “older than the Winter Olympics.

“It is a lot of fun and the two universities like to race each other on the slopes – Cambridge tend to get the upper hand.”

Freshers take on the slope

Caius fresher Fiona Thiemann was lured in by the promise of sledging down the slope. When asked how it compared to the rest of the freshers’ fair attractions, she replied: “Obviously it’s the most impressive thing here – it’s a mountain of snow.”

Last year the holiday sold out in a shocking 30 hours, leaving a lot of hopefuls at the bottom of the metaphorical mountain. Booking for this year’s trip open at 8am on October 10th.

Photographs by Lottie Unwin