It wasn’t all parties and pints at Palatinalps 2014, as the more competitive of you got involved in races and jumps, all organised by DUSSC.  There were winners and losers, flourishes and falls, big airs and even bigger wipeouts…

The Rail Jam

Reps set up two jumps and rails right in front of Le Coffee in time for après, providing spectators with a great bit of entertainment between beers, vin chaud, and the odd undercooked burger.

It went spectacularly well for some

I mean, they really killed it

Ok, it was quite funny when they stacked it.

He calls this the ‘falling starfish’

‘Just waiting for a mate’

Everyone got involved, even a random kid (who had serious tekkers) and a dog.

Putting the rest of us to shame.  Yeah, well, when I was 8, I had 147 pokemon.  Beat that, kid. (photo: Jasper M.L. Cox)

‘She doesn’t even go here’

Best bail was won by Henry Wakefield, whilst Sam Cocum won best trick with his impressive 270 on, 270 off.

The Dual Slalom

Eventually won by Collingwood Ds, the dual slalom pitted two teams against each other in a race to the bottom of the course, with members going one by one until the winning team had finished.

In the interest of competition, the Dual Slalom was run in heats, then finals; competitors, however, lamented the long waiting times, with the contest ostensibly lasting over 3 hours.

That’s equivalent to 6 episodes of Come Dine with Me or a third of a matriculation speech.

A number of students who intended to compete ended up dropping out of the competition due to the slow running of the event.

It wasn’t all this action-packed

This seems to have been unavoidable due to the nature of the event, however, and the response from competitors was that it was an enjoyable and challenging contest.

The Boarder-X and Skier-X

The Boardercross was a highly successful event, as was its skiing counterpart.

The Reservoir Boarders

It took place up in the Tignes Snowpark, a couple of lifts away from the main resort.

Awards went to Fred Ahern for best male skier and Elysa Hubbard for best female skier; Alex Assim and Bex Dawkes won the prizes for the snowboarders.

Assim noted that although the turnout was a tad less than expected, owing to poor weather and visibility, the competition was ‘run really well’, and that the course was the ‘most challenging for a few years.’

Alex Assim, winner of the Boarder-X and Tab lover.

The Big Air

Also run up at the Tignes Snowpark, the Big Air saw skiers and boarders bomb down an intimidating jump before landing onto the bare snow, a dangerous feat for any competitor.

The prize for best male was won by Jonny East, who pulled off an incredible double backflip, and subsequently won a pair of Faction skis.

So jump. How poles. Very air. Much amaze. Wow.

Best female was won by Collingwood’s Katie Brown, whilst the best male snowboarder was won by Sam Cocum, continuing his dominance over the snowboarding competitions, much like that singing Korean chap over Market Square.

For those that don’t feel like plummeting face first into snow

All winners were presented with a bottle of champers from the Palatinalps team at Le Coffee, accompanied by the dulcet tones of pink sunglasses viciously being fought over as they rained from the sky.

For those keen to continue competing, or simply to give it a go during term time, check out what DUSSC get up to.

From the results of this trip, we can see they clearly know what they’re doing.