Here’s everything you need to know about the ski trip drama

Because nothing screams ‘yah’ like getting embroiled in fights about a ski trip


Between finals, student occupations, strikes and sunbathing in The Meadows, it’s been hard to keep up with everything. If you, like us, have been continuously hearing drama about the ski trip which is both amusing yet also confusing, we’ve scrolled through the countless Edifesses and got the low down for you. 

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s ski trip drama:

Each year the EUSSC (Edinburgh University Snowsports Club) hold an annual ski trip. The trip is infamously difficult to get onto, plus having not happened due to Covid restrictions last season, the stakes were even higher this year and everyone was at the ready with daddy’s card in hand.

The trip to Val Thorens sold out in minutes and was scheduled to take place in January 2022.

However, shortly before the trip was due to go ahead, it was cancelled due to Covid restrictions in France. The 1500+ people who managed to get tickets were understandably upset about it, though, all of their money was reimbursed for the trip – except for the £20 joining fee for the Snowsport society. There was also another trip planned for April 2022. 

However, some students who had only bought a membership in order to get a place on the ski trip itself, have been pursuing the Snowsports club for their £20 (or four Subway venoms in Edinburgh currency).

In multiple Edifesses, some students have complained about EUSSC for their lack of reimbursement. Furthermore, there have been accusations that committee members have kept the joining fee in order to fund their own ski trip, the club have strenuously denied it.

In one Edifess, an Edinburgh student claimed: “They literally spent [the membership fees] on ski trips for nine committee members recently and then tell us that the £20 fee is non refundable even though we have got nothing from it”.

The treasurer responded to one r(ah)ant on Facebook in an attempt to explain the situation and highlight the other benefits which come with the membership: “Our January trip was unfortunately postponed due to the French closing their borders to the UK due to Covid-19. We were just as gutted as this about you guys as so much effort and preparation goes into it (as you could imagine with a 1500+ person trip).

“In light of the trip being cancelled, some of our committee decided they would go on their own personal holidays to ski (some with family, others with friends). 

“Absolutely ZERO club money was used to fund  these trips and they were ENTIRELY self-funded. The SU reserves the right to perform an audit at any time upon any club and as such we have to ensure that the club finances remain completely transparent to the SU. I.e., we must be able to justify where the money goes and what it is spent on at all times. This is a fantastic thing as it avoids the risk of extortion.

“It is really sad that our committee members cannot even go on their own holidays without being wrongfully accused of extortion.

“Finally with regards to the membership costs, we have explicitly stated many times the benefits that come with being a member of EUSSC. We offer weekly training and promote Scottish snow sports massively (see benefits for more detail). I would also like to point out that we still have an April trip, so we are still offering as much in the way of snow sports as we were back in Semester One.”

However, this response was not well received by some, with another Edifess user writing: “Can’t believe the Snowsports Society committee are actually saying they didn’t spend membership fees on a ski holiday, the real story is they technically call it training instead of a holiday so it counts as education”.

 

Amongst the complaints, the ski trip has become a running meme on Edifess, with dozens of people weighing in on the club’s decision not to reimburse students their joining fees, as well as spelling out (just in case you hadn’t noticed) how painfully upper-class the drama is:

Many of the Edifesses made fun of those annoyed at losing their £20 membership fee.

To sum up the drama, essentially it seems that people aren’t going to be getting daddy’s precious £20 back.

And no doubt, Edifess will be filled with more snow sports memes until the snow starts to fall in Scotland again next winter. 

Speaking to The Edinburgh Tab, the Edinburgh University Snowsports Club said: “Accusations that the club has spent money on committee members going on ski trips are unequivocally false in every way. This is clear in all our accounts and financials. To reiterate, these accusations are simply made up.

“Any trip that a committee member went on (for instance, with family or friends) was entirely self funded and was at their discretion as an individual. Any trips that committee members went on together was because they were friends, and decided to do so as friends, not in an official club capacity.

“When you buy membership to our club, you not only get to attend our Christmas Trip, you become a member of EUSSC. The Christmas Trip is one of the many benefits of joining, but primarily we are a sports and social club with extensive activities, benefits and opportunities throughout the academic year. Some people choose to join us primarily for our Christmas trip, and that is their personal choice, but we are so much more than that. Every other club at the university that runs trips also requires membership in exactly this fashion.

“As per advice by our Sports Union, and again, as with every other club at the university, our year-long club memberships are refunded in only the most extenuating of circumstances. Where an individual is still in a position to make the most of club benefits, refunds will sadly not be offered. This is clear from the outset.

“As for where our membership revenue gets spent: we cover costs of almost all our transport and entry fees at competitions, maintain an extensive lock-up of equipment, sponsor training and qualifications for members, run socials, wellbeing-activities and subsidise outward bound activities and people making the most of the Scottish Highlands.

“We also use our platform to help raise a substantial amount of money for charity over the course of the year. For what we offer, this is amazing value. All this is with the sole aim of making what we love, snow sports – an expensive and often inaccessible sport – as open and accessible as is possible, particularly during term time.

“Thank you to all those who understand what it means to tirelessly run a sports club as volunteers at university and have called out these comments of anonymous individuals as what they are: sour, slanderous and almost satirical.”

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• Here’s a round up of Edi’s best dressed at The Races 2022

The complete alphabet of ALL Edinburgh essentials

These are the 13 things that make you a walking red flag as an Edi student