St Andrews Snowsports in Val Thorens

After months of eager anticipation, 250 students from across the academic spectrum geared up for the annual St Andrew Snowsports ski trip on Friday 20th January. Selling out in less than 12 hours, this was the biggest ski trip to date and with the exams finished, everyone was ready to begin their journey to the French alpine resort of Val Thorens. A week of skiing, snowboarding and socialising was in order and no one can do a ski trip like St Andrews Snowsports can.

With a “Noah’s Ark” theme planned as a twist for the bus journey down, a whole menagerie of tigers, lions, rabbits, unicorns, Pikachus, seals and dinosaurs boarded the buses to begin the trip down to Dover and then across to France. Whilst the journey can be quite long, it’s on the buses that trippers, especially first years and snow virgins, meet up with friends and get to know the other people on the trip that they’ll be shredding slopes with – nothing brings people together more than sharing a room during the university ski trip.

Armed to the teeth with enough DVDs and snacks for an entire semester’s worth of procrastination, the buses slogged their way down through the UK. Of course, half the fun of getting the bus down is that when you reach London, the drinking begins. By the time we’d managed to reach Dover and get on the ferry, you had the majority of folk chinning pints, partaking in Epic Rap Battles, and the occasional Fresher trying to finish the Port to Port challenge, all whilst dressed in marvellous animal costumes. It does mean that when you fall asleep on the bus upon docking at Calais, the next time you wake up hours later you’re deep in France (with a horrific hangover and there’s still 10 hours of travelling to go). We did manage to reach the resort eventually though, just in time.

Sunday morning dawned with bright sunshine for the first day of skiing and while the experienced seasonaires were able to get up at 9am for the first lift, beginners hired their equipment and met their instructors. The Alps had experienced heavy snow over the past few weeks, so the good weather meant excellent conditions for those starting off, whilst it also allowed ski trip veterans to find the freshest powder and make their mark on the mountain for all to see. Val Thorens is in the fabled “Three Valleys” of snowsports lore, allowing access to the renowned resorts of Meribel and Courchevel for those who paid for the upgraded lift pass. With the largest ski resort in Europe at our feet, there were plenty of runs for all abilities: smooth blues for those wanting to build their confidence, fast reds for the racers amongst us while there were several large and all-encompassing snow parks for anyone who wished to show off their tricks.

The ski trip takes place at the end of January and so the slopes are welcomingly quiet for the majority of the day, allowing a full seven hours of skiing with minimal queuing for lifts. Elizabeth Renwick, a first year history student who had never skied before, found that at first the lessons were “daunting but fun” but it was the après ski that really helped make it one of her “best weeks of Uni so far”. For the rest of the week, everyone was able to be on the pistes all day before skiing on down to Bar 360, who’s DJ played mixes that really got the blood pumping. Last year, we had the legendary Folie Douce in Tignes, but 360 was more spacious and accommodating, perfect for really getting in the après mood for the music – there won’t be a single person who now doesn’t have the thumping of “The Big Bad Wolf” and “Internet Friends” stuck in their head.

Of course, half the fun of the trip is the night time entertainment and for every single night that we were in resort, there was a themed social at one of the different bars. The first major event was “Mime time”, which resulted in the entire St Andrews contingent putting on their white face paint, stripy jumpers and braces before hitting the town’s local bars. Mimes can be frightening by themselves, so having over two hundred march into a bar at once must have been a sight for the bartenders. Other nights included themes such as “S” night, which saw individuals dress up as Smurfs, snow and snakes, while “White Night” at the end of the week was yet another success that allowed everyone to daub each other’s T-shirts (and other parts of the body) in as much permanent marker as possible.

Following previous years, the Valley Rally was a further fancy dress accomplishment, with Oompa Loompas and Jedi being but some of the costumes seen racing down the slope. Perhaps the most popular night and biggest achievement was the “Mountain Meal”, hosted up at Bar 360 on the slopes. A meat fondue, with plenty of wine on the side, meant that it was described as “one of the tastiest, messiest and best meals of his life” by Pete Stranger, a first year who claimed to be the best skier on the mountain. The meal ended up with over a hundred people standing on the tables and chairs with their “taps aff” – both guys and girls – for the remainder of the night. After the meal had finished, we were able to ski back down to the hotel with flaming torches, potentially not the best idea after an evening of drinking but no one got hurt or burnt.

Every year, SAS have tried to make the trip bigger and better for those who manage to book on and 2012, and it has proven to be our best success to date. With no broken bones or major injuries, excellent weather and fantastic snow conditions, everyone who came along got what they hoped for. After an exhausting week of slopes and night time revelry, the bus journey back brought a welcome rest for sore muscles and livers. A tremendous amount of effort was put in by trip organisers Anna Balm and Ulrika Nilsson, without whom the trip would not have been a success. The reps from Outgoing were extremely helpful whilst in the resort and if not for their enthusiasm, help and chat, the trip wouldn’t have been the drunken outrageously naked extravagance that it was. SAS are always looking ahead and with the BUSC Easter ski trip deadline looming on the 24th February and the Snowball on the 3rd March, we’re always keen to get as many people onto the slopes as possible. The ski trip’s reputation has grown fantastically over the past three years and with the triumph of the Val Thorens trip, we can’t wait for another exciting and challenging trip in 2013.

Written by Ronnie Guthrie, grandstand writer

Photos: © Jonny Hawkins; Susie Coreth & Fiona Dutton