He must be Friesian!

On the last week of the holidays it was time for Imperial College students to hit the slopes in Val Thorens! Two busloads of students spent 22 hours travelling to the Alps on New Year’s Day, most still suffering from the revelries of the night before. However, duty free alcohol and a port to port challenge tempted people back over to the dark side with one bus having a bit too much fun – and as the trip’s Worried Mum, I was called in to clean up the mess!

Having arrived safely, with rental pick up, and checked in to our cosy quarters it was soon time for us to check out the local. So, dressed to impress in some delightful Christmas jumpers, a ‘calm’ night ended for most in the wee hours of the morning. Still, long nights out does not lead to lazy days on this trip and it was early starts all round to hit the slopes! It’s safe to say that despite the snow blizzard that affected most of Europe, well, there wasn’t much up the mountain! Sure it was great piste skiing, but off piste the snow was already shredded with rocks lying bare. Yet with 140km of piste in Val Thorens and over 600km in all three valleys – there was still plenty to do and see.

Tuesday night was the night that will go down in history for IC Snowsports – Imperial students took over a bar! Yes! I know! How? Well, you know the classic fancy dress theme Cowboys vs. Indians? It’s dated and quite frankly not P.C. So on this historical night, we went to a lovely place called Moo Bar as Cowboys vs. Cows. There was some serious effort put into the costumes which inspired some spontaneous rodeo, cow congas, pole dancing, moshing and some awesome dance moves (milking the udders/grazing the grass).

Back on the slopes and in true Imperial style, people were using their smart phones to clock their speed down runs. Luckily, we had rules in place for this and any ‘Imperial’ (i.e. nerdy) comments were reprimanded. All in all it was going well, the beginners were making progress and there were some totally rad moves being thrown in the park – can anyone say 5? – gnarly man, we’re all totally stoked! Some horrifically awesome retro ski wear was also spotted in the park cruising alongside Super Cow. A brief moment of silence is required here for our injured – one broken leg and a tragic incident with broken glass being left lying around a club ended up with two hospital visits. However, neither were put off the sport nor clubbing. By midweek it was established that the committee did not have food poisoning (attributed to the infamous ‘poo beers’) but had the resort’s stomach bug virus. Call in our only medic Dr. Simon! Oh wait he’s ill.. How bout back-up option Dr. Saftey? Nope he’s ill, too. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise if we brought it back with us and it disrupts your January Exams...

The final night saw us to the Mountain Meal. This is basically meat fondue, lots of wine, some half-naked dancing followed by an epic ski down the green slope back to the apartments. Now, most can handle this night. Some can even ski down with another person standing on their skis – quite a skill. However, there are always exceptions. The sight of one skier and one snowboarder getting clothe-lined by a face-height fence was enough to send those watching into a fit of hysterics! Look for those with red fence marks on their faces for the culprits. It was dark!! The last night was also the event of the Felix centrefold photo, which if it’s not been published will be Snowsport’s second rejection for too much nudity. If you are feeling that sinking feeling of missing out, there’s Easter’s trip coming up and also next year’s January trip which promises to be even bigger!