A severely weather-affected programme of ski races between Oxford and Cambridge in Val Thorens, France, ended in narrow overall victories for the Light Blues men and women.
There was great individual success in the Dark Blues camp, with Kirsty Dixon (Keble) and Jamie Reid (Oriel) winning both their Giant Slalom and Slalom races. But the scoring system required four good finishes in each race to carry the day and a combination of injuries and failures to complete the course took its toll on both match results.
Clearly disappointed, OUSSC President Max Denning commented after the races: ‘Oxford skied valiantly in this year’s instalment of the world’s oldest annual ski team competition. Unfortunately when it came to race day, the Tabs won by a nail-bitingly small margin – perhaps the smallest in living memory.’
Ski racers live on the edge: though nothing beats the feeling of hurtling down a mountain to the sound of a roaring crowd and cowbells they know that with just one mistake all the practice and hard work can go to waste. And so the last thing the Varsity skiers needed were relentless blizzards, merciless white-outs and heavy snowfall. In normal competitive skiing, the Varsity course would not have been considered safe or suitable. But this is Oxford v Cambridge and the show must go on.
The races were postponed for two days and this at least allowed racing to take place in clear visibility. Course conditions always dictate race strategy and the racing line: after days of snow, the teams were forced to attack the Giant Slalom and Slalom courses so as to avoid the piles of powder that surrounded the course. A course of this difficulty required a narrow, high line to seek out the best of conditions on the ‘Stade’ slope of Val Thorens.
But sticking to this line was more than a matter of maintaining speed. Given that a metre of fresh snow had accumulated on the surrounding piste, straying more than a few centimeters from the racing line not only put the racers at risk of missing a gate but also of finding themselves ski-less – or worse, injured. Despite their best efforts, this was the inevitable outcome for a number of racers and unfortunately there were some serious injuries amongst both the Oxford and Cambridge camps.
In the end despite the outstanding individual performances from Kirsty Dixon and Jamie Reid, Oxford men came second by 8.76 seconds in the giant Slalom and first in the Slalom by 5.82 seconds which meant they lost the overall match by only 2.94 seconds. In the women’s Giant Slalom Oxford came second by 6.14 seconds and in the Slalom came second by 20.58 seconds leading to an overall defeat by 26.72 seconds.
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Following the races which he won overall by a massive eight seconds, Oriel’s Jamie Reid was philosophical about his team’s defeat: ‘Despite the team winning the slalom, a number of our key skiers had fallen earlier on in the GS, and the deficit proved just too big to close, with Cambridge winning overall by only two seconds.
‘Still, it was a very competitive race in tough conditions with the soft fresh snow quickly turning the course into something resembling a luge track. I’m confident that we can bring it home next year, with our Blues team bolstered by the return of ex-Captain Joel Ward, who has taken a year out to train in Austria.’
When asked about the massive turn-out of supporters in the resort, OUSSC President Denning commented: ‘The majority of people head on the Varsity Ski Trip to enjoy the sweaty clubs, beautiful weather and to make snowmen with carrots in all the wrong places. But for some of us the trip also stages the pinnacle of University ski competition – the Varsity Match. Although the weather played havoc with the match with delays and difficult conditions Oxford skied valiantly.’
On the process of selecting the team Denning could not have been happier: ‘Team captains were pleased to see many more skiers turning up to our race trials than for the Other Place.’
Denning could also have taken pride in the sheer number of Oxford Students who turned up – from this observer’s standpoint, we may have lost the matches but we outnumbered the Tabs at least two to one in the bars and clubs.
