The organisers of the historic Varsity Trip have announced that this year’s trip will take place in Val Thorens, located in Les Trois Vallées resort in the south of France.
The Varsity Trip is the official ski trip for Oxford and Cambridge students. The trip coincides with the Varsity Races, in which the Oxford Ski and Snowboard Club competes with the Cambridge Ski and Snowboard Club.
The event this year will take place between the 3rd and 11th of December. Michaelmas term officially finishes on Saturday 4th December for Oxford students, and on the 3rd of December for Cambridge students.
The event organisers reminded followers on Facebook that it is currently “compulsory to be double vaccinated to go to France”, and that they are “expecting this rule to still be in force by the time Varsity Trip comes round”.
The Varsity Trip was founded in 1922 in Wengen, Switzerland. There are multiple ski racing events, including racing and freestyle. Skiing is a discretionary Full Blue at Oxford. This means club members only receive their Full Blue if they finish 1st overall at the Varsity Races, or if they place in the top 10 at BUCS.
Since then, the Trip has become available for 3000 students. The event is known as the “largest student-run snow sports event in the world”. The Trip is open to skiiers and snowboarders of all abilities.
In addition to skiing and snowboarding, the Trip’s organisers arrange several après ski and nightclub events, often with famous music acts. Some acts to have headlined at The Varsity Trip include Tinie Tempah, Rudimental, Calvin Harris, and Shy FX. Sigala was one of the many to have performed at the last Varsity Trip in 2019. There are also other forms of entertainment on offer.
Last year, the Varsity Trip was cancelled due to circumstances concerning the ongoing pandemic. In the antecedent year, the Varsity Trip was also held in Val Thorens. The other location to commonly host The Varsity Trip is Tignes, situated in the Tarentaise Valley in France.
Oxford and Cambridge students who would like to go on The Varsity Trip will have to book their tickets on the 21st October. More information on the Booking Day process will be released in due course. Bookings for the event sell out very frequently.
Image: pxfuel
