This year’s Varsity ski trip has proved to be more popular than ever, selling out within minutes of booking opening.
The 2010 trip sold out in 28 hours. The level of demand last Monday, however, exceeded expectation. Two hours after booking opened at 8am the queue had risen to 5,700, for a trip with a capacity of 3,000.
Many students had to wait for several hours to book their place.
One student from Mansfield College commented, “I had to wait for three hours to get my place! I almost missed a tutorial but was just glad I was one of the lucky ones and got on, a few of my friends didn’t quite manage it.” Facebook, meanwhile, was littered with frustrated comments by those waiting. Alex Irons posted, “Queue time 4 hours 32 min. FML.”
Once the demand for places became clear the Varsity trip committee set about trying to arrange more accommodation, securing an extra 200 beds. In response to a query about the possibility of more space on the trip, a spokesperson for the Committee said, “We’re looking into getting some more but we’ve pretty much filled up the resort, and it’s a bit too cold to put up tents so our options are quite limited…especially this late in the day.”
The Varsity Trip is an annual snowsports event that plays host to the Blues Races, where the top Oxford and Cambridge skiers have battled it out since 1922. In recent years the trip has significantly expanded to become the largest student-run ski trip in the world, and includes an extensive entertainment programme featuring artists such as Calvin Harris.