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Returning to York after Easter, York’s ski and snowboard club bring back bronze and silver medals with an overall position of 8th place from the BUSA Main Event, BUSC, and the massive achievement of taking 190 York students to Les Arcs on the biggest ski trip this university has ever seen.
In the eyes of YUSSC, if you weren’t in Les Arcs or at the Main Event this Easter, you missed out. See the official BUSC Main Event video for more:
This Easter, YUSSC went on a massive week’s holiday, followed by a trip for the race team to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. This was the first time that York had entered the BUSA snow event, so there was nothing for them to lose, and in an interview with the Yorker before Easter, race captain, Max Hardy was just aiming to “see how well we can do.”
York’s silver medal was won by Hardy in the Chinese Downhill, in which 40 of BUSC's fastest skiers and boarders start together and pick their own line from the top of the hill to the bottom.
When picking up their bronze medal in the Dual Slalom, Chairman of BUSC Committee, Harry Quartermain, announced to the crowd of 2,500 British skiers, “in 3rd place, newcomers to the scene and hope for the future, York …”
Quartermain later said to the team, “You’ve put in the work this year, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
York is going to destroy Lancaster at Rossendale
York won their bronze medal out of 49 teams entered in the Dual Slalom event on the Tuesday. Dual Slalom is effectively a ski relay with two teams skiing identical parallel courses; the next man can go when the one before reaches the bottom.
York’s Dual Slalom team was beaten in the semi-finals by Edinburgh 1sts, but beat strong teams from Bristol, Reading and Loughborough in previous rounds. With Roses also being a Dual Slalom race, Hardy said “York is going to destroy Lancaster at Rossendale"
Also looking forward to Roses, club president, Guy Francis, said “I want our last man to have a beer in his hand while they still have a man at the top!”
In the individual races, Max Hardy and Matt Thomas finished 18th and 44th respectively in the men’s Giant Slalom competition, out of 90 male qualifiers. Katy Huckle finished 34th in the Ladies race.
The Slalom was less successful for York as a team, but Ben Corbey battled through a day of very difficult skiing conditions to finish in an impressive 26th place, his personal best.
The social side of York’s ski and snowboard club has also grown this year, under social secs Katy Huckle and Alex Fink. York students could be seen in Les Arcs swapping clothes on a mountain, sliding down slopes naked on tea trays, and “owning” Warwick University Ski Club in a boat race. They say they want to become a regular Ziggy’s Club…
Huckle said “the group spirit on the holiday was amazing, and we’re hoping to keep that going with our social in York on Tuesday Week 2.” Guy Francis described the socials on the holiday as “simply massive; with 190 people, the scale of them is immense!”
Fresher, Matt Thomas, commented on his first Ski Club holiday saying “everyone who went on the trip this year will go next year, and so many of my other friends will go too because we’ve all been talking about it.”
The club is clearly on a massive high, which they hope will give them the confidence to achieve further results at Roses, and the Kings National Finals the next day. Hardy says that the main concern now is to keep the momentum going.
“It has gone well this year but we should keep up the momentum from year to year. The freshers’ fair next year will be so important.”
“From a racing point of view, we need more people. Newcastle did well at the Main Event this year because they had 6 skiers finishing in the top 20.”
Undoubtedly the ski and snowboard club is going places. With 85 people on the holiday two years ago, 134 people last year and 190 this year they are fast becoming the biggest sports club in the AU, not only in size, but for socials and BUSA success as well. All this means they must be strong contenders for the AU’s ‘Team of the Year’.
Next year they plan to add a Freestyle Competition to the equation - beat that, rugby and football…
I don't know who this Rhianna Kinchin girl is, but its a bloody good article. Hats off to her, I say! Jolly Good!
I'm so proud! Have to say my favourite touch was "Fresher, Matt Thomas,"...
Though I do have to point out, how are we going to become a presence in Ziggies if our first social is on Tuesday? Never let logic get in the way of a good plan though!
Anyway, well done guys. x
Thankyou Georgeous, you may be interested to know that said social is happening Tuesday so that we can go do some serious race training on Weds in the build up to our destroyal of Lancaster 
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