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Varsity Trip

Varsity Trip is the annual ski and snowboard trip organised by, and for, Oxbridge students. Founded in 1922 to facilitate the blues ski races between Oxford and Cambridge University, the event has...

*** Sign up to the Varsity Trip 2022 mailing list here:  https://www.varsitytrip.com/fairs/cambridge-uni  ***

Varsity Trip is the annual ski and snowboard trip organised by, and for, Oxbridge students. Founded in 1922 to facilitate the blues ski races between Oxford and Cambridge University, the event has become the largest student run snowsports event in the world. Taking around 3000 students to the Alps, Varsity Trip has become more than the average ski trip. Known for its festival style parties and on the mountain après-ski, Varsity Trip has held host to a number of internationally renowned acts including Basement Jaxx, DJ Fresh, and Calvin Harris. Skiers and snowboarders of all levels attend the trip with up to a third of participants being complete beginners. In recent years the destinations of the trip have included Val Thorens and Tignes. Varsity Trip gives the opportunity to attend an incredible week of snowsports, competitions and events, all at student prices.

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A word from the committee

"Varsity Trip is the oldest and largest student-led ski-trip in the world, held between Oxford and Cambridge. Every year we take over three thousand students for a week in the alps to never forget and with this year being our centenary we’re looking to make it bigger and better than ever”

“Our aim is to bring innovative events, huge acts and generalised fun to the mountains for Oxbridge students to unwind after a busy term. We also strive to make the trip as accessible and sustainable as possible, meaning more people can enjoy the snow and that the snow will last longer. Here’s to another 100 years of Varsity Trip."

What is student snowsports?

It’s hard to describe perfectly. But it’s easy to experience. It’s open, inclusive, it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you do. It always makes you feel welcome.

Shared stories that are impossible to define to those who have not been part of it. It’s days filled with unmistakeable energy. It’s nights you can’t remember but won’t forget.

It makes you feel part of something that is real and happening. It cements you in a tribe forever of like minded people. The identity is immediately recognisable.

It’s joy seeking. It’s a channel for fulfulling your passion. It’s the last orders and first lifts. It’s that 29-hour bus journey with an excitement you can’t put into words. It’s chairlift conversations leading to friendships for life.

• Write for us

‘Rugby boys but they get on skis’: is the Varsity Ski Trip worth it?

Students and ski trip committee members discuss the Cambridge rite of passage on the eve of its 100th anniversary

Wednesday October 19 2022, 11:03am

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“I used to be a Varsity ski Trip rep,” confessed one student outside of the ARC cafe. “Forgive me for my sins.”

Val Thorens, France – skiing all day, partying all night. With the Varsity Trip booking day coming up this Thursday (20/10), Varsity got an inside scoop from the committee and other students who have ventured out to the Alps.

Often considered to be as essential to the Cambridge experience as May Balls, both events have faced criticism for being inaccessible. Simply put by one student: “excessive, inaccessible, fun – but at what cost? [...] I could have gone on a fun holiday with the people I liked – without ski boys.”

I probed this student further: what are ski boys? “Rugby boys but they get on skis.”

While one student called the Trip “pretentious and exclusionary”, a committee member begged to differ, claiming: “One of our key priorities is making the Trip as affordable as possible.”

Another committee member shared her experience, saying: “I thought £500 is a lot, but then I searched up alternatives and they were triple the cost.” Representatives of the Trip have stated: “You will struggle to find ski trips that offer the same scale of events and services for the price we offer.”

Upon offering this perspective to some students they exclaimed: “It is not affordable! Who has £500?”

A third year shared her life hack for reducing the costs of the Trip after she missed out on getting tickets last year: “I just booked an Airbnb for the same week and did all the activities through buying them on Ticketbridge.” Her advice to people? “Do Varsity privately in the same week.”

With the cost of lessons, clothing and ski equipment, one student remarked: “They advertise it as affordable but it’s not once all the things start to add up.” The committee advised to “try to borrow clothes, rent them or buy them cheap secondhand.”

The committee were keen to debunk any issues of inaccessibility. “One of my biggest worries is that I would go, not like skiing and then be stuck there for a week without having anything to do,” but she was pleasantly surprised to find that “there were plenty of other things to do” including club nights, “student bingo” and “mountain yoga and art”.

“It’s accessible to me,” said one frequent skier. “It’s not a big deal to me because I know how to ski.” Recognising that this may not be the case for everyone, they concluded: “Skiing in general is not affordable.”

One particularly passionate second year said that the Varsity Trip is “arguably a keystone in the Oxbridge experience” and thought it to further “alienate the students that cannot afford to go”.

A committee member from a “background where skiing isn’t accessible” argued that “with student loan and bursary money, it’s such a cheap ski trip – I thought: why not try?”

Yet, the same committee member said: “There was new terminology I hadn’t heard before, so I didn’t know where the meeting point was.” However, she found it eventually by following “a massive group of people wearing red jackets”.

One committee member found that her experience of being a first-time skier helped her to bond with other students: “We went down the difficult slopes together.” Apparently “a third of guests are complete beginners”, so you won’t be alone.

However, another found it to be a “problem learning to ski when all your friends know how to”, finding it made her “confidence much lower”. She did however find it useful when the lessons taught her how to “walk sideways down a slope if you got stuck somewhere that was too steep”.

But not all first-time skiers have this experience. A student fitting the stereotypical mould of person the Trip often attracts revealed that he “didn’t know how to ski already” and went to the beginner lessons, praising the Trip as the “greatest week ever”.

Referencing the spiking incidents that happened in the previous year , one student deemed the Trip to be an “inherently patriarchal construct”.

“I know a girl who was injected last year on Varsity”, she went on. “I don’t really want that to happen to me.”

Varsity Trip sells out in half an hour

In response, the committee has said they are taking extra measures this year by not holding events at Malaysia nightclub and using their own bouncers at their other venues, as well as providing “welfare rooms at all major evening events”.

The rush last year to get tickets was reminiscent of The Hunger Games – with those with money able to bypass the stressful rush, paying up to £2000 for a £400 ticket on Ticketbridge.

The committee advises prospective Trip-goers to “carry out basic checks to ensure that they are buying from an actual student and not a scammer”. However, they say that they would be “unable to regulate what people buy and sell their tickets for in secondary markets”.

“The trip is no ordinary ski trip,” concluded the committee. With the “ski boys”, the club nights and a much anticipated Tinie Tempah cameo, it sure isn’t. But we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether to take on the slopes for the iconic event’s 100th anniversary.

Support Varsity

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too!

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as £1, to help with our running costs. Many thanks, we hope you can help!

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Early Bird Booking:

Varsity trip booking launches on 15th September with a special early bird release. The booking page can only be accessed using an early booking code, which will be emailed to those who travelled last year and launched on social media later in the day.

Early Bird spaces are VERY limited, so you'll need to book fast. If you're not able to secure your spot during Early Bird booking, you'll have a second shot during general release.

General Release:

Set your alarms!! Varsity Trip 2023 will go on general sale at 9:00 on 19th October 2023 .

As usual, we anticipate the trip being extremely popular, with many passengers booking their place as soon as the booking opens. To maximise your chances of getting a place, we recommend being online ready for 9 a.m.

To make your booking, you'll need to have a NUCO account, which can be made in advance here .

VARSITY TRIP RETURNS THIS DECEMBER! 01/12/23 - 09/12/23

VARSITY TRIP

Transport However you choose to get to Varsity, we want to make it as simple and cost effective as possible. This year coach travel has seen large cost increases due to driver and fuel shortages and so we expect more trip-goers to fly out, however coaches are still available from Oxford Cambridge and London and we still expect the majority of trip goers to use this option.  Flying may now be a more attractive option to some trip goers, with the coach cost being deducted from the total trip cost if you choose this option, and in this case transfers will be available to book on booking day.

We still expect the majority of trip goers to utilise our coach services due to their convenience and value (luggage and ski carriage free of charge) making them still one of the best ways to get to Tignes this winter.

We only use modern, comfortable, executive coaches with TVs and toilets, so the journey is much more comfortable than you might imagine. You can bring one medium-sized soft shell bag, the dimensions of which should be no greater than 50cm x 50cm x 100cm. If you have your own skis or snowboard you will be able to bring this onto the coach for free, so long as you select this option on the booking form. 

The cost of the coach this year is £209.

For those of you who would prefer to get to resort in the shortest possible time, get in an extra night’s sleep at the end of term and another one in resort, flying is the option for you. This year you will have to book your own flights and you will be able to book on to a transfer supplied by NUCO for £45 each way to get to resort. Flights should be booked on the 2nd and 9th into and out of Geneva, Lyon or Grenoble if taking a NUCO transfer. Transfers times can be found in the FAQs section here  - NUCO will not be booking flights on behalf of participants

Airport Transfers

If you need to get from the airport to resort then book one of NUCO's airport transfers. 

These will cost £45 each way and will be available from Geneva, Lyon and Grenoble airports. Please check the FAQ section for transfer timings before booking your flight.

These can also be booked by passengers not flying but wishing to use the service to get to or from these locations.

Driving or independent travel

You are free to arrange your own transport, but Varsity Trip takes no responsibility for your safe and punctual arrival in resort. Parking may also be difficult, we recommend you contact us or NUCO in advance for advice.

We only use modern, comfortable, executive coaches with TVs and toilets so the journey is much more comfortable than you might imagine. You’ll also get the chance to stock up on food supplies as coaches will stop at a supermarket a few hours before you arrive in Val Thorens.  Standard Package departs Friday 1st December, from: Cambridge: Time. tbc Oxford: Time tbc London Victoria: Time tbc Return coaches depart resort evening of Friday 8th December and return throughout Saturday 9th December  Coaches return to Oxford, Cambridge, Dover & London Victoria. You will be able to select a drop off point when booking.

Baggage Allowance As you can appreciate, the coaches have limited luggage space, so you are required to bring only one medium-sized soft shell bag. The dimensions of bag must be no greater than 50cm x 50cm x 100cm. If you have your own skis or snowboard you will be able to bring this onto the coach free of charge, but you will need to book this in advance on the booking form. We also ask, to ensure that everyone’s luggage can fit on the coach, that you place your ski boots inside your large packing bag, not in a separate boot bag. Each passenger is also permitted one small bag to carry on board.