Students at Oxford are selected from the applicant field purely on academic merit, but once they are here there is the entirely optional opportunity to play sport, even to a very high standard. Milo Smith (3rd Year Chemist - pictured 2nd from left) tells us all about his experience racing for Oxford University, against Cambridge, in the annual Varsity Ski trip.
"I represented Oxford on both the 2013 and 2014 Varsity Ski Trips, racing for the 3rd and 2nd teams respectively. This year, in my penultimate year of study, I was intent on continuing the trend in improvement in being selected for the 1st VI.
Training for the Varsity Races began in late September with a pre-season training camp glacier skiing in Hintertux, Austria. Here, British Olympian and World Cup skier Chemmy Alcott and her partner—fellow World Cup skier Dougie Crawford—coached both Oxford and Cambridge ski teams. The camp took the format of skiing for as long as the conditions permitted in the mornings, followed by fitness sessions in the afternoons. Preparation for the Races continued throughout Michaelmas Term with regular spinning and circuit training sessions at the Iffley Sports Centre.
I left Oxford with the other members of the ski race team on Thursday of 8th week, Michaelmas term, in order to fly out to Val Thorens in the French Alps. Training commenced the following day, and we were subjected to three intense days of Slalom and Giant Slalom (GS) courses on the resort race piste. Training finished at around 4pm each day, followed by team stretching sessions and ski preparation for the following day of training. Trials - two timed runs of a slalom course set by Val Thorens race coaches - were held on Monday. Naturally, I was both nervous and excited for my first run, but thankfully I skied well, smoothly and consistently throughout the course – with no significant mistakes. Following a successful first run, I skied a more aggressive second run, and crossed the finish line with what felt like another competitive time. Only the team captains see the trial run times, so I had the afternoon off before the teams were announced in the afternoon. This was a brief opportunity to relax with friends from Brasenose, before the results at après-ski. When the teams were announced, I was elated to hear my name announced with the Mens 1st VI.
Having won my place to compete with the 1st team, attention now turned to the team competition, the Varsity Races against Cambridge; four timed runs in one gruelling day. These consist of two runs of GS in the morning, one run of Slalom in the early afternoon, and one run of floodlit Night Slalom in the evening.
The night before the races, we gathered for a team tactic talk over a meal, before final prep: waxing and sharpening skis. We woke to a morning of blue skies and were quickly on the mountain, inspecting the first GS course before the timed runs. It was technically straightforward, with few rhythm changes, but the terrain was challenging with a steep, fast start. This was followed by a long flat section with cambers on both sides of the piste, through which the challenge was to maintain speed, then into a steeper incline for the finishing corridor.
As a whole the course was challenging; the top section had to be neat in order to carry speed through the flat, but there had to be energy left in the tank to retain composure through the steeper bottom section. Soon course inspection was complete, and the teams were at the top of the course ready for the first run. Unfortunately the 9am start proved far too early for the Red Bull promoters to have arrived at the course, and having forgotten to purchase energy drinks the previous day, I resorted to seeing off an ice cold instant coffee before lining up in the start gate. The race coordinator reset the timing wand from the previous racer and cleared me to go with the words “Ok, when you’re ready…”.
Both Oxford Blues teams put in strong first runs in the GS, with the men holding 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th positions on the leaderboard. The second run of the GS gave a similar result, leaving the Cambridge Mens’ Blues trailing by 20 seconds going into the Slalom. We managed to hold our lead in the first run of the Slalom, and after the second and final run, we’d put another 3 seconds on Cambridge. In fact, Oxford gave a stellar performance all round, taking 4 wins out of 6 teams, resulting in a resounding overall win.
My thanks go to the college for its generous financial support of my ski racing, without which my personal improvement and subsequent contribution to the Oxford Blues team would not have been possible. Grants from the Annual Fund and the Profumo Fund have contributed to the cost of competing, training, and new equipment, and I am indebted to those who made this possible."
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