That exciting time of the week again! 

This week it is..

Adam Waller - Snowsports

I was lucky enough to start skiing when I was 12 years old when I went on a school trip to Italy. It’s safe to say that I was instantly hooked and as soon as I was home I couldn’t wait to be back out on the snow. Following that trip I went on a second school trip and a couple of holidays with family friends, and when I was a bit older I went with my friends from 6th form.

It wasn’t until after sixth form when I spent some time working in ski resorts that I realised how diverse the world of snow sports is and how seriously so many different disciplines are taken. During my time doing seasons in Switzerland and France I was exposed to a world of back country, racing and freestyle skiing where the competition is fierce yet the camaraderie between opposing competitors is held in just as high regard. This is when my passion really started to grow.

I joined ‘C4 Snow Sports’ in my first year and have seen the club go from strength to strength since then. With a succession of ambitious committees, the club has grown year on year since then. My first year saw the first ever Varsity event against Kent Snow which we unfortunately lost but the growth of our club has seen the strength of our team improve dramatically - this year will be our year!

We have gone from a club who never train, never compete and only get a handful of people going on the ski trip to a club who now hold regular training sessions open to all levels of skier/snowboarders. Including complete beginners, we have attended the biggest Snow Sports competition held in the UK this year which the club will be competitively involved in next year. We are also set to have a record breaking tour to France which is open to all students this Easter!

Student Snow Sports is huge and I want Christ Church to be more heavily involved in National events. However, until recently the emphasis has remained local to Canterbury. To be more heavily involved in the University Snow Sports scene, my goal this year is to create a good stepping stone for the club to push off from September 2017. Last year we didn’t know if we would have enough racers/freestylers to even start thinking about entering a team for the BUSC (British University Snow Sports Council) leagues. However, the hard work that the everyone from our committee has put in this year means that next year we’re looking set to be able to compete in the BUSC leagues for the first time ever next year!