Training/Recreation
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We run sessions for everyone whether you are a skier or boarder, beginner, racer or freestyler, or just a big après fan. We have a variety of sessions, with regular Wednesday training on the dryslope at Gloucester, snowdome sessions at Milton Keynes, freestyle gymnastics sessions at Baskervilles gym, and of course, a couple of trips to the mountains!
Gloucester - Wednesdays 3-5pm
Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre is our home away from home. It may not be the real thing but there’s still tons of fun to be had on dendex! Gloucester is one of the best dryslopes in the country and boasts 2 slopes, one of which is the longest in England. For most of our sessions we arrange to have a dual slalom on one slope, and a park set-up on the other, with a kicker followed by a box rail, quarter pipe and an airbag! We share the slope with a couple of other nearby unis so we can take over the whole slope.
If you fancy a casual ski to focus or improve your technique, get more comfortable on a pair of skis, or learn some freestyle moves then our Gloucester sessions are perfect for you! It’s at a bargain price of £8 per session which includes transport, slope time and equipment rental**! We leave campus at 1pm, though if you have a 12:15 lecture we’ll wait for you till 13:15. We’ll be at Gloucester from 3-5, with time for a cheeky pint and some chips to refuel before our evening socials at Brewhouse before going to SCORE on campus.
** Equipment means skis/board, boots and poles. In addition, long sleeves, long trousers and gloves are mandatory. This is because falling onto dendex with bare skin is painful and really not recommended.
Freestyle
Put simply, freestyle is the cool stuff. The ‘Cork 1080’, the ‘Screamin Seamen’, the ‘Backslide’, the ‘Noseslide’… The list could go on for days and there are no rules to it, just fun. You might think that you need to be an amazing skier or boarder to give this a go, but that’s not the case; you just need to strap on a board or some skis, find a kicker, get a bit of advice and try it. We will happily supply all those things for you so all you need to worry about is overcoming the fear of sending it, which is the most rewarding part of the sport. You never know, you could be the next Henrick Harlaut or Shaun White, and if you are, we want you on our team!
We have a large group of regular freestylers consisting of boarders and skiers, including our freestyle captain, Luke. We’d love to help out anyone looking to land their first trick, or anyone who wants to progress in a relaxed and fun manner!
If you feel like giving freestyle a go but don’t fancy breaking anything important, then a good starting point would be to try the airbag found at the bottom of the slope. There’s a large jump with an even larger airbag to cushion the landing, it is as painless as freestyle gets! This jump is at the Gloucester dry slope and is big enough to try 720s, flips and corks. You can even get a double flip out of it if you want. There’s also a couple rails, box and jib features that get changed around every time we go if that’s what you’re into.
Freestyle Gymnastics Sessions
We run regular freestyle gymnastics sessions at the local Baskervilles gym in Oldfield Park, Bath. They occur on Tuesday evenings, mostly on weeks when we aren’t in Gloucester or don’t have a competition. There’s plenty of equipment, trampolines, mats, springboards, and a pit for you to use. It’s a great way of trying a trick before hitting the airbag at Gloucester. Come along, have a laugh and get more confident with what you’re doing in the air. Not only will you be able to ask your fellow snowsporters if you look steezy enough, but we have a great coach called Paul on hand to give you hints and tips about how best to improve your flips and spins. All levels are welcome, it’s a place of no shame where you can safely and significantly progress whether you’re a beginner or expert. Message the freestyle captain if you’re interested in attending a session, and he will add you to the core Freestyle group!
Racing
If you are a skier looking to work on your technique or a practiced skier looking to put your technique to good use then racing is for you. As a club we put together a series of teams to race in slalom events. “What is slalom?” you may ask. Slalom skiing is arguably the simplest kind of racing. It involves skiing around a zig-zag of red and blue poles, called gates, as fast as you can. The course (the series of gates) favours quick and fluid movements, both important traits to good looking skiing.
We hold training sessions at Gloucester ski and snowboard centre fortnightly. Here we have a dual slalom set-up, simply two courses set up parallel to each other down the slope. This simply allows us to get more people racing at once and allows the more competitive of us to race each other. At some of these training sessions we have coaches present however there will always be more experienced skiers around to give pointers and our race captain, Charlie, who you will likely meet before the session, will always be around on slope, happy to help out.
So what are we building up to? We take part in Kings races throughout the year, a casual friendly competition against other universities around us; great to race at or join our infamous team après. We also take part in BUCS events which consist of: BUDS, a dryslope competition held over a weekend in Edinburgh, and BUISC, races on snow held in Snozone in Milton Keynes.
However, all our racers take part because it’s a sport that they love and enjoy. At the end of the day it’s all about having fun and pushing yourself along the way.
Snowdome Trips
If you get attachment issues to snow like lots of us do, then you are in luck as we host regular trips to indoor ski slopes near us.
A few times a year we take a coach full of members to Milton Keynes Snozone to get some well needed snow miles under our belts. You can ski recreationally or get a space in the race coaching session ahead of our BUISC Races if that’s what you’re interested in. If you have never had the opportunity to ski on snow before, this is the perfect time to try it out before our ski trip over the inter semester break. We can even arrange some lessons for you.
We also hold trips to Tamworth Snowdome where they hold regular freestyle sessions with a range of freestyle features for those looking to throw some moves on the slopes.
Both trips include full equipment rental and transport.
Regardless of the above, if you’re getting a hot head over your uni work, why not spend a few hours in a giant fridge?
