Fastest sell out ever for Varsity Ski Trip 2021

Tickets for the Oxbridge Ski Trip sold out in under half an hour this morning (21/10).

The ski trip is a staple of the Cambridge, or Oxford’s, student calendar, promising an ‘incredible week of snowsports, competitions, and events, all at student prices.’ This year’s trip is due to take place in Val Thorens, from the 3rd-11th December.

However, many students were left disappointed this morning, as the trip’s booking queue system loaded to show over 8000 people trying to book onto the trip, which usually takes around 3000, a capacity which the website just couldn’t handle.

Packages for accommodation upgrades, lessons, and equipment were rapidly disappearing from the booking form for those able to get a space on the page. Many students raced to ticket resale platform ‘Ticketbridge,’ to ask for, or sell tickets.

One student posted that they were ‘creating an auction in a messenger group chat,’ for the ticket, whilst others begged for tickets, as one writes ‘will take anything, just get me on this trip.’

A particularly passionate student even wrote that they ‘will literally sell [their] soul for a varsity ticket…willing to sell my future firstborn.’

In response to many students re-selling tickets, Varsity released the following statement on their Facebook page:

The queueing platform repeatedly paused, leaving many anxious students refreshing and hoping for a chance to grab a ticket. (Image: Author)

Despite the Varsity Trip’s team celebrating their 30-minute sell-out, the majority of students were left more than disappointed, having ‘woken up for nothing’ and feeling especially rough from the night before’s launch party at Revolution.

System crashes and glitching pages plagued computer screens, with students reporting payment page failure and now facing uncertainty as to whether they have tickets or not.

Frustration was particularly high for students left with flights to France but no tickets for Varsity Trip and now facing a £50 cancellation charge.

One third-year student told us that they’re feeling “really frustrated, as this was the last chance my friend’s and I had to go on the trip as students.”

Meanwhile, another student explained that “technical issues as the queue kept pausing and restarting meant that it looked like I was going to get a ticket, up until the point of pressing the pay button at which it said ‘error’ which was really upsetting as I had gotten my hopes up.”

Yet for some, this morning was filled with elation for those lucky enough to be favoured by the automatic queuing system. For them the 7 am wake-up was rewarded with an exclusive ticket to the most coveted Varsity Trip to date.

Offering ‘more than the average ski trip‘, Varsity Trip caters for beginners up to Blues racers, with the Varsity race taking place within this week of snow and sesh. The world-class piste of Val Thorens provides the perfect blend of runs suitable to all abilities with gentle green groomers neighbouring death-defying off-piste.

However, for some skiing is of little relevance with the Varsity Trip parties taking centre stage. Renowned for its incredible events ranging from Bingo to Apres, Varisty Trip seems well worth its base price of just £399 (and an arm, leg, and soul), for a week of skiing hard and drinking harder.

Though some students postulated on the adaptation of the ticket allocation process to prioritize those in their final year of study, for now, those with a golden ticket should relish their success and eagerly await a wonderful week in Val Thorens.

Feature image credit: Varsity Trip on Facebook

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