Independent Schools Ski Championships 2019

12th – 18th December, Les Deux Alpes France

Renowned as one of the leading coeducational trips in the UK, the Championship aims to nurture the spirits of both competitive racers and holiday skiers and boarders for an incredible six days of early season mountain fun. Boasting an inclusive package to fully immerse students in the social nature of winter sports, the Championship offers three days of training, two days of friendly competitive skiing for both individual and team awards, competing in Parallel Slalom, Slalom, and Giant Slalom as well as a Gala Prize Giving Ceremony.

Nineteen pupils from Ardingly College attended the Championships.  This year proved to be one of the best trips yet, despite having to deal with some very poor weather and racing conditions.  Sadly some of the training on offer was curtailed due to high winds closing parts of the resort, but our competitors still performed exceptionally well.

Five of our boys ranked in the top ten for the Under 18 Senior Boys’ Slalom:  Giorgio, 1^st; Pietro, 2^nd; Nick, 5^th; Bailey, 9^th and Hugo 10^th.  Felix came 8^th in the Under 16 race.  In the Senior Boys’ Giant Slalom, congratulations go again to Giorgio, Nick and Bailey who came 5^th, 6^th and 8^th respectively in the Under 18s.

Not to be outdone, four of our girls ranked in the top ten for the Under 18 Senior Girls’ Slalom: Guilia, 1^st; Caterina, 2^nd; Theresa, 4^th and Lila 6^th.  In the Senior Girls’ Giant Slalom, congratulations go again to Guilia, Caterina and Theresa who came 1^st, 3^rd and 9th respectively in the Under 18s.

The team for the Parallel Slalom comprised of six racers for each school, and Ardingly decided to go with a mixed team to represent the College. We won our first round against Guildford High School and this sent us through into the quarter-finals against an all-boys Whitgift team. The Ardingly racers did amazingly well and it was one of the best races all week. Unfortunately, we were pipped to the flag by a few hundredths of a second!

The prize-giving was an exciting and busy event, with a number of our racers presented with individual medals. However, this is a competition for teams as well as individuals, and due to our great results, and so many top 10 performances, there were lots of team points gained. Ardingly came home with 1^st Place in the Senior Team Giant Slalom, 3^rd Place in the Senior Team Slalom and 3^rd Place Overall Senior Team.