Written by Immy M
After a successful dry slope season, 2 Surbiton High ski teams headed out to Flaine, France, for the British School Girls ski races. With over 160 competitors and 26 schools taking part, it was an exciting challenge ahead.
Surbiton A Team: Saskia S, Immy M and Isa W.
Surbiton B Team: Rose J, Sophie J and Talula E.
After a long travel day on the Friday, straight from exams, we had a full day of Slalom training on Saturday, followed by a morning of Giant Slalom training on Sunday with some fresh snow having fallen the night before.
Sunday afternoon saw the start of the racing, with the A team Dual Slalom. This was a knockout relay event with over 20 schools fighting for the medals. Despite many protests and re-runs along the way, Surbiton A battled hard all the way to the final, and finished in a close 2nd place, against a strong South Hampstead High team.
Monday saw the Giant Slalom race with more fresh snow overnight. After a couple of slips of the course, the race began, and Surbiton skied fast to secure a number of medals. In the U16 category, Saskia S came 2nd, and Immy M came 3rd. In U14 category, Isa W came 3rd (as well as 3rd overall).
In the afternoon, it was the B team’s turn for the Dual Slalom. Surbiton B team raced fast and made it to the final, where they met their main competitors, Reeds, who just pipped them in a close-fought race, and Surbiton B secured another brilliant 2nd place.
The last day was the Slalom race, and all skied strongly, comfortably completing the 2 runs with some very impressive times, and again securing more medals with Saskia S coming 3rd in the U16 category and Isa W coming 3rd in U14 category.
After completing 3 days of racing, we were also crowned with the following overall titles:
- 2nd overall A team and 2nd overall B team.
- 2nd Giant Slalom Team – Surbiton A.
- 2nd Slalom Team – Surbiton A.
- 1st U16 individual overall- Saskia S.
- 3rd U14 individual overall-Isa W.
It was a fantastic few days of racing, and we are very proud of our performances, teamwork and determination. Thanks to the Ladies Ski Club for running the races and to our coaches from CDC Performance for the training and support. We are now looking forward to interschools in March and hope to bring some more medals home!
Learn more about the Ski Programme and Surbiton High School.
