On November 5^th, we returned to Pembrey for round two of the Kings Ski Competition, against the Best of the West universities. We had a reduced squad and struggled with the minimum of one girl per mixed team rule, having only one girl skier sharing her love between the two teams we entered. In contrast to last week, we arrived stupidly early for racing. Plenty of time to practice, get the 80s fancy dress sorted and have a go on the luge run! On a fast course, the first team, made up of Simon Beckett, Aidan Faria, Anna Ross, Ollie Tulloch and Henry Carr, started well, winning their first two races convincingly. The second team (James Dowdall, Jon De Beaux, John Pentelow, Will Miller and Anna Ross) lost their first race but came back strongly to then beat Bristol seconds and Cardiff thirds and finished 10^th overall. The board teams struggled on a fairly tricky course, but consistent individual performances from the Bath team, comprising of Rob Wagner, Oliver Pocknell, Rob O’Loughlin, Igor Starha and Yvette Earley, earned them third place overall, winning three out of five races.

Aidan warms up!

The first team remained undefeated in the second round of racing, including beating the Cardiff first team that we lost to two weeks before, in an extremely close-fought race right down to the line. This put us through to face a very strong Exeter first team in the final. It was neck and neck the whole race, with every team member skiing their best. It was an incredibly close call on the line but John King judged Bath to be the overall winners! This is the first time a Bath mixed ski team has won a Kings competition in at least as long as any current members of the team can remember (so at least the last five years!). Bring on next weekend when we travel to Edinburgh for the British Universities Dryslope Championships, one of the biggest events of the year!