Snowsports Club

Introduction & club history

The Heriot-Watt Snowsports Club offers skiing and snowboarding to anyone interested in joining the club, from lessons for beginners to competitions for the more advanced.

The club is run through the Sports Union by a committee of six students who are all mad about skiing, snowboarding and everything that goes with it.

Rental, tuning & storage

We have rental boards and ski, £2 a pop each night, £10 a pop for a week (for trips in particular)far cheaper than Hire centre rates

We have all the necessary tools and materials to keep your skis and boards in tip top form including a waxing iron, wax, edge file, P-tex, scrapers and of course safety specs to protect your eyes and dust mask to avoid inhaling any P-tex fumes.

If you'd like your board serviced, our Equipment Manager has the keys to our shed full of tools, to wax, sharpen, buff your planks, getting them in tip top shape. We will be running Servicing nights, where you pop along and we'll wax your boards with a cuppa/pint £5 for waxing each board/skis, extra for repairs such as P-tex and gluing etc. £10+ a pop depending on the damage, much cheaper than shop rates.

You can also store your equipment in the shed if you don't have enough space in your room.

What does a typical season involve?

Lessons

For anyone who has never skied or snowboarded before the club runs subsidised lessons through Hillend. It's easily the cheapest way to get started in the sport. The lessons usually run a week or two after the sports fair once we have all the numbers together. We also try and run lessons later in the year for anyone who missed out at the first set or have newly joined the club.

Practice

Every week we ride up at Midlothian Ski Centre (Hillend dryslope) which is just a few miles down the road. It is one of the longest artificial ski slopes in Europe and also has a snowflex jump slope. The club provides minibus transport to and from Hillend.

We also go through to the indoor snow slope at Braehead Xscape in Glasgow about once a month, usually on a Friday night for all the freestyle features like rails and kickers.

Social

As any standard Snowsports club, we have ALOT of socials! Kicking off the season officially with SUDS (Scottish University Dryslope Competition), and going straight through to the BUSC Main Event in April, you can guarantee that your year with us is an eventful year.

Socials to keep an eye out for:

  • BUDS (British University Dryslope Competition) – This is a huge competition on the 5th and 6th of November, expect over 2000 students from all over UK and Ireland competing and partying all up the same hill! There is also the BUDS Ball on the 6th, where we get all dressed up and have a fancy meal, ooh la la!
  • The Xmas Trip – This year we are going to Les Deux Alpes from the 1st of January to the 9th. Whether you are beginner or pro, this week will no doubt be one of the best weeks you will spend this year! Prices start from £395!
  • Granite City Invitational – We head up to Aberdeen for this competition that has free beer
  • For non-competition related socials, join our mailing list to keep updated!

Trips

The club goes on two trips abroad every year. One during the Christmas Holidays, this year we are going to Les Deux Alpes!

The other trip we run is to The BUSC Main Event run by the British Universities Snowsport Council (BUSC). BUSC are the official body for university snowsports. This trip is massive: over 3,200 students from across the country descend upon the ski resort Tignes where they can ski, snowboard, party or represent their university in competition.

We also run trips up to the Scottish Highland ski centres such as Glenshee and Cairngorm whenever we can, usually weather permitting. If the weathers good these trips are amazing.

Competition

There are many competitions and events on throughout the year and Scotland is particularly good for them. Competitions are open to all and its great to take part in, if you feel up to the challenge! If not just come along and watch, that's great too! The main competitions we take part in are the BUSC Events such as BUDS, BUISC and the Main Event, Many of them being local, see there page www.buscevents.com

Other University Competitions we take part in are SUDS, granite city invitational and rail jams, the sports union will cover your expensive entry fees and we'll take you there too to top it off! These events are very popular and even if your not riding, come along too tonnes of freebies and good times are had.

How do I join the club?

Membership is only £5, this can be purchased from the reception at the CSE reception or online. Note: You need to be a member of the CSE to take out a membership.

Included in membership:

  • Weekly Riding – Hillend, SNO!zone Glasgow, Bearsden and Glencoe
  • Weekly Socials – Theme Nights, Fancy Dress, Meals etc.
  • Bigger and better Xmas Trip
  • BUSC Easter Trip
  • More Discounted Beginner Lessons
  • Cheap Freestyle and Race Coaching
  • Fundraising Events
  • Free Transport
  • HWSSC Membership card full of exclusive discounts and deals
  • Food & Soft Drink discounts at our Sponsored Pub Venue City Cafe
  • Member Discounts at many snowsports shops and companies
  • Discounted Lift Passes at SNO!Zone Glasgow and Glencoe Ski Centre, our snow sports membership card
  • Loads of prizes and giveaways from our sponsors