Mixin It Up

Good day y'all!

Again, yes, yes, it's been much too long, especially considering I ended my last entry by saying something like "I'll have a new post up early next week." That was just about a month ago. So much has happened since then! Namely, I've finished my first term (called the Michaelmas Term) and the holiday has begun! I'm staying on this side of the pond for the holidays and plan to write a few essays, do a lot of reading, and get my notes from the term in order. That, of course, in addition to some travel with friends (both from back home and my course) and a mid-season rugby tour to Portugal! But I'll talk more on those as they come. For now, I'll try to keep it to the highlights of the past month: 1) climbing in the Lake District, 2) Thanksgiving, and 3) the Varsity Ski Trip. All were a welcome diversion from the usual reading and rugby!

Last time I wrote I was just heading off to go on a climbing trip with the Oxford University Mountaineering Club. The Lake District is in northern England and is BEAUTIFUL! The climbing was... exciting. For those of you familiar with the Diamond in the Snowy Range, picture that with more route finding, less protection, and more water (although less height and fewer pitches, to be fair.) I was in a slightly awkward position because I had enough lead-climbing experience to be put in charge of leading a group, but no familiarity with the area or type of climbing. So I'm afraid my routes were rather boring for those following me. We all had a great time, though, climbing all day and walking off the slopes in the dark to dine on classic pub fare at the picture-perfect pub in the valley.

Thanksgiving in the UK turned out to be great fun. Each year, the first-year Marshall Scholars at Oxford are expected to host all the other Marshalls for a big T-Day feast. The day starts with an American touch football game against the Rhodes Scholars (to show 'em their "athletics requirement" part of their scholarship is rubbish), move on to a cooking extravaganza proceeded by an eating extravaganza, and end with a night on the town. Everything went splendidly. We beat the Rhodies at football (I couldn't play because I was getting over a nasty stomach flu, but just wait till next year!) We also hired out the University Club and used their industrial kitchen to cook 6 turkeys and all sorts of sides. After feeding the 75-100 guests, we rallied the troops and stormed the pubs and clubs of Oxford. It was great to see my Marshall family again, and it felt really good to spend Thanksgiving among friends, even so far from home.


Yesterday, I returned from a week on the slopes of the French Alps with my friends on the Varsity Ski Trip! Students from Oxford and Cambridge (Ox-bridge) go on a ski trip together to learn to ski, rip up the slopes, and compete in several ski events. I went with Olly (the punting master) and a bunch of his friends from his course. We left the Friday evening of the last day of term -- 2000 Ox-bridge students on a gaggle of coaches for a 20-hour bus trip to Val Thorens, France. (Val Thorens is the highest resort in the French Alps, so it is all above the tree line. Rather than having runs cut into the slopes, pistes are marked out and groomed. Everything else is "off-piste" and not fully controled for avalanches. It's quite strange to be in a resort under a cable car assessing the avalanche potential of a slope.)

We arrived Saturday afternoon to three feet of snow that had been falling over the previous week. It snowed all night, but we woke up to a clear blue-sky day. Sick freshies all day, dudes! The lack of tele gear cramped my free-heelin' style, but I had a great time relearning my alpine technique. After 2.5 days of perfect weather, the slopes were feeling a bit icey, but Tuesday afternoon the clouds rolled in and the snow started falling again! We had a few days of zero-visibility weather which made the off-piste very... exciting. But it meant that when Thursday afternoon rolled around, I didn't mind taking a few hours out of the white-out ski day to watch the Oxford rugby lads crush Cambridge in the annual varsity match! The Varsity committee had set up three giant screens in a Val Thorens bowling alley, and tons of people (from both universities) crammed in to cheer for their boys. There was plenty of Oxford gloating at the apres ski that day (like us mocking the Cambridge "cat" below. A little, ahem, healthy competition never hurts!) Cambridge won the grand slolom ski event this year, but Oxford won the cuppers tournament and the rugby match, so I'd say we won the war! Then, we awoke Friday to one final blue-sky day with even more fresh snow! Even better, I finally managed to find some tele gear for the last days and showed those Brits and Frenchies how to free their minds! Absolutely awesome trip. I'm planning on doing a little movie of more of our pics and video clips -- I'll post it somewhere and let you know when it's done!



Well, I guess that should be all for now. I know I got a little carried away on the ski chat, but those freshies are still fresh in my mind! :-D Until next time, my friends, live long and prosper. Oh man, I am such a nerd...

Love,
Alyssa