Snow Ski Club 2012

In a country not traditionally associated with avalanche-inducing snowfalls or hypothermia, the Wits Snow ski Club has, in the past, been stigmatized as “the drinking club with a skiing problem”. However with dedication to the sport and some excellent organising committees, this reputation is fast becoming a thing of the past. Nowadays our focus is on establishing ourselves as competitive skiers and snowboarders, as well as building a strong alliance with the South African snowboarding community. That being said, we’re still the best at throwing a massive party.

The development of snow sports in South Africa has accelerated in recent years, attributed to events like the Ace’s Up Tour (the first ever official snowboarding tour in SA), the launch of TIA (the first ever South African produced snowboarding DVD) and the growing competition at the annual National Snowboarding Championships.

Our ability to introduce our members to snow sports relies on our affiliation with another Jo’burg based club, Club Maluti, who own a Ski Hut in the Lesotho highlands some 10mins drive from the Afriski ski slope. Every year Ski Club heads up to Club Maluti during the varsity winter break for a week of snowboarding, skiing, and some late night partying. With the Afriski staff working harder every year it is guaranteed that there will be sufficient snow for 3 full months from June until August, a short 4-6 hours drive from Jo’burg (depending on what we decide to get up to along the way).

In addition to this annual ski trip, Ski Club also represents Wits at the abovementioned National Snowboarding Championships and the King’s Cup Snowboarding event at Afriski. These events are the most competitive skiing and snowboarding events on the South African calendar and gives the selected Wits team a chance to show off some skills, learn some new ones, meet some great/legendary SA board riders, and have the kind of party that stays imprinted in your memory until the next event.

With the renovations to the Charles Skeen stadium complete, we have now been given access to our clubhouse, and thanks to some of the best architects we know providing us with incredible designs, our clubhouse will soon be back up and running. However, being the troopers that we are we will organise more Jo’burg based events including snowboard simulation, mountain boarding, freebording, wake boarding and carpet-slope snowboarding. Oh, and some pretty awesome parties squeezed in between. Also on the agenda for 2012 will be an overseas trip at the end of the year to experience some big mountain riding at an international resort, preparations have already begun!

Don’t hesitate to call for information, or get on board at www.wssc.co.za.
Dean 081 381 4898
Janine 072 013 3191