Bigger than the SKUM of its parts.

Not many university clubs inspire such hatred as that expressed of SKUM (the ski and snowboard club). They make the loudest noise at the Welcome Week AU fair year on year, attracting hundreds and hundreds of members, more than any other university society or club.

Traditionally, the club has been more interested in heavy drinking, self-congratulatory ‘banter’ and acting disreputably than in actual sport. This is perhaps best seen in the Christmas and Easter trips to the French and Austrian Alps which are remembered as the best university memories of those who undertake the nine days of debauchery and alpine life. However, their weekly activities and members are best avoided in normal campus life for fear of being assimilated into their ranks of douche-baggery, so their reputation stands.

However this is a flawed perception, held by students and staff alike. Here are some of the real facts about SKUM:

The snowboard race team have won the regional British university indoor championships (BUISC) three years in a row. They also won the BUISC Finals last year and the British university dry slope championships, making them the best snowboard university race team in the country, on snow and artificial slopes. The ski race team won the regional dry slope league last year and came second his year, as well as third at the BUISC regionals. In team snow sports racing SKUM are national level champions.

In individual competitions SKUM riders have also been exceptionally successful. At BUISC regionals at Xscape in Castleford this month, Sophie Myles finished first in the female snowboard slalom, Jeni Thomas second in female ski slalom, while Sam Davis finished third in men’s snowboard slalom. Consistently achieving good results, SKUM’s reputation at other university snow sports clubs is of a strong competitive force, albeit it as well as other connotations attached to their off-slope activities. In this competitive spirit SKUM arranged the first ever snow sports Varsity competition at Chill Factore (local snow dome) with a men’s and ladies individual head-to-head slalom knockout competition and a freestyle open jam for Manchester, MMU and Salford. SKUM came out on top in this competition as well.

A second Varsity event and the Christie Cup are upcoming competitions that have been put together by the students involved in SKUM and their counterparts at other universities.

This year for the first time in five years, SKUM are taking part in the BUSC Main Event, in Austria. The pinnacle of university snow sports, SKUM intend to take 225 students for a week to Saalbach Hinterglemm to experience a festival of student snow sports and the SKUM holiday experience amped up to new levels. World Class DJs, incredible snow conditions and plush accommodation, anyone who’s been on a student ski holiday to France will be surprised by the change in atmosphere in Austria and the sheer scale of Main Event.
SKUM are a competitive sports club, a holiday club and a social club. They strive to achieve the best in all three of these areas and create incredible memories along the way.