Injured students on this year’s Varsity Ski Trip were left stranded in minus temperatures following a “crush” as Oxbridge skiers attempted to board limited bus services, despite being guaranteed seats by reps.

Following the ski trip’s Mega Apres event on the 7th of December, injured students were left with no other transport options than to force their way onto coaches amid “crowds of drunk Oxbridge students”.

Following the Mega Apres event, two Cambridge students with injuries to their shoulder and knee asked a representative of NUCO, the travel company organising the trip, for the best transport option back to their accommodation, but were told that only coaches were available.

The students asked another NUCO rep for help boarding the bus, to avoid the “crowds of drunk Oxbridge students” trying to get on, but were only told where the door was likely to be - advice which proved to be “futile,” they told Varsity.

The students were told by NUCO that every student would have a seat on the bus, and that there was no possibility of injured skiers being given early boarding, another student said.

Once the 11:30 pm coach arrived, one injured student was prevented from boarding the bus by a “massive crush of people,” whose shouts of pain were only met by “swearing and more pushing,” they said.

“I had to shout at others to stop them crushing my shoulder,” another student, who had injured their shoulder skiing, recalled.

Despite being told that every skier would get a seat, the 12:30 am bus was also “completely full” with seated and standing passengers when it left the stop.

The student left at the bus stop was told to “calm down” by a NUCO rep when they expressed their frustration, and advised to wait for the next coach in -3 degrees. The NUCO rep then left the bus stop, leaving a small group of students. It was not until 1 am that the students managed to get on a bus back.

The student said they felt “completely helpless and angry at how inconsiderate the NUCO reps and [their] peers had been, [...] not just for me but for others trying to get onto the bus who were injured or struggling.”

“I understand that it was a particularly busy time, but the lack of empathy for others hurt and made the whole affair feel extremely disorganised,” they said.

NUCO and the Varsity Ski Trip Committee were contacted for comment.