The Stover School junior skiing team has finished third nationally in their first ever real snow event!

The Stover group – a mix of boys, girls, prep and seniors – travelled to The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead, to compete in the British Independent School Ski Racing National Indoor Championships.

It is an indoor slope, with sub zero temperatures and the opportunity to ski and race on real snow.

The juniors kicked off the day in style, with Frazer Cox skiing a fine 14.17 (almost a whole second ahead of the next competitor) and winning the U10 boys’ event.

Jack Cox bounced back from an unfortunate equipment failure in his first run to ski a time of 13.27. This placed him third overall and his second run was the fastest of all competitors.

Aine Graham, Felicity Gigg and Emily Sell all performed well in the girls’ competition, skiing with courage, with Aine (on her debut) clocking a time that placed her 21st.

James Darcey skied well to place 16th in a tough U14s’ contest.

These superb performances meant that the Stover junior team were placed third overall.­

In the afternoon, the seniors – who had done a great job supporting the junior teams during the morning – had their own chance to shine.

This course was a more difficult challenge, around full size poles, with the conditions becoming icy and tricky in places.

All the team made good use of their practice session and trained well as a unit, supporting and encouraging one another.

All of the skiers did brilliantly to race the course, completing each gate and putting consistent times on the board. By the second run the course was very rutty and they coped well here, with a couple even improving on their first run times.

‘This is very exciting time for skiing at Stover,’ said a spokesman for the school.

‘First, winning the South West Schools’ Ski Championships in July and then being placed third nationally in our first snow event.

‘Huge thanks go to Mr Arnold, who leads the training, and Mr Cox, who was an invaluable support and source of knowledge at the event.’