snow & ice 2008

SNOW & ICE 2008

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AWSA OFFICIALS ................................................................................................................................................ 4 – 5

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD ............................................................................................................................................ 6

OFF THE PISTE ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 – 7

ALPINE – BRIGADIER NICK SMITH ........................................................................................................................ 8 – 9

EX SPARTAN HIKE 2008 – ALPINE ............................................................................................................ 10 – 11

EX SPARTAN HIKE 2008 – NORDIC .......................................................................................................... 12 – 13

EX SNOWLION – CAPTAIN M J PEARSON ............................................................................................................ 13

EX RUCKSACK – LIEUTENANT COLONEL KEVIN SOLLY ................................................................................ 14 – 16

NO BIATHLON IN CANADA! – MAJOR SIMON DEWAR .............................................................................................. 17

CRESTA – MAJOR JAMES KELLY ...................................................................................................................... 18 – 20

EX ICEBREAKER – THE ARMY ICE CAMP 2007 – MAJOR HELEN CARTER.................................................. 22 – 23

BOBSLEIGH – MAJOR HELEN CARTER .............................................................................................................. 24 – 25

LUGE – COLONEL JOHN SAVILLE ...................................................................................................................... 26 – 27

SKELETON – MAJOR PETE MCCLELLAN .......................................................................................................... 28 – 29

ARMY TELEMARK SKIING – LIEUTENANT COLONEL IAIN SAKER ...................................................................... 30 – 31

OBITUARY: ROB POLLARD .......................................................................................................................................... 32

BIATHLON – JOHN MOORE .............................................................................................................................. 32 – 33

SNOWBOARD – MAJOR ALEX BENN .......................................................................................................................... 34

TETHERED TO A BIRCH TREE – CELIA FIELDER .......................................................................................................... 35

LINDESNESS TO NORTH CAPE – SOLO IN ONEWINTER SEASON – DAVE LEANING ........................................ 36 – 37

EAST VWEST – CELIA FIELDER ........................................................................................................................ 38 – 41

ZERMATT – A JEWEL IN THE EUROPEAN CROWN? ............................................................................................ 42 – 43

HIGH MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY .................................................................................................................................... 44

AWSA SEASON 2008/2009 EVENTS .................................................................................................................... 45

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM ............................................................................................................................ 46

Unit 43, Romsey Industrial Estate,Greatbridge Road, Romsey,Hampshire, SO51 0HRTel: 01794 518518

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C O N T E N T S

Printed by: Editor:

Mrs C F Fielder6 Heidegger Crescent

BarnesLondon SW13 8HATel: 0208 741 2290

Email: [email protected]

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PRESIDENT General Sir Richard Dannatt KCB CBEMC ADC Gen Tel: Mil - 9621 86153 Civ - 0207 218 6153CGS,MODMain Building Fax: Mil - 9621 82340 Civ - 0207 218 2340(Level 5 Zone M) ADC: Capt Toby Glover ADC Tel: Mil - 9621 87873 Civ - 0207 218 7873Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB PA:WO2 Barker Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

CHAIRMAN Maj Gen RAMSMelvin OBE (Mungo) Tel: Mil - 94872 2018 Civ - 0049 2161 4722018GOC Email: [email protected](G)BFPO 140 XO:Maj Lisa Marr (2944)

VICE CHAIRMAN Brig JNWolsey OBE (John) Tel: Mil - 94872 4759 Civ - 0049 2161 4724759Comd RESG Email: [email protected] [email protected] 140 PA: Janet Fox

DIRECTOR ICE SPORTS Brig CMDeverell MBE Tel: Mil - 9621 83001 Civ - 0207 218 3001Director (EC) (GM) Email: [email protected] Building (Level 2, Zone 1)Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB PS: Jackie Larner

CHAIRMAN ALPINE Brig MP DodsonMBE (Mark) Tel: Mil - 94331 3216 Civ - 01722 433216ACOS Pers,HQ Land Forces Email: [email protected] Barracks,Wilton [email protected] SP2 0AG PA:Teresa Sainsbury

DIRECTOR NORDIC Maj Gen CC Brown CBE ADC (Chris) Tel: Mil - 94872 5716 Civ - 0049 2161 4725373GOC NI Email: [email protected] 801 ADC: Capt Tania Reay [email protected]

CHAIRMAN BOBSLEIGH Lt Col MS PerkinMBE (Matt) Tel: Civ - 0039 081721 5942J7 Email: [email protected] JFC NaplesBFPO

CHAIRMAN CRESTA Maj Gen SJL Roberts OBE (Sebastian) Tel: Civ - 0207 915 4800RCDS Seaford House Email: [email protected] (SR)Belgrave Square, London [email protected] 8NS

CHAIRMAN LUGE Col JRC Saville (John) Tel: Mil - 94740 2470 Civ - 0131 310 2470Comd Eqpt Supprt, HQ 2 Div Email: [email protected] Queensferry EH30 9TN

CHAIRMANNORDIC Brig JHMcIntosh (John) Tel: Mil - 9380 65824 Civ - 023927 65824CO HQ DMETA Email: [email protected] Block, Fort BlockhouseGosport, Hampshire PO12 2AB

CHAIRMAN SKELETON Maj PAMcClellan (Pete) Tel: Mil - 94351 2412 Civ - 01874 613412SO2 Applications Fax: Mil - 94351 2912 Civ - 01874 613912CRR, 160 (Wales) Bde Email: [email protected] Barracks, Brecon, Powys LD3 7EA

CHAIRMAN SNOWBOARD Lt Gen GCM Lamb CMGDSOOBE (Graeme) Tel: Mil - 94331 3204 Civ - 01722 433204Commander Field Army,HQ Land Forces Email: [email protected] Barracks,WiltonSalisbury SP2 0AG ADC: Capt Lewis McKenzie

CHAIRMANTELEMARK Col R Haldenby RA (Richard) Tel: Mil - 94344 5347 Civ - 01980 615347DM(A),HQ AG,Trenchard Lines Email: [email protected], PewseyWilts SN9 6BE

SECRETARY/TREASURER Lt Col (Retd) MK Allen (Martyn) Tel: Mil - 94222 3582 Civ - 01252 348582ASCB,Clayton Barracks,Thornhill Road Fax: Mil - 94222 3557 Civ - 01252 348557Aldershot,Hants Email: [email protected] 2BG ASec:DianeWalters

SPONSORSHIP SECRETARY Lt Col TJWakefield (Tim) Tel: Mil - 94391 2991 Civ - 01264 382991Customer Liaison D Ops (S), DE Operations South (IDL 49) Fax: Mil - 94217 3010 (Aldershot office)1st Floor, Bldg 211/H,DE&S Andover Email: [email protected] Road,Andover,Hants SP11 8HT

BA(G) SPORT BOARD Col RI Harrison OBE (Ritson) Tel: Mil - 94872 2545 Civ - 0049 2161 4722545General Secretary Fax: Mil - 94872 2021 Civ - 0049 2161 4722021BA(G) Sport Board Email: [email protected] UKSC(G), BFPO 140 PA: Sarah Box

SECRETARY Maj J Smith (MAA) APTC (John) Tel: Mil - 94321 2811 Civ - 01980 672811Ex SPARTAN HIKE SO2 G7 PAT (TA) – HQ 5 Div Fax: Mil - 94321 2329 Civ - 01980 672329

Bldg 750, Picton Barracks Email: [email protected] Camp, Salisbury,Wilts SP4 9NY

SECRETARY Maj GTaylor (Graham) Tel: Mil – 94882 3692 Civ - 0049 5221 9953692Ex PIPEDOWN SO2 HQ RA Fax: Mil – 94882 3586 Civ - 0049 5221 9953586

HQ 1 (UK) Armd Div Mobile: 0049 17388 73007BFPO 15 Email: [email protected]

SECRETARY Capt J Pearson (Jimmy) Tel: Mil – 94741 4873 Civ – 0131 3104873Ex SNOW LION SO3 Ops & Trg,HQ 51 (Scottish) Bde Fax: Mil – 94741 4869 Civ – 0131 3104869

Forthside, Stirling Email: [email protected] 7RR

ARMYWINTER SPORTS ASSOCIATIONOFFICIALS LIST

AWSAMANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

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EX-OFFICIOMEMBER Maj Gen CH Elliott CVO CBE (Christopher) Tel: Mil - 94222 3568 Civ - 01252 348568DASCB Fax: Mil - 94222 3525 Civ - 01252 348525Clayton Barracks,Thornhill Road Email: [email protected],Hants GU11 2BG PA: Stephanie Catney

HQ LAND COMMAND Lt Col (Retd) DM Reed-Felstead (David) Tel: Mil - 94331 3776 Civ – 01722 433776REPRESENTATIVE SO2 G3 PAT Email: [email protected]

HQ LAND Forces, Erskine BarracksWilton, Salisbury,Wilts SP2 0AG

CO-OPTEDMEMBER Lt Col (Retd) MJH Goodson (Mark) Tel: Civ - 01874 730562Bryn Siriol,Old Road Email: [email protected], BreconLD3 7RZ

CO-OPTEDMEMBER Maj (Retd) JMC Leaning (Spud) Tel: Civ - 01769 572547Gothic House Email: [email protected] MoltonDevon EX36 3BW

EDITOR SNOW& ICE Mrs C Fielder (Celia) Tel: Civ - 0208 741 22906 Heidegger Crescent Fax: Civ - 0208 741 2290Barnes Mobile: 07789 230391London SW13 8HA Email: [email protected]

ALPINE Maj H Campbell-Smith (Hugh) Tel: Mil - 94872 5216 Civ - 0049 2161 565 5216SO2 G7 EPS A Email: [email protected] ARRCBFPO 140

BOBSLEIGH Maj HS Carter (Helen) Tel: Mil - 94731 2810 Civ - 01748 872810OC HQ Sqn, 3CS Med Regt Email: [email protected] Barracks [email protected] Garrison DL9 4AU

CRESTA Maj JJR Kettler (James) Tel: Mil - 94374 3362 Civ - 01929 403362SO2 Auto & Lt Sys Email: [email protected] Bovington CampWareham,Dorset BH20 6JA

LUGE SSgt G Holmes RLC (Graham) Tel: Mil - 94251 2517 Civ - 01189 763517RQMS, Rowcroft Barracks Email: [email protected] RG2 9NJ

NORDIC Lt Col K Solly (Kevin) Tel: TBCTBC Fax:

Mobile:Email:

SKELETON Capt BKN Robson (Belinda) Tel: Mil - 94552 8424 Civ - 0151 481 4924Adjt 33 Signal Regt (V) Email: [email protected] TAC, Liverpool RoadHuyton, Liverpool L36 3RW

SNOWBOARD Maj AC Benn (Alex) Tel: Mil - 94561 2466 Civ - 0141 2242466Augmentation Cell, APC Glasgow Email: [email protected] House, 65 Brown Street [email protected] G2 8EX

TELEMARK Maj AJ Clarke RA Tel: Mil - 94371 2310 Civ - 01258 482310SO2Web Tech, Faraday Building Email: [email protected] CampDorset DT11 8AH

CHIEF OF RACE Lt Col (Retd) AS Hunt (Aggi) Tel: Mil - 94879 3253 Civ - 0049 5251 101253GHCSO Email: [email protected] Paderborn GarrisonBFPO 22

ALPINE PROTOCOL TBC Tel:OFFICER Fax:

Mobile:Email:

ICE SPORTSTRG/DEV WO2 P Gunn (Pete) Tel: 07782 162388OFFICER ASPT

Queens AvenueAldershot,Hants, GU11 2LB

EX-OFFICIOMEMBER AND CO-OPTEDMEMBERS OFTHEMANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

AWSADISCIPLINE SECRETARIES

OTHER OFFICIALS AND APPOINTMENTS

LANDWELFARE/NUFFIELDTRUST GRANTSSECRETARY Maj (Retd)J Strangways (Jane) Tel: Mil - 94331 3314 Civ - 01722 433314

SO2 G1 PSWelfare Email: [email protected] LAND, Erskine Barracks,WiltonSalisbury,Wilts SP2 0AG

Bambury Rifles lost control of his sled and aresult of the crash severed his leg. He iscurrently receiving remedial treatment inHeadley Court and we wish him the verybest for the future.

Both Exercises SPARTAN HIKE andPIPEDOWN went extremely well, as didExercise RUCKSACK, despite having a splitevent in two countries:Obertilliach (Austria)and Ruhpolding (Germany). The Ice Campin Canadawas another successwith over 80competitors taking up sliding on ice in the3 pursuits for the first time. The ArmyFemale Bobsleigh teamhad another victoryin the Inter Service BobsleighChampionship, with Lance Corporal PaulaWalker,driving for the first year,beating herold partner Corporal Jackie Davies intosecond place. Once again the strength ofthe Army Male and Female SnowboardTeamwas aptly demonstrated as they tookthe honours in the Inter ServiceChampionship at Méribel in France, withCorporal Sarah Marriott from 1 RHAwinning the individual female and SecondLieutenant Ben Nicholson winning theindividual male titles. There was also aclean sweep in the Alpine events with boththe Mens and Ladies taking the Team titlesand Major Nikki Porter and Captain NickBinnington taking the individual titles. Thelatter is also to be congratulated on beingawarded an MID in the latest OperationalAwards list for Iraq.

As I briefed in the last edition, staging highqualitywinter sports events continues to beexpensive and my Committee is striving toget the best possible value for money fromour funds. Sponsorship is crucial and Iwouldlike to welcome SELEX GALLILEO, a newsponsor to theAWSA,alongwith continuingsupport from Norwich Union and BAESystems. My Committee will continue toseek additional sponsors for the future.

As ever, I am very grateful to all theChairmen,Secretaries andOfficials involvedin running the AWSA and the 8 Disciplines,who give up their free time so generouslyto ensure that the Association andcompetitions are well run and of such highquality. Finally, I would like to take thisopportunity to wish you all the best offortune for next season and I hope to seemost of you either at the AGM on 5 Nov 08or on either the slopes or on the ice!

CHAIRMAN’SFOREWORD

2008 openedwith heavy snow in Europe,providing a good base and excellentconditions early on – great news for thechampionships after some lean years.Butit did not last, and overcrowded pistes,rocks and bare patches led to manyserious collisions. By mid February, 28people had lost their lives on the Alpineslopes. March followed withunseasonably low temperatures andheavy snowfalls and there was still deeppowder to be found in late April foranyone able to escape! Scotland had its’best skiing for four decades, withexcellent conditions for the ScottishChampionships.

Winter sports has always been adangerous sport, none more so thanCresta,where one of the worst accidentshappened during the Combined WinterSports championships at St Moritzinvolving an Army rider. The bravery ofCaptain Bernie Bambury RIFLES whocontinued to the end of the run afterlosing a foot is almost beyond belief.Thisis pure guts in the face of adversity.Bambury had come third in the Handicapfrom Junction and first with his colleagueCpl Armon-Jones for 4 RIFLES in theRegimental Pairs event for the 17thLancers Cup and was flying high. Thatsuch a freak accident should cause such atragedy is horrific. Thankfully the swiftaction of his RAF colleagues andmedicalexpertise in Zurich helped towardsBambury’s recovery, and we wish himwell on the long haul.

*****Congratulations to ex Marine, DavidLeaning, son of Olympic biathlete“Spud”Leaning, who skied solo andunsupported the length of Norway, adistance of 1625 miles from Lindesnessto North Cape,313miles inside the ArcticCircle to raise money for MAG (Mines

OffOffMajor General MungoMelvin, Chairman AWSA,reflects on a year ofnotable achievementswith a healthy level ofparticipation

Welcome once again to Snow and Ice –your annual ArmyWinter Sports Magazine.I am now well into to my second year asChairman and I think that we can look backon the 2007/08 Season with muchsatisfaction; your Association is in goodorder. Despite the continuing high levels ofoperational commitments, we have hadanother successful season with healthylevels of participation and some excellentindividual performances. In stark contrastto recent years, there was plenty of snowalmost everywhere. It has once again beena mixed set of results from the Disciplines.Individual reports can be found later in thismagazine, but I would like to highlightseveral notable achievements.

I was delighted that Telemark, our 8thDiscipline, has been firmly established andgained “Approved Status” within theServices. The first Army Championship tookplace in Rauris (Austria) in early Januarywith some 60 competitors, an excellentachievement for the first event and I expectthe sport to go from strength to strength.The risk, excitement and dangersassociated with Winter Sports werehighlighted only too well with a terrifyingaccident on the Cresta Run, which wascovered in the Tabloids. Captain Bernie

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Advisory Group). As well as breaking his nose twice, andspraining his ankle, shoulder andwrist in falls,David had to seekemergency dental treatment to extract a wisdom tooth, alongthe lonely four-month journey. His father, Spud, was in NorthCape towelcome his gallant son at the end of the epic ski,whichstarted onNewYear’s Eve,as he limped in on borrowed ski boots,his own having fallen apart a week earlier! David’s nextchallenge is to walk 2500 miles from Casablanca to Cairo.Wewish him luck!

*****Snow & Ice this year features two very different ski destinationsin North Americawhere the snow is consistent and reliable,Utahand New Hampshire. It is impossible and invidious to comparethe two – they each have a charm.Utah has arguably the finestpowder snow on earth. New Hampshire is very accessible – ittook less time to reach Lincoln, NH than Zermatt! Nor was itmore expensive. A new tunnel has cut the train journey fromZurich by an hour, but it took as long (twelve hours!) to reachthe Swiss resort.With the Swiss charging up to SF9 (£4.50) for abottle of water which they admitted came from the tap, theSwiss francs slip through the fingers rather faster than the USdollar.Queues,congested pistes, time spent travelling fromhotelto base area by bus and taking skis on and off for yet anothervast, jam-packed cable car, are all a hazard of skiing in Europe,so I again make no apology for recommending North Americafor those who want reliable snow, empty trails, and no waitingin line.

Jim Saunderson, ([email protected] )whommanyNordic skiers will remember as part of the successful 35 EngrRegt teamwhich dominated Ex Rucksack for a lengthy spell,andwho ran the Sapper Lodge in Kranzegg, Bavaria for three yearsin the 1980’s, is theman to contact if you are thinking of a quickbreak on America’s East Coast.He has beenworking for the NewHampshire Department of Tourism since 1988 when he retiredfrom the Army after 36 years, and currently represents UK andEurope for a group of six ski areas and 21 lodging properties inthe granite state. With a 5 hour time difference, a four dayweekend break is realistic and affordable.

Over in Utah, Snow & Ice has negotiated discounted rates forreaders with the Peruvian Lodge at Alta, in November,December, January and April (www.altaperuvian.com).Alta,oneof only three US areas to ban snowboarders – the others areDeerValley,Utah andMad River Glen,Vermont - is a sought-afterhidden gem for advanced, expert hard core skiers. Contact the

Alta Peruvian Lodge directmentioning Snow& Ice.– all food andtaxes are included, as well as delicious homemade cookies andhot drinks mid afternoon.There is an outdoor heated pool andhot tub, and the lifts are just yards from the front door. Powderhounds will be in seventh heaven!

*****And finally,as wewent to Press, the Editor joined Annabel Elliott,wife of Maj Gen Christopher Elliott, ASCB Director, and 298others on the Halfords Big Battlefield Bike Ride – a 350mile cycleride through Northern France – which raised a staggering £1.5million to provide a new swimming pool complex at HeadleyCourt for those servicemen and women injured in Iraq andAfghanistan. Gutsy soldiers from Headley Court, some missing

...with the Editor

the piste...

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limbs and one totally blinded, joined the able-bodied on the fiveday, hilly ride, laying wreaths atWW1 andWW2 battlefield sitesalong the way, including Thiepval, Beaumont Hamel andPegasus Bridge,before returning toDover in HMS BULWARK,andcycling past the Cenotaph en route to Horse Guards Parade,where we were welcomed home by CGS and AWSA President,General Sir Richard Dannatt. Despite a fractured scaphoid, andthumb, which had been fused and wired under generalanaesthetic two weeks earlier, the Editor completed the 350miles in a shocking pink plastercast which prevented use of theleft gears and back brake!www.helpforheroes.org.uk

the piste...

This year, as was the case across most of the Alps, we enjoyed areturn to excellent snow conditions in Serre Chevalier.Their claimto having a unique climate, again proved to be well justified, aswe basked in glorious sunshine for most of the championships.Our relationshipwith the village goes from strength to strength.There are no signs of the effects of familiarity that have caused ustomove on fromprevious venues.On the contrary the ski school,pisteurs, lift company and tourist office were at pains to ensurethat we had all that we needed and the rapport,with them all, isas good as it has ever been.

Knowing the concern the resort has over the impact of closingthe Luc Alphond piste, there was a niggling worry that, havinggone elsewhere successfully last year, they might seek to avoidus returning to the Piste this year. In fact they understand thecentrality of the Luc Alphond piste and how it defines ourchampionship probably better thanwe do.And thank goodnesswe got back – the speed disciplines once again becoming thekey events and providing an appropriate challenge for allcompetitors. The mood during inspection on the first morningof Downhill training was priceless; difficult to describe but veryreal to experience. The courses did cause problems. RussDocker’s extended flight off the pylon jump, through all nettingand into the next field, looked most alarming but thankfully itwas his sitski not him that suffered.Cpl DougyMacPherson’s falllooked awful and proved initially to be dramatic, leaving himout

cold on the wall whilst those above and below sprinted to hisaid. Thankfully he was only shaken not broken, and mostimpressively, was back out on the piste the next day to claimthird in the Super G.

Aswegot underway the anticipatedbattles looked tobemuchaswehad seen theprevious year.1 LSR seemedset todominate,withthenewkidson theblock last year,LtMatt ShepherdandMajNickiPorter, the favourites for individual honours. I am glad I am not abettingman because theweek did not unfold as expected.

In theMen’s competition it was Capt Nick Binningtonwhomadea most emphatic return.Those spectacular exits of earlier yearsbecame an incongruous memory as he never put a ski wrongand stormed through to an emphatic victory in the individualcombination. Matt Shepherd tweaked his groin early on and,although he won both Downhill and Super G, was out of therunning. Capts Nick Poett and Alex Sibony proved to be as fastand consistent as we expected, always snapping at the heels ofthe leaders, and finished second and third in the combination.Cpls Chris McCourt and DougyMacPherson were nearly alwaysthere but more about that later and LCpl Roberts showed thevalue of staying upright and getting down, finishing fifth overall.This year saw Capt Rich Hamplace himself firmly in themixwitha consistent string of excellent finishes, earning him fourth inthe combination.

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Alpine Brigadier Nick Smith

In the Ladies it was business as usual with NickiPorter proving almost untouchable, winning allevents less the Downhill.Capt Rachael Cooper heldback nothing and proved who dares can win,taking the Downhill and second place in thecombination. Cpl Annabel Franey continues toimprove and secured third place just ahead of newarrival 2Lt Lori Sharp.Overall a strong quartet whotook their form very successfully through to theInter Services where they secured a resoundingvictory.

The Men’s team competition got off to theexpected start with 1 LSR winning both GS andSlalom,hotly pursued by Scots DG,but it was to bethe Downhill that proved decisive. We weresurprised to hear that Chris McCourt had comeunstuck high up the hill and then stunned to hearof DougyMacPherson’s fall at the bottom.The doorwas nowwide open but could Scots DG get through it? Destinylay in the hands of Tpr Taylor, still shaken from a cracking fall inthe Downhill in Les Contamines. The demons proved too shrilland it was the Light Dragoons that nailed a memorable victory.The team championship was, therefore, left wide open on thelast daywith any number of possibilities and all to race for in theSuper G. 1 LSR, out to make amends, claimed an emphatic win,Poett and Sibony got down in good times and, so, once againthe burden of Scots DG expectation and potential glory sat onthe shoulders of Tpr Taylor.He succeeded in slaying his demonsand came through to secure 14th place and with it the teamcompetition for Scots DG. A very well deserved win,well timedin Alex Sibony’s last year.The vanquished 1 LSR could not havebeen more magnanimous in defeat, being the first and loudestto congratulate Scots DG.Of the chasing pack, 1 Regt AAC hadanother good year securing 4th overall and second in theDownhill. 28 Engr Regt were always there but were just pippedby QRH who, despite losing Stuart Hunt, did very well to finishfifth. It was the Light Dragoons,however,whowere the surprisepackage. Despite having Nick Binnington in imperious form,with only 3 in their team,they could not afford a single error.TprStamp and Lt Arkell skied out of their skins and managedfaultless runs in every race,earning them amost impressive 3rdplace overall.

The championships is, however, not just about the top placesand the battles that take place further down the seed order areas keenly fought, none more so than the trans-Pennine tusslebetween 1 Yorks and 2 Lancs. 2 Lancs eventually came out ontop but not before we had witnessed the slowest decent everseen in a“speed”event.Under strict team orders Pte Smith of 1Yorks came in 30 seconds slower than the next competitor,believing that a finish was all that was needed. Sadly the teammaths were rather awry.

In the Inter Corps Championships it was the RAC who onceagain dominated, securing another resounding victory in theMen’s event, with RA taking the Ladies. I have mentioned thesplendid success of the Ladies team in the Inter Services andtheir success wasmatched by themen. In a very disciplined andprofessional performance the team established an impressivevictory in the Downhill which they then built on over the rest ofthe Championships.Well done to both teams on a tremendousachievement.

We continue to enjoy magnificent support from our sponsorsand it was excellent to hear that BAE will continue their

sponsorship.Norwich Union continue as our main sponsor andour only regret was thatMark Hodges,havingmade the journeyto Serre Chevalier,was trapped by hismobile phone and did notget to the Downhill.We very much hope that we will see himnext year.

Wewere again delighted that CGSmanaged to find time to joinus for the speed events and prize giving and we welcomed LtGen Shirreff,Maj Gen Everson andMaj Gen Bucknall for the firsttime. All left with a very positive impression of both the natureof the event and the commitment of the competitors.

I sadlymove on but leave the Chairmanship in the very capablehands of Brig Mark Dodson who, not surprisingly, is muchlooking forward to overseeing next year’s championships.Lt ColAmandaHassel leaves after 2 years as secretary.A significant andoften thankless burden, she has kept us on a very soundfinancial and administrative base and we all owe her aconsiderable debt of gratitude.Maj James Leslie also, we think,has had his last year althoughmay yet reappear if his Regimentsurvives.He has alsomade amost valuable contribution andwillbe much missed if he does not return. Army Alpine is in greatshape: well supported, financially sound and with an excellentcommittee.My thanks go to all the committee who give up somuch of their time to plan and prepare for the event and thendeliver it so professionally. Keep up the good work.

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alpinealpineA lack of entries even after an extended deadline reduced theUK Divisional Alpine Ski Championships to a single hill thisseason. Numbers had hovered around 140 until, too late, teamssought places at the last minute. Held for the sixteenth year inSerre Chevalier, France, conditions looked good for excellentracing for those who had applied in time. Heavy snow onregistration day made many teams late, and even those thattook the sensible decision to use the Frejus tunnel werefrustrated by an accident that closed the road for several hours.Thus the Seeding GS beganwith a start list that hadmany blanknames, and the start referee ran out of spare bibs and sense ofhumour. By the end of the race normal order had been restored:times had been recorded for all competitors,and the Committeeknew who was racing.

Once again the plan was to use Monêtier’s slopes for thetechnical events of seeding giant slalom,giant slalom and at theend of the competition special slalom, as they have the bestsnow and variety of terrain. The speed events of Super GiantSlalom and Downhill were scheduled for the Clot Gautier pisteat Villeneuve, a natural speed course above the tree line thatprovides a safe yet challenging race at this level of competition.This approach uses the best slopes available for thecompetition,and also allows us to keep in touchwith the Frenchhill teams fromboth villages,maintaining the capacity to returnto a two-hill competition.

After completing the seeding race and then the twochampionship giant slaloms, things were running smoothly andthe competitionwas hotting up. On themorning of the Super Gthe weather had turned against us, with a heavy overnightsnowfall,and cloud reducing visibility dramatically. A determinedattemptwasmade to stampdown the snowand slide the course,but eventually the Jury decided to abandon the race,principallybecause they were unable to see the condition of the run-outareas. As is often the case, conditions the following day wereexcellent and the race produced some of the closest finishes ofthe championships. The results established a pattern for the restof theweek,with the Light Dragoonswinning,19 Regiment RA astrong second, and closely-fought competition for third place.Thankfully there was no repeat of last year’s “tricky” sixth gatethat caught out so many of the faster competitors.

The officials knew that it would be hard to better the epic

downhill race of 2007,but essentially stuck to the same formula.Fortunately this year there was plenty of snow on the piste sothe lower section of the course could follow the natural line overthe “rollers”, without last year’s detour to the left that caughtmany out on race day. The weather was kind and two days oftraining were completed, providing the all importantprogression for those new to downhill racing and enabling theveterans to hone their performance. This year’s jump proved tobe a little shorter than last year’s,although psychologicallymanyfound it more demanding. There were some very close resultson the day: only 1.06 seconds separated second from seventhplaces, but this only underlined the achievement of Capt NickBinnington of the Light Dragoons,whowon by a clearmargin ofover 2 seconds. The team results again produced a tough battlefor third place. Remarkably it was Oxford UOTCMen’s team thattook the honours, beating the Scottish Transport Regiment(Volunteers) by only half a second. As far as the Jury couldremember this was the first time that a UOTC had taken apodium place in Downhill, but you may know different?

The team slalom saw a particularly determined attempt by 19Regiment RA to topple the Light Dragoons,but eventually theywere beaten by a second. Going into the final race, theIndividual Slalom, Capt Binnington’s lead in the individualcombination seemed unassailable yet he still won the race by amargin of over 8 seconds, so he can’t have eased off much!

We were fortunate this year to benefit from generoussponsorship by EPS UK Ltd, MOD’s supplier of ballistic gogglesand sunglasses for Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to asubstantial financial contribution they also provided JohnStoddart to the hill team, allowing 3 new officials to be trainedintensively during the championship. It is hoped that EPS willwish to continue this relationship in 2009, and that othersponsors will be found to reduce further the cost of racing tothe competitors.

Overall there was some outstanding competitive skiing bothbetween individuals and teams. WO2 Reece in his last seasonas a regular came very close to beating old rival SSgt Packhamfor the Veteran’s Combination, these two taking second andthird places in the overall championship. The team resultsreflected many achievements across the field. 19 Regt RAsecured second place by a clear margin, and in third overall the

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ScottishTransport Regiment (Volunteers) won their division andwere best TA team.The winners were the Light Dragoons, withtheir team captain taking the individual combination by anenormous margin. A special mention must be made of the 2LANCS team: they had trained at Ex Frosted Blade, the Infantrytraining camp, without planning to go any further. Emergingthe winning team at that competition they came forward to ExSpartan Hike, and to their great credit then went on to race atthe Army Championships - amarvellous performance for a teamwithout previous experience at this level.

After a year of excellent racing but disappointing entries, hereare some observations that bear consideration:• Both Light Dragoons and 19 Regiment ski teams completed

operational tours in Afghanistan in 2007, but were able tocompete very successfully.

• Only 2 TA units entered. In the 4 years 2001 – 04, there were11 teams on average, and never fewer than 9.

• Only 2 UOTCs entered, although both brought both maleand female teams. In 2001 - 04 there were never less than 8OTC teams every year.

• We need 180 competitors tomake it worthwhile to run2 hills.

It seems that operations are not the only factor reducing entriesbelow the historical norms. TheTA andOTC entries appear neverto have recovered from the disastrous decision to turn themaway in 2005. Getting themback to the pre-2005 level would besufficient to justify running 2 hills,which would then create theflexibility to accept the inevitable late entries that arise from thetempo of contemporarymilitary life. The recent decision by theNuffield Trust to provide equipment grants to TA units is verywelcome and should help. Even though winter sports havebecomemuch less exclusive in recent years, alpine (and nordic)ski racing remains a special opportunity not readily available tomost in civilian life. Wemust domore to get thismessage acrossto units through the chain of command, through corps skisecretaries, and any other conduit.

For a detailed inspection of the results, where each team wasplaced and some excellent photographs, go towww.spartanhike.co.uk

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Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bromley Gardner

BothNordic officials and competitors have grownaccustomed totravel towards Serre Chevalier with their hearts in their mouths,uncertain as to the snow conditions. In January 2008 ourapprehensionswere easedearly asweapproached the foothills ofthe Alps and sure enough, passing over the Col du Galibier anddescending quickly towards Monêtier, we saw perhaps the bestconditions for many a year – plenty of fresh, firm snow coveringthewhole valley. What awelcome change from2007! Eventuallywe were faced with snow problems that, if we are truthful, wereally don’tmind– further snowfalls led to ahigh risk of avalanche:weboth had to adapt our courses and re-arrange the start of onerace. But good work by the French ski de fond pisteurs (workingwellwithout the supervisionof PatrickMaurewhohadbrokenhisleg just before our arrival), optimism from the officials andunderstanding from the competitors enabled an afternoon startfor the 10km/15km Classic Race, and for the rest of thecompetition programme to continue as planned.

In these days of significant operational pressure, it is gratifyingto see that the number of participants, although affected, isbearing upwell. At one stage registrations threatened to exceedthe financial ceiling of 280 – and we would certainly haveinitiated a waiting list if all the entries had been in on time (theregiment that entered only after they had deployed on theirtraining to Norway will remain nameless) – but the usualexamples of aspirations that could not be achieved resulted in239 soldiers and airmen competing in the LAND (UK) andTerritorial Army Nordic Ski Championships.

This year’s innovationwas that thewomenwould compete overthe same distances as the competitions provided at the Army(combinedwith National) Championships. Allied to the shortercross country relay for all (4 x 5km rather than 4 x 10km), thecompetitions in general demand the physical quality of speedrather stamina – until, of course, the Military Patrol Race, whichcontinues to pit all teams, male and female, against the samechallenges over 3 – 5 hours of skiing. Given the generally sunnyweather conditions, competitors seemed to relish the

opportunities of the shorter courses to build a really friendlyatmosphere both within the ‘stadium’ and around the course,providing great encouragement for those racing hard.

The joy of SPARTAN HIKE is the range of standards attending,from members of the British National team through to, literallythis year, those who had yet to try a pair of skis on snow (we trynot to encourage quite that standard of inexperience). Inbetween there are teamswhose definition of success is to rise tothe novel and unknown challenge and to improve their ownperformances through to those who have put much of theirtime,energy and funding into training on snow throughout thewinter,and even before that back in UK,with the ultimate aim ofchallenging for prizes at the Army Championships: thedifference in enthusiasm is hard to detect.

We alsomoved the site of the cross country races – planned butunable to be used last year – to provide more variety in thetracks and trails.With shorter courses the spectator value fromthe stadium was increased too. In spite of moving away fromthe only public conveniences in the valley, this met withuniversal approval, even if we were thwarted in our desire toencourage 17 P&M Regt RLC to put grip wax on their skis.Perhaps without the avalanche risk…

So to the main prize-winners – ultimately 17 Port and MaritimeRegiment RLC took the overall Combination Championship,although it required a superb ski in the Military Patrol race tosnatch victory from 1st Royal Tank Regiment, whose finebiathlon skills had pitched them into the lead beforehand. Ayoung team from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment performedconsistently throughout all the races to take 3rd place. Elevenregiments (including 59 Independent Commando Squadron RE)qualified for the Army Championships, where they joined 8regiments from Germany. The TA Championships went right tothe wire, as they were tied on points before the Military Patrol

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nordicnordic

Race,but the Honourable Artillery Company’s superior staminagave thema 15-minute lead over the youngsters of Exeter UOTC.Individually there were no new names on the leader board –LCpl Brad Sprake (17 P&M Regt RLC) was 43 seconds ahead ofhis team-mate LCpl Ben Woolley, with a previous winner LBdrSimon Allanson (40 Regt RA), recovering quickly from illness, inthird. The veteran class is nowalkover either – SSgt Paddy Paton(APTC attached 1 Irish Gds),4th overall, just held off Sgt StephenHodson (1 RTR) in 6th overall. Gnr Solon (1 RHA)was the leadingJunior, Cfn Bowen (33 Engr Regt EOD) the top Novice andsecond Junior, and Tpr Kelly (1 RTR) the first Youth (under 19)and second Novice. These will be names to watch in the future.The TA Champion was 2Lt Simon Long (Exeter UOTC), ahead ofTpr Kristian McCarty and the veteran Sgt Andy Moxon (bothHAC);OCdt Rollo Sparkes (Oxford UOTC) was the leading Juniorand OCdt Steven Taylor (Exeter UOTC) the best Novice.

In theWomen’s Combination Championships it was 29 Regt RLCwho eventually ruled the roost after a disastrous first race (thecross country relay), ahead of 17 Port and Maritime RegimentRLC with REME close behind. In the TA Championships, a reallycompetitive battle between Exeter UOTC andOxford UOTCwasonly resolved by the former’s 29 second lead in the MilitaryPatrol Race – tight over a nearly-5 hour competition. Cpl AdeleWalker (29 Regt RLC), resting from the National Team, was theclear individual Champion,but CaptTania Noakes (Oxford UOTC)was equally clear of the rest of the field;Pte EmmaCope (17 P&MRegt RLC)was the firstYouth andNovice competitor,whilst OCdt

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CaptainM J Pearson

EX SNOWLION – the Territorial Army and Army Cadets Alpineski and snowboarding championships – enjoyed some ofScotland’s finest ski conditions for decades at Aviemore duringthe first week of March. Fifty five competitors took part duringthe first five days, with the numbers rising to 80 on Saturday 8March,a slight decrease on last year.Four units which had statedtheir intention to participate, failed to attend.

The championships are open to all serving members of the TA,UOTC, Army Apprentices and ACF/CCF. Regular Army units andindividuals are permitted to compete for regular Army prizes,but priority is given to the TA and ACF to compete.

Excellent snow on Cairngorm and coverage on the regional TVNewswas a double bonus for what is a quintessentially Scottishevent combining all that can be expected from a militarysporting/adventure training exercise – lots of challenge inproportion to the experience of the participants, the right blendof exertion versus fun, the opportunity for folk to engage withone another, and all at good value for money.

TheGrenadier Guardswon the Regular ArmyTeamGSprize,with32 Sig Regt (V) taking the TA Team award. The Team GS onSaturday 8 March was won by EMUOTC, with Edinburgh CCFtaking the CCF team prize.Other prizewinners were:

Monday to Friday:Open SlalomMen OCdt Crowther EMUOTCOpen SlalomWomen OCdt Harris EMUOTCOpen GS Men OCdt Jones EMUOTCOpen GSWomen Cpl Donaldson 7 SCOTSTA Individual Male OCdt Crowther EMUOTCTA Individual Female OCdt Harris EMUOTCTA Novice Male 2LtWalker 6 SCOTSTA Novice Female OCdt Gibson GSUOTCOpen Junior Men OCdt Fuller EMUOTCOpen JuniorWomen OCdt Harris EMUOTC

Saturday:GS Men OCdt Jones EMUOTCGSWomen Cdt Gyure Ratcliffe CCFGS Novice Male Cdt Rushworth Edinburgh CCFGS Novice Female OCdt Gibson GSUOTCJunior GS TA OCdt Fuller EMUOTCTA Royal Signals Individual WO2 Davidson 32 Sig RegtTA Infantry Individual Pte Cooper 7 SCOTSTA AGC Individual Sgt Munro 32 Sig Regt/AGC

In the Snowboard championships,OCdt Ahrens,AUOTCwon theindividual men’s GS, Slalom and Combined prizes, with OCdtRenison, also AUOTC, taking the women’s GS, Slalom andCombined titles.

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EX SNOWLIONEX SNOWLION

Karina Eustace (Exeter UOTC), a Junior and a Novice, was thesecond TA woman in the rankings. 19 women qualified torepresent their Corps at the Army Championships.

Finally, I wish yet again to thank the band of volunteer officials,experienced and inexperienced, without whom theChampionships just would never get off the ground. Theirselfless efforts are the foundation without which none of theabove would be possible.

Let’s hope that global warming is as much in abeyance inJanuary 2009…

Ex RUCKSACKEx RUCKSACK

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Cpl Adele Walker lights the Obertilliach Flame

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Solly RAMC

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f fThe first Biathlon races on Saturday 26 January were the men’s10kmBiathlon sprint and thewomen’s 7.5km.The conditions setthe scene for most of the time in Obertilliach, sunny and cold,near perfect for Biathlon.The Biathlon centre is in the centre ofthe courses which meant spectators could see the athletes formuch of their race as they either passed or went through thestadium and range. The Biathlon Chief of Races, Lt Col BillLaurence PARA,who was taking a break from his French courseat DSL Beaconsfield, and his Chief of Race WO1 Mark CrispAPTC(V) set some challenging and entertaining courses. LCplLee Jackson 2 Yorks, the leading GBR skier came first,with mostof the other British squad taking top places.1 LSR took the teamplacing, which set the scene for the rest of the championships,and thewomen’s competitionwas also RLC led,with the two topGBRwomen,Corporal AdeleWalker and Sergeant Emma Fowlerfighting it out for the lead. However, pushing them both closein terms of ski speed was Lieutenant Alanda Scott (RE Ladies)who continued in this style throughout the twoweeks and fullydeserved her call up to the European squad in only her secondyear of Biathlon skiing. In the women’s team event, RLC withAdeleWalker and Emma Fowler,ably supported by the pregnantCapt LizWinfield,was always going to be the stronger team butsecond place was hotly contested between the AGC and REteams with the AGC taking second place on this occasion buttheywere eventually overtaken by the RE ladies when the CrossCountry races and Patrol Race came about.

The Biathlon relaysprovided some of themost exciting races ofthe meet, even fromthe very start whennobodywas really sureof what was about tohappen as MajorGeneral MungoMelvinpulled the lanyard on abizarre canon suppliedby the Bürgemeister.Luckily there were nocasualties! The racebecame very busywithmultiple skiers comingon to the rangestogether giving therange team, led byCaptain Liz Rossiter, HQAPG, their most challenging time to date. Predictably 1LSR ledthe way followed by 28 Engr Regt who took a strong lead forsecond overall team which they kept despite a slow down inresults for the Cross Country and Patrol Race. In the ladies race,the RLC consolidated their position at the top with the AGCtaking second place and the RE ladies taking third.

Exercise Rucksack is one of the busiest ski race programmes onthe international calendar with individuals possibly competing

Sgt Marc Walker, proving to theyoung bucks that he is still

a top contender on themen’s 10km Biathlon

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The 2008 British National, Inter Service & Army Biathlon & CrossCountry Skiing Championships, (Exercise RUCKSACK for short),held between 24 January and 7 February, changed location forthe first time in 11 years due to a diary clash with the WorldJunior Championships in Ruhpolding. The first week, mainly ofBiathlon events, was hosted in the beautiful little Austrianmountain village of Obertilliach, with everyone then travellingto our regular Bavarian haunt of Ruhpolding for the secondweek. There were 224 competitors this year, including a BritishArmed Forces contingent of 20 male and 4 female teams and170 individuals (10 being RAF).The other competitors included25 British senior and junior civilians and a small number of guestteams and individuals from Canada,Australia,Germany,Austriaand Czech Republic.

For the military this was the culmination of a hard competitiveseason, most of whom had been training and competing onsnow since November. All teams have to qualify to get toRucksack and the competition is toughwith the best aiming forselection to the British European andWorld cup teams and theBritish Biathlon development squad.

Obertilliach is a Biathlon European Cup venue and has theadvantage of height and more assured snow conditions thanmany other resorts.On arrival, the competitors and officials wereoverwhelmed by thewelcome given by the village, the stadiumfacilities and the condition of the courses.The village provideda night time opening ceremony complete with Olympic flamebeing lit by Cpl Adele Walker (captain of the British Biathlonteam), ice carvings, drinks, local Alpine band and speeches bythe Bürgemeister, Matthias Scherer, and Major General MelvinMungo,Chairman AWSA.

in 9 races in the 12 dayperiod. The individualBiathlon was held onTuesday 29 January.This is the Biathlonendurance event withthe senior mencovering 20km withfour shoots, the juniormen 15km and thewomen 12.5km.Winning again in themen’s was LCpl LeeJackson with LBdr

Kevin Kane taking second place. Sgt Emma Fowler this timepushed Cpl AdeleWalker into second place.

competition’s flame and a farewell function. The move toRuhpolding was fairly painless, particularly due to Cpl LiamMcGarry who had gone ahead and spent the week chatting upold ladies to secure their accommodation.We were also joinedthere by another old hand of Army Nordic, Lt Col CharlesBromley Gardner, who was the Chief of Race for the second

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Gen Melvin starting the Relay mass start

LBdr Simon Allanson of the GBR squad taking the first prone shoot for 40 Regt RA

LCpl Lee Jackson 2 YORKS in the 20km individual

Bdr Shane Clash 12 Regt RA leading the charge in the 10km mass start

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Two days later was the 10km biathlon mass start, another busyand entertaining racewith plenty of activity in the range and aneasy one for the spectators to keep track of as the first over theline is the winner.This time honours went to LCpl Paul Whibleyof 28 Engineer Regiment who took his first national title andEmma Fowler againwon thewomen’s event but Lt Alanda Scotttook a very well deserved second place.

The final race in Obertilliach was the first of the cross countryraces, the ladies’ and men’s 5km relays. Almost overshadowingthis event was a challenge,made over an evening beer,by 1 IrishGuards that they could beat any team the officials could puttogether. The officials, who had a number of ex skiers of somerepute, immediately took up the challenge with someconfidence (Weizen Beer has wonderful powers!). However,during the race it became apparent that the outcomewas goingto be a very close call with the last skier for the officials,SergeantStringyTwinemaking up over one and a halfminutes on the firstloop over Lieutenant Will Maunder-Taylor. However, as Stringyapproached heartbreak hill for the second time only 30 metersbehind, it became apparent that a season’s training might bebetter preparation than a collection of trophies and a lot ofyarns. Sure enough, as they both came into the finish Stringyhad only made up another five metres on the second loopleaving the officials’ team to pay their forfeit - skiing 10 timesaround the penalty loop in their boxer shorts.This they didwithaplomb thereafter quickly retiring followed by a volley of snowballs. Unfortunately and maybe mysteriously, no pictorialevidence of this event could be found!

The activities in Obertilliach culminatedwith a final prize-givingceremony in the village with a ceremonial snuffing of the

week and who ensured that, despite the move, the eventsstarted on time.The final week of races included themen’s 15kmand thewomen’s 10kmon the cross country on theMonday, thecross country pursuits on the Tuesday with the Meggitt Super16 Sprints in the evening and culminating with the blue ribandevent, the Patrol Race on Thursday 7 February.

The GBR European coach Sgt Marc Walker took the top spot inthe 15km closely followed by Bdr Shane Clash. Lt Alanda Scotttook her first title in the 10km followed by Capt Sarah HadleyAGC.The pursuit race, reintroduced this year by popular request,involves both the disciplines of skating and classic with eachcompetitor skiing two courses and doing a racing change of skisin themiddle of the race.Themen’s racewas taken by Bdr ShaneClash followed by one of the old campaigners, SSgt PaddyPayton APTC, 1 Irish Guards. The women’s race was a completesurprise with LCpl Patton of 33 Field Hospital taking the nationaltitle after half the field were disqualified for skiing the wrongcourse.That night a floodlit course provided the exciting venuefor the hotly contestedMeggitt Super 16.Wewere very pleasedto be joined by StuartWeslake-Thoms of Meggitt,who handedout cash prizes,with Bdr Clash becoming the luckymanwith thebiggest bulge in his pocket!

The final race,as always,was theMilitary Patrol. Individuals carrybergans with each team of four carrying a total weight of 40kgand their weapons are pre-positioned on the range.The race is30km for the men and 20km for the women and, unlike theother events, does not purely focus on the ability to ski andshoot.The teams are to expect the‘unexpected’,defined as up to3 activities other than shooting, which take place during therace.The emphasis on these activities is to be on leadership andteamwork.

The strongest teamon the daywas 1LSRwhich completed theirclean sweep of all the races and confirmed their place as KentishCup winners (The Champion Army Nordic Ski Team), SAS Cupwinners (The Champion Inter Service Nordic Ski Team) and,together with their Alpine Team, Marina Cup winners (TheChampion Skiing Unit of the British Army).17 Port andMaritimeRegiment took second place in the Patrol using their owntechnique of double poling on all the classical races. However,second Nordic team overall, thanks to their strong showing in

the earlier races, was 28 Engineer Regiment.Whilst the RLC ladies took themajor honoursby being the leading Nordic team, thanksmainly to their clean sweep of the Biathlonevents, the RE ladies beat them in the Patrolin what was a very close result with theSappers taking the result by 47 seconds.

Operational commitments had an effect onattendance and,whilst numbers are relativelyconsistent at Rucksack, it was noted thatmany of the more experienced skiers werenot present leaving the way open for someof the less experienced athletes.However, thechallenge and sense of competition andachievement was still very sharp and theevent overall was as successful as ever.Holding the initial phase of the

championships at Obertilliach proved to be very successful andwas popular with all concerned, competitors and organizersalike.As a result, future locations for Rucksack 2009 are still beingexplored so, whilst the dates for next year are confirmed as 21January – 06 February 2009, the venue has yet to be decided.

There were a number of notable achievements during thecompetition and the complete results can be found on theAWSA and BBU websites. However, special congratulations goto the athletes listed below who were successful in selection tothe European and World Cup Competitions and to Spr PeteBeyer who came to Rucksack after a creditable performance intheWorld Junior Championships.

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Brig McIntosh Chairman Army Nordic inspecting theeventual winners, a very focused RE Ladies Team

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS*, EUROPEANCHAMPIONSHIPS AND EUROPEAN CUP

LBdr Simon Allanson * 40 Regt RA

Spr Pete Beyer 28 Engr Regt

Bdr Shane Clash 12 Regt RA

LBdr Stephen Hill * 3 RHA

LCpl Lee Jackson * 2 Yorks

LBdr Kevin Kane * 40 Regt RA

LCpl PaulWhibley 28 Engr Regt

Sgt Emma Fowler * 1LSR RLC

LCpl Amanda Lightfoot AGC

Lt Alanda Scott 28 Engr Regt

Cpl AdeleWalker * 29 Regt RLC

EUROPEAN CUP

LCpl Marcel Laponder * 35 Engr RegtLBdr Rob Chudley 3 RHAPte Andy McCann 1LSR RLC

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Anyone who has experienced a winter MEDMAN exercise willknow that Canada has severe winters and lots and lots of snow.The Canadians have great a love of the outdoors and when thesnow comes they uncover their Skidoos, wax their skis or drillholes in the ice to fish.As a British Army exchange officer at theCanadian Infantry School I was somewhat surprised that therewas no longer, due to cost savings, any military Biathlonprogramme.

Let’s be clear here,Canada has someworld class biathletes whoare the product of very successful junior civilian and Cadet(Navy, Army and Air Force) programmes. In the regular army,however, the days of serving Olympians has long gonewith thefocus being on other winter sports, notably military ice hockey.It is easy to see why the programme was cut with only a fewathletes taking the lion’s share of the funding and not filling theirregular roles as ‘soldiers first’.

The Infantry School Biathlon Team was started by MasterCorporal (Lance Corporal equivalent) NathanDenHollander andmyself in late 2006. The Infantry School team is currently selffunding, unlike other sports, and so all accommodation, travel,feeding and entry fee costs are borne by the team members.Equipment is a mixture of privately owned or borrowed fromthe Cadet programme.

An attempt to re-energise military biathlon in the Canadianinfantry wasmade and in late 2007 we started, following a hardInfo Ops campaign, to seemore volunteers taking our numbersup to fifteen. The British Army’s EXERCISE RUCKSACK wasidentified as an excellent opportunity to further this aim. Theschool had an adventure training fund allocation of $15K (about£7.5K) and with no other bids we were able to secure thesefunds for six members of theInfantry School team to spend3 weeks overseas taking part inEXERCISE NORDICWARRIOR (EXRUCKSACK). Once we hadbudgeted for flights, food,accommodation, van hire andincidentals, it became clear thatwe could achieve the taskwithin the $15k.The applicationwas made and eventually, oneweek before Christmas break,approval was given by Maj GenBeare Commander LFDTS.

Training had to continuearound our normal duties and afew periods when the snowmelted (Global Warming!). Weare very fortunate here inGagetown that we have wellgroomed trails for skate skiingon the base,however there onlytwo gentle hills and no purposebuilt Biathlon Range. We did

manage to get the team twice toCharlo in North New Brunswick(4hours drive) which is a BiathlonCanada venue and also some of the team members to theMyriam Bédard Biathlon centre in Quebecwhich is wheremanyof the Canadian Olympians train and race.

The Canuck Team of six to race with the Brits at Obertilliachincluded two 2Lt’s still in training,a Franco Pte Soldier (whowasalso the youngest soldier at the School), MCpl Den Hollander,Captain Dave Ferris from the PPCLI (who speaks German) andan old but spirited BritishMajor (yours truly).Needless to saywewere all novices and far from ‘the best of Canada’, however wewere keen to learn, improve and were able to compete in theNovice raceswith some reasonable results and our CADPAT lycrarace suits were very sharp!

Will we return next year? I certainly hope so.Wehave proved thatit can be done on a limited budget and more cheaply thansending six soldiers on normal Canadian Travel and Subsistenceallowances. I do not expect that we are about to see the CFpouring money into a few soldiers to become Olympians ashappened in the past. I do hope that we have created somemomentum in the Canadian Infantry to bridge the gap betweenthe cadet programme and a Regular Army programme. CaptainFerris has another twoyears at the school and althoughMCplDenHollander is posted to the RCR this summer he will remain in theGagetown area.At this stage all I can say is ‘watch this space’.

I would like to thank Mark Goodson for all his help and supportto us bringing a team over from Canada and all the staff andteams who made us so very welcome and encouraged us onnearly every hill! ‘hup hup hup hup hup hup!’

Left to right: MCpl Nathan DenHollander, 2Lt Geoff Haskell, 2Lt Haedeer Azooz,Pte Sebastien Charette, Major Simon Dewar & Capt Dave Ferris.

No Biathlon in Canada!Major SimonDewar (LANCS) British ExchangeOfficer Canadian Infantry School

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holding up the sun screens.Tragically, this caused his right footto be completely severed at the ankle joint, leaving his foot inthe Run while the brave rider continued on his toboggan toreach the time contacts at Finish. A full and thoroughinvestigation into the accident is ongoing and this is not theplace to add anything further in that regard. It is worthmentioning,however, the prompt and courageous action of twoRAF riders, Squadron Leader Jonathan Hough and FlightLieutenant Alistair Kinsella, who responded with coolness andgreat professionalism when being first on the scene. Theirimmediate first aid and their encouragement and reassurance tothe casualty contributed to the fact that Captain Bambury wasable to be flown by air ambulance to themain hospital in Zurich,where his right foot was reconnected to his leg by awonderfullyskilled teamof surgeons.At the time of writing, the patient,whoshowed quite astonishing sang-froid throughout his ordeal, ismaking extremely good progress in hospital.All members of thethree Service squads continue towish him every success on thelong road to recovery which lies ahead of him.

That evening the three Services hosted the annual cocktail partyin the Cresta Clubhouse. The evening was very well supportedby all Clubmembers in St.Moritz at the time and every year thelocals comment on what fun the evening is and how well allService riders host the evening. The Chairman of tri-ServiceCresta was able to stand up and thank everyone for attendingand to give an up-date on that morning’s accident and thecondition of the patient. All those present wished him the verybest for a speedy recovery.

The following Tuesday a field of only five riders competed forthe Scots Guards Cup – the Army Open Championships fromTop. The shortage of subaltern riders and the lack of depth inthe Army Team were exemplified by the fact that the first threein the competition were all previous winners and all over theage of forty! The results of the Scots Guards Cup appear below:

SCOTS GUARDS CUPOPEN RACE FROMTOP

Placing Name Regiment/ 1st 2nd 3rd TotalBattalion Course Course Course

1. Col R AWieloch The Queen’sRoyal Lancers 56.93 57.18 58.72 172.83

2. Maj J R Kelly Scots Guards 57.40 58.71 58.08 174.193. Maj J J R Kettler The Queen’s

Royal Lancers 58.67 59.49 60.00 178.16

Major James Kelly Scots Guards

The author, in his last year as Captain of Tri-Service Cresta, successfully negotiating“Shuttlecock Corner”.

DARK BLUES WIN INTER-SERVICES’ CRESTA FORSECONDYEAR RUNNING

Operational commitments and a tightening of criteria ofeligibility for Regular Army riders resulted in a considerablydepleted Army squad in St.Moritz this year.Not quite so for theother two Service teams, with a very strong squad of fourteenRAF officers competing hard for a place in their six man teamand only a slightly smaller contribution of officers and otherranks of Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.

Most members of the three groupings were able to getthemselves to the Engadine Valley around the weekend of 19January to allow twelve days practice riding and racing beforethe main event on Thursday 31 January.

On themorningof Friday 25 January theArmy riderswere able tohold their much reduced Junction Championships, where thestart is two thirds of the full Cresta Run. The event allows for awinner as the fastest Novice,the fastest rider onHandicap and fora winning Regimental Pairs race for the 17th Lancers’ Cup. Themajority of the small field came fromTheRifleswith threeQueensRoyal Lancers making up the field.The results as listed below:

JUNCTION HANDICAP

Placing Regiment/ H/Cap 1st 1st 2nd NetBattalion Course Total Course Total

1. Lt T G Knight 4 RIFLES 4.30 49.40 45.10 49.39 85.892.Cpl T C Armon Jones 4 RIFLES 1.00 45.09 44.09 45.86 87.953.Capt B J A Bambury 4 RIFLES 0.80 45.98 45.18 46.48 90.06

JUNCTIONOPEN

Placing Regiment/ 1st 2nd GrandBattalion Course Course Total

1. Lt T G Knight 4 RIFLES 49.40 49.39 98.79Maj D T Barrington-Barnes QRL 47.88 Fall (S) -Lt C L F Kilner 4 RIFLES 48.24 Fall (S) -

17TH LANCERS’CUPREGIMENTAL PAIRS OPEN RACE FROM JUNCTION

Placing Name 1st 1st Sub 2nd Gross TeamTeam Course Total Course Total Total

1. 4 RIFLES Capt B J A Bambury 45.98 91.07 46.48 92.46 183.41(1) Cpl T C Armon Jones 45.09 45.86 90.95

2.QRL Col R AWieloch 46.61 92.38 45.99 92.60 184.76Maj J J R Kettler 45.77 46.39 92.16

4 RIFLES Lt C L F Kilner 48.24 97.64 Fall (S) -(2) Lt T G Knight 49.40 49.39 98.79

The event was marred by a particularly horrible and uniquelyunlikely accident suffered by Captain Bernie Bambury RIFLES.Losing control of his toboggan at Bulpetts, the first of the threeLower Bank corners,he hit the ice walls from side to side beforebeing thrown upwards.With his long legs protruding over theside of the run, his shin hit one of the wooden stanchions

CRESTACRESTA

Prize-giving for both events took place that evening in theSoldenella Hotel during the traditional Army cocktail party, the“Spiney Norman”. Over a hundred club members, localdignitaries and tri-Service riders past and present attended andonce again Bernie Bambury’s health andwell beingwas toastedby all. Colonel Rupert Wieloch, late of the QRL, received themagnificent cup which is now in its twentieth season.

Monday evening saw the Royal Air Force host their annual dinnerand they kindly invited theTri-Service Chairman andCaptains ofthe Royal Navy and Army to the event. Needless to say, it was asplendid evening and the RAF teammoralewas high and clearlyscenting a team victory for the first time in eight years…

The build up to the main event continued in its normalcompetitive and yet hugely friendly spirit. By Wednesday,Lieutenant Simon Brayn-Smith SCOTS DG was able to rejoin theArmy squad from gunnery camp to make their team of sixcomplete.All three teamcaptains could nowsubmit thenamesoftheir six teammembers to theClub.Thedraw for ridingwasmade,the order being: Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force.The followingday allwould ride three courses fromTop,thebest four individuals’aggregate score to count, any fallers being disqualified.

Overnight snow meant the Run would not be as hard, fast andfurious as it had been in previous years. Both the RN and RAFteams knew they had a very good chance of winning, whilerealistically the Army were likely to win only by hoping that theother two services might loose one or more of their quickestmen with the race being on such a knife edge.

With the two local hotels that accommodate the vastmajority ofService Cresta riders providing coffee, smoked salmon andcroissants at Top and Bloody Marys at Finish, race day has auniquely special atmosphere. Once the first course of alleighteen service riders has been complete, the first course of theHarlandTrophy follows.This is also an official Club handicappedrace for all former servicemen qualified to ride fromTop and forthosemembers of the services’ squads who fail to make the cutfor the teams. A field of nineteen was reassuringly high, withmany former old service colours returning to St. Moritz to take

part. The field included Captain The Lord Wrottesley, formerlyGrenadier Guards, currently the fastest man on the Cresta Runby quite a margin, and also Air Commodore Steve Abbott CBEthe senior riding RAF officer.On completion of their first course,the first course of the final race takes place. The Services’ SilverSpoon is a Junction race with the same qualifications as for theHarland Trophy but for those too old, injured, infirm orunqualified to race from Top. This field of only seven includedboth Corporal Colin Stag, a serving RAF chef, and Brigadier(about to be Major General on 01 May 08) Andy Salmon RM.Endless puns that the former had been cooking his times for thehandicap committee could not help him win, nor did the lattersince he was the only faller in his race!

By the end of each of the three courses the teamorderwas Armyin third spot, the RAF a close second and the Royal Navy comingfirst,with first and second place as fastest individuals being heldby Lt Cdr Angus Essenhigh RN and Major Jamie Summers RMrespectively. Astonishingly, despite the tension and thecloseness of the competition there was not a single faller in theInter Services’ race – the first time that had happened in livingmemory! Angus Essenhigh received much plaudits, litres ofchampagne and a considerable haul of silverware as a winningservices team member (for The Prince Philip Trophy), thewinning individual in the race (The Lord Trenchard Trophy) andthe fastest single ride – 54.75 seconds – (The Auty Speed Cup).The results are listed below:

THE PRINCE PHILIP TROPHY

1. The Royal Navy 681.272. The Royal Air Force 684.943. The Army 695.41

THE LORDTRENCHARDTROPHY1st 2nd 3rd Total

1 Lt Cdr A.N.P. Essenhigh RN,HMS DARING 54.76 54.99 55.44 165.19

2 Maj J.A.E. Summers RM,FLEET Headquarters 56.64 55.91 55.65 168.20

3 Wg Cdr A.D.Green OBE RAF,Air Staff MOD 56.39 56.57 56.06 169.02

4 Wg Cdr S. Brailsford MVO RAF,CC Air Ramstein 57.53 56.44 57.00 170.97

5 PO(D) T.S.H. Lawrence,Southern Diving Unit 1 57.56 57.07 57.43 172.06

6 Sqn Ldr J.T.W.Hough RAF,47 Sqn RAF Lyneham 58.35 57.37 56.64 172.36

7 Wg Cdr G.C.Cook RAF,Joint Commitments MOD 57.77 57.47 57.35 172.59

8 Cpl A.C.Armon-Jones,4th Bn The Rifles 58.12 57.30 57.38 172.80

9 ColW.R.Wieloch,late the Queen’s Royal Lancers 57.30 58.16 58.06 173.52

10 Maj J.R. Kelly, Scots Guards 58.06 57.81 57.81 173.6811 Maj J.J.R. Kettler,

The Queen’s Royal Lancers 59.68 57.84 57.89 175.4112 Sgt I.D. Breeze,

HQ 3 Commando Brigade RM 58.35 58.21 59.26 175.8213 Sqn Ldr M.R.Lea RAF,

29(R) Sqn RAF Coningsby 58.28 59.66 58.97 176.9114 Sqn Ldr D.K.Sington RAF,

111(F)Sqn Leuchars 59.40 59.46 59.69 178.5515 Capt L.E. Kenny RM,

FLEET Headquarters 59.17 59.56 60.11 178.8416 Lt S.R. Brayn-Smith,

The Royal Scots DG 60.48 59.27 59.57 179.3217 Lt Cdr P.A.Hart RN,

HMS DRAKE 61.04 61.24 61.02 183.3018 Capt R.M.Morgan,

RoyalWiltshire Yeomanry 62.09 61.45 62.36 185.90

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All three Service Teams at ‘Finish’. This was the first year in living memory without asingle faller in the race.

THE AUTY SPEED CUP(Fastest Time in the Services Event)Lt Cdr A.N.P. Essenhigh RN: 54.76

THE HARLANDTROPHY

(Top Handicap)H’cap 1st 2nd 3rd Net Total

1 Capt B.C.Ayling,Army Air Corps (Retd) 0.70 55.83 55.58 56.34 165.652 Lt D.A.S.H.Hooton, RN (Retd) 1.90 58.30 57.20 57.63 167.433 Col A.W.G. Snook OBE,The Parachute Regiment (Retd) 5.80 61.64 61.57 61.67 167.484 Air Cdre S.Abbott CBE RAF, Commandant General RAF Regiment 4.30 61.02 60.08 59.62 167.825 Lt M.L. Child, 2nd Gurkha Rifles (Retd) 0.00 56.19 55.45 56.41 168.056 Flt Lt A.J. Kinsella RAF, Stn Flt RAF Northolt 6.00 62.98 61.69 61.65 168.327 2Lt P.J. Chauveau, Royal Artillery (Retd) 0.00 56.30 56.52 55.85 168.678 Flt Lt M.E. Paxman RAF,OpsWing RAF Lyneham 3.90 60.45 59.96 59.97 168.689 Flt Lt N.M. Smorthit RAF (Retd) 0.00 56.49 55.77 56.48 168.7410 Maj R.L. Clayton,The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Retd) 2.00 59.12 57.92 58.14 169.1811 Flt Lt M.R.Adams RAF (Retd) 3.00 60.72 59.51 59.69 170.9212 Wg Cdr T.J.Hill RAF, CAOC 9 RAF HighWycombe 1.50 58.57 58.54 58.50 171.1113 Sqn Ldr S.J.E.Gregory RAF,DSCOM,DEBS Andover 7.00 66.06 65.58 64.81 175.4514 Capt The LordWrottesley,Grenadier Guards (Retd) -6.00 53.59 53.04 52.98 177.6115 Maj L.E. Chauveau,The Blues & Royals (Retd) 6.30 67.43 65.66 64.07 178.2616 Lt Col J.P.McLaren RM, FLEET Headquarters 7.50 68.63 67.03 68.11 181.2717 Maj D.T. Barrington Barnes,The Queen’s Royal Lancers 2.00 81.56 73.01 71.80 220.37

Flt Lt S.C. Long RAF, Fast Jet Test Sqn,MOD Boscombe Down 4.70 63.45 62.66 Fall(S)Flt Lt R.B. Cripps RAF,No 18(B) Sqn RAF Odiham 6.00 Fall(S)

Fastest Time of Race: Capt The LordWrottesley 52.98

THE SERVICES SILVER SPOON

(Junction Handicap)H’cap 1st 2nd 3rd Net Total

1 Maj R.A.Hitchcock,The Sherwood Foresters (45th/95th) (Retd) 3.00 50.31 49.46 50.80 141.572 Maj G.R.Widdows, 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars (Retd) 0.00 48.88 47.69 48.27 144.843 Capt V.R. Law,The Life Guards (Retd) 2.20 51.63 50.13 50.25 145.414 Cpl C.A. Stag,DCOM Staff CC Air Ramstein 0.80 50.24 49.28 49.41 146.535 Lt Col A.D. FairbanksWeston, Royal Anglian (V) 2.50 53.51 50.62 52.03 148.666 Lt C.R.S.Newman RN, RNAS Culdrose 0.00 50.77 49.92 51.19 151.88

Brig A. Salmon OBE ADC,Commando Training Centre Royal Marines Lympstone 12.50 66.07 Fall (S)Fastest Time of Race:Maj G.J.Widdows 47.69

Prize-giving took place in the Sunny Bar of the Kulm Hotel as normal.With a number of visitors from the world of Services’WinterSports we were delighted to invite Captain Mike Davis-Marks RN, chairman of the CSWSA, to present the prizes for the Silver Spoon.Tricia Abbott,wife of Air-Commodore Steve provided the kisses. For The Harland Trophy Major General Christopher Elliot, Presidentof the Army Sports Control Board was called forward,with his charming wife Annabel providing the kisses. Finally, for the giving ofthe various prizes for the Inter-Services, Air Vice Marshall Kevin Leeson, President of the CSWSA, did the honours, with Lady HarrietBrabazon aworthy kisser.Without a single faller in themain race, the third placed Army team fronted up by their captainMajor JamesKettler, led the way with a traditional “Cresta Firework” to close the proceedings.

The final part of a spectacular day was the Inter-Services’ Dinner.We were delighted to be able to invite as our official guests TonyWall from Qinetic and Doug and Jo Johnson-Poensgn from British Telecom, both generous supporters of the CSWSA.Other guestsincluded the St Moritz Tobogganing Club President, Secretary and remaining officials and many other civilians and locals. Sketchesfrom all three services and other light hearted prizes followed.An excellent evening was had by all.

Finally, with the current Chairman of Tri-Services’ Cresta, MajorJames Kelly due to leave the Army in the summer, it was withgreat pleasure that he was able to announce his successor as LtCdr Angus Essenhigh RN.

For future enquiries about taking part in Armed Forces Crestanext year, individuals should contact their appropriate servicecaptain:

Royal Navy:Major Jamie Summers RM:NPT(RM) REQM SO2Army:Major James Kettler QRL:ATDU-AUTO AND LT SYS SO2Royal Air Force:Wing Commander Andy Green OBE RAF: DASOps Spt (Acting Ops AD)

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The winning Royal Navy team with RAF second and Army third. Lt Col AngusEssenhigh RN with the Lord Trenchard Trophy and Auty Speed Cup.

After a successful Ice Camp in November 2006 in Calgary,Canada, it was again decided to cross “the pond” and hold the2007 Ice Camp in Calgary for the third year running. It provedyet again to bemore cost effective to take the Ice Camp toNorthAmerica than to hold it within Europe and the attractivegeographical location meant that there was no shortage ofvolunteers willing to throw themselves down the Olympic IceTrack in a bobsleigh!

The Ice Campwas held later in the year than normal due to trackavailability but for some of the ice camp staff the later dates heldthe added thrill of pre-Christmas sales in the shopping malls!The Exercise was run over twoweeks from 01-15 December andonce again the campwas oversubscribed. Ice Campparticipantsflew fromHeathrowAirport into Calgary courtesy of Air Canadaeach Saturdaywhere theyweremet by the Ice Camp travel reps(Maj Helen Carter and WO2 Donna Leslie) complete withclipboards and travel rep smiles.They were then transported tothe hotel in a baseball team’s bus complete with team artworkon the outside.

Once participants had been allocated rooms in the plush FourPoints Sheraton hotel, they donned all their warm clothing(scenes reminiscent of“Cool Runnings”) for the walk over to theOlympic Park for the eveningmeal followed by the introductory

brief. The food in the Olympic Park certainly catered for thehearty military appetites with plenty of food provided foreveryone. The first night was a free night for the students butmost found themselves going to bed early with only a hardy fewsampling the local nightlife.Each Sundaywas spent walking thetrack with Sean Olsson followed by the issue of equipment andtime spent with familiarising themselves with their bobsleigh.Luckily for the students in both weeks the Olympic Park wascovered in snow so a lot of personnel took the opportunity to skiin the late afternoon and evenings.

There were 3members of staff on the Exercise looking after thebobsleigh students. The bobsleigh coach was Olympic Bronzemedallist CSgt Sean Olsson PARA who is also the performancedirector for the Army Bobsleigh Development Squad (ABDS),and the equipment manager and brakeman coach was WO2Kenney Pereira RAMC. He also looked after the bottom of thetrack where the bobsleighs ended up on all 4 runners or upsidedown!The finalmember of the teamwas the ABA Secretary,MajHelen Carter RLC who was responsible for running the top ofthe track as well as all the administration.

The bobsleigh students spent between 4-6 hours a day on thetrack.This involvedwalking the track,preparing their bobsleighsand taking it in turns to drive and to brake. After sliding on the

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EX ICEBREAKERTHE ARMY ICE CAMP 2007 Major Helen Carter RLC

final day, the bobsleighers decamped to the Ice House for a pushstart competition. This fired up the competitive spirit ineveryone as doughnuts and t-shirts were up for grabs. The IceHouse replicates the start of a bobsleigh track so the studentswere able to practise their starts, running on ice and jumpinginto a bobsleigh. There were some interesting methods ofgetting into the bobsleighs which wouldn’t have looked out ofplace on“You’ve Been Framed”!

Over the 2 week period the RN/RM sent along a contingentwilling to have a go at bobsleigh and a number of civilians alsoattended the Ice Camp. 19 personnel attended week 1 andsixteen attendedweek 2. In total 26 Army participants,5 RN/RMand 4 civilians learned to bobsleigh.This year it was decided toconcentrate on quality not quantitywhichmeant that personnelwere able to get better coaching from the staff due to reducednumbers. Statistics from previous years have shown that largenumbers learning to bobsleigh on the ice camp does not resultin large numbers following the sport through to the end of theseason.

The bobsleighers were a mixture of freshly recruited ABDS andunit personnel who just wanted to have a go at the sport. It waspleasing to see that the recruited ABDS personnel performedextremely well on the ice camp and most of them took todriving with ease.There were a couple of squad members whowere recruited for their brakeman potential and after the firstbumpy ride in the sled they settled into their new sport. It wasalso extremely fortuitous to discover a natural talent amongstthose who turned up from their units just to have a go atbobsleigh. Lt Harry Pilcher QDG had a talent for driving and hehad an excellent week on the ice but unfortunately when it washis turn to sit in the back of the bobsleigh on the final day ofsliding, his driver crashed him and he ended up in the casualty

dept of Foothills Medical Centre.Thankfully hewas just batteredand bruised but he missed out on the push start competition.

On the logistical side of life, the ABAwould like to thank publiclythe staff from theTransport andMovement Squadron in BATUSwho greatly assisted the Exercise. They helped with thetransportation and storage of equipment as well as themovement of the staff. Thanks are also extended to allCommanding Officers and staff who released their personnelfor the Exercise.

Bobsleigh is an adrenaline fuelled sport and places will beavailable on the Ice Camp this year.For anyonewhowants to tryout the sport, the Ice Camp is for you!

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The Army Bobsleigh Championships, sponsored by BannerBusiness Supplies, were held in Igls, Austria on Friday 23February, following four days of training for the 10 teams whohad entered the event. Even with the high operational tempo,there were 7 male teams (including 1 guest team from Jersey)and 3 female teams. CSgt Sean Olsson ran the week of trainingand coached the drivers on the track and WO2 Kenney Pereirawas in charge of all the equipment, brakeman training andadministration.On race day,WO2 Pete Gunn very kindly headedup the Race Jury.

The RAF provided 2 spur bobs prior to the race which enabledthe timing equipment to be tested and the first run began withthe 7male teams sliding from their race draw placings, followedby the 3 female teams on their race draw placings.After the firstrun there was a 20 minute break before the second race run.During the break the teams were able to polish their runners totry to gain valuable time on their final run. The second runsliding order was done on positions after the first run,with theslowest team sliding first and the fastest team sliding last. Themale teamswent first followed by the females.After the 2nd run,WO2 Kenney Pereira weighed all the teams with theirbobsleighs to ensure that the bobsleighs were not overweight.

It was a gripping race and very close at the top. The ArmyBobsleigh Champion for 2008was Sgt JohnHillman 3 PARAwithhis brakeman, Pte Adam “Monk” Randle, alsoof 3 PARA. The runners up were anotherRegimental team, with Lt Harry Pilcher in thedriving seat and his brakeman,Sgt Paul Owenof the QDG.This race was only the third weekever on the ice for Lt Harry Pilcher.He learnt todrive on the ice camp in Calgary, in December07 and followed this with a week atWinterberg in January 08 for the NoviceChampionships where he beat both theNovice and Junior Teams. He is certainly onetowatch for the future.Third placewent to a 2RTR team, driver Sgt Paul “Cully” Culwick andhis brakeman Tpr French.

In the female race, the Army Champions for2008 were LCpl Paula Walker and LCpl AliciaJarmanbothof theRoyal Signals.Thismarks theend of LCpl Walker’s first season on ice as adriver as she has spent the season on theEuropa Cup. The runners-up were Cpl JackieDavies and Capt Belinda Robson also of theRoyal Signals.There was less than 3/10ths of a

second difference between first and second place. Third placewent to LCplDanni Johnson andCaptNickiWhitley of 40 Regt RA.

The results are listed below:

ArmyMen’s Championship1st placeSgt Hillman/Cpl Randle 3 PARA 1:50.17 secs2nd placeLt Pilcher/Sgt Owen QDG 1:50.85 secs3rd placeSgt Culwick/Tpr French 2 RTR 1:52.04 secs4th placeOCdt Eades 5 Trg Regt RLC/Gnr Greenslade Kings Tp RHA 1:53.92 secs5th placeCapt Chaganis/LCpl Fisher 4 RIFLES 1:54.10 secs6th placeTpr Schofield QDG/Lt James 3 CSMR 1:54.94 secs

Fastest BrakemanSgt Owen QDG 5.59 secs

ArmyMens’ Champions – Sgt John Hillman and Pte Adam “Monk” Randle

BOBSLEIGHMajor Helen Carter RLC

ARMY CHAMPIONSHIPS

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The Army Novice and Junior Bobsleigh Championships wereheld inWinterberg,Germany later than normal between 14 and21 January due to the Ice Camp being held in December 2007.The Championships were held alongside the Novice and JuniorChampionships for skeleton and luge. The“OsborneTrophy”wasthe Novice Championship Trophy and the Junior Trophy wasrenamed the“Trinity Insurance JuniorTrophy”in appreciation ofTrinity Insurance who had very kindly provided some financialsupport to the ABA.

Throughout the Championships the novice bobsleighers werecoached by CSgt Olsson with WO2 Pereira dealing with theadministration and brakeman coaching. SSgt Barnett R Sigslooked after all the equipment during theweek. The attendancewas very good considering the reduction in numbers whotrained on the Ice Camp. 9 novice teams turned up to competeat Winterberg which is quite a technical and challenging track.This was reduced to 6 teams on race day due to injuries and lackof robust brakemen. For the first time in 2 years therewere somejunior teams in the Championships. 3 junior teams entered therace, one of which consisted of civilians and, in order to makethe junior race competitive, it was agreed that they could takepart. However, if they won, they would not be awarded theTrinity Insurance JuniorTrophy. Competitors arrived at the HotelSteymann, a regular haunt of the ABA on the Sunday eveningor Monday morning. A track walk and kit issue took place thatafternoon followed by sliding each day from Tuesday toSaturday. Competitors spent 3-4 hours a day at the track andmanymore hours back at the hotel polishing their runners readyfor race day. For the novice bobsleighers this was theiropportunity to combine what they learned in Calgary on thetrack with the starting techniques taught in the Ice House. Forthe juniors it was an opportunity to blow away the cobwebsafter a season off the ice and get back into the sport.

The race took place on Sunday 20 January. The Championshipswere visited by Lt Col Perkin the ABA Chairman as well as agroup from the “Vintners”. Historically the “Vintners” havesupported the 2 RTR bobsleigh team. However this year theyvery kindly donated £500 for distribution to worthybobsleighers as well as a “Spirit of the Event” trophy. It was apleasure to see all the Vintners back at the Novice and Junior

Championships. The prize giving was conducted by Lt ColPerkin and followed a champagne reception. The race wasexcellent and Lt Harry Pilcher, who won the NoviceChampionships, had the overall fastest time (including thejuniors) beating the next team by an impressive 2.4 seconds.The Spirit of the Event trophy was awarded to the novicebobsleigh team of Gnr Olly Greenslade Kings Tp RHA and LCplBaz Barrett RLC.

The results of the Novice and Junior Championships were asfollows:

MALE NOVICE CHAMPIONSLt Harry Pilcher QDGSgt Paul Owen QDGRunners-UpTpr Ben Schofield QDGPte Conrad Marsden 27 Regt RLCThirdCapt Howard Chaganis 4 RIFLESLCpl Andy Fisher 4 RIFLES

Fastest BrakemanSgt Paul Owen QDG

MALE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSWill Golder TEAM JERSEYKarl Maguire TEAM JERSEYRunners-UpOCdt Dale Eades RLCOCdt James Turner RLCThirdRfn Ben Lynch 4 RIFLESLCpl David Colburn 4 RIFLES

Fastest BrakemanKarl Maguire TEAM JERSEY

OCdt Dale Eades and OCdt James Turner were awarded theTrinity Insurance Junior Trophy.

ArmyWomen’s Champions – LCpl PaulaWalker and LCpl Alicia Jarman

ArmyWomen’s Championship1st placeLCplWalker/LCpl Jarman R Signals 1:52.58 secs2nd placeCpl Davies/Capt Robson R Signals 1:52.86 secs3rd placeLCpl Johnson/CaptWhitley 40 Regt RA 2:06.96 secs

Fastest BrakewomanLCpl Jarman 5.94 secs

EX RACING ICE I – ARMYNOVICE AND JUNIORBOBSLEIGH CHAMPIONSHIPS

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It has been a full and successful season for Luge, with severalnew novices starting the sport, and some great races at thechampionships. The season started with the Army Novice IceSports Camp (Ex Ice Breaker) in Calgary:

For the third year the Ice Sports Camp was held in Calgary,Canada in the first two weeks of December 2007, involving allthree disciplines,Luge,Bobsleigh and Skeleton.We took twenty-two novices over the two weeks, of which five were female andfour were from the Royal Navy.We deliberately opened up theIce Camp to theNavy,to try to re-kick-start the sport in the SeniorService. It paid dividends. After the normal cautious start, wemoved the novices up the track to Junior Start,whichmeant theynow had to negotiate the long straight which is unique toCalgary.This can be tough on novices,who find it hard to keep ina straight line, resulting in some bruising! But by the end of theweek everybody had moved up to the bottom of Ladies’ Start,which was a great achievement for all of them. The novicesquickly became competitive,sowehad a fewbumps and crashesto entertain the local Canadians, if not those with the bruises.

The“Guts and Determination Award”forWeek One goes toWO2John (TAFF) Atkins from29 PCRegt RLC,who at the tender age of

forty one decidedto take up the sportof Luge. The mostp r o m i s i n gnewcomerwas LBdrMark Chandler of 3RHA, who seemedto be able to copewith the speed andsport remarkablywell for a novice inhis firstweek.It’s notthat easy when youare doing 90 KPHon your back downthe ice! The Lugeevent was wellorganised by SSgtGraham HolmesRLC, with theessential help of Mr Mike Howard, our ex-Olympian coach andsafety official.

Next stop after Calgary for novices and junior sliders was theArmyNovice Championships (Ex Racing Ice I)whichwas heldin Winterberg, Germany from 11 to 22 January.We took six toWinterberg; LBdr Mark Chandler 3RHA, Tpr Jamie Ross and TprRobin Seehra 2 RTR,Pte Ann-Maria Parkinson AGC attached to 2RTR, Signaller William Longlands, and Sgt Damien Leaver fromthe Royal Marines. In spite of the rain, fog, snow, and not seeingthe sun for a whole week, everyone participating managed toget to the top of the Ladies Start after only four days, whichmade for close competition on race-day.

The Army novice race was won by 0.021 of a second by the“guest slider” Sgt Leaver RM with a time for the two runs of1.47.034. The Army Novice title went to LBdr Mark Chandler 3RHA with Tpr Robin Seehra 2 RTR in the runners up position.Ladies Novice Champion Title went to Pte Ann Maria ParkinsonAGC.The fastest Lauf of the day (quickest down the track) wentto Tpr Jamie Ross on his second run of the day at 52.700. SigLonglandswon the novelty prizewhen,having come off his sled,he recorded a time by walking with it up the step banking tocross the line and record a time!

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Colonel John Saville

Luge

Results:

Army Novice Championships 2007/2008

1st L/Bdr Mark Chandler 3RHA

2nd Tpr Robin Seehra 2RTR

3rd Tpr Jamie Ross 2 RTR

Army Novice Ladies Champion 2007/2008

1st Pte Ann-Maria Parkinson AGCThe final events of the Luge season were the ArmyChampionships and Inter-Services Championships (ExRacing Ice II),held in Igls,Austria, from 18 February to 1March. Itwas a fairlymanic twoweeks! After four days’practice, the ArmyChampionships were held on 22 February.The race was a tightone. After the first run it looked as though any of the fourcontenders could win, with less than half a second betweenthem. But on the second run, the most experienced racerprevailed, and the title went to LCpl Jamie Woodgate 2 RTR by0.83 of a second.The runner-up was Tpr Jamie Ross also 2 RTR,with LBdr Mark Chandler in third place.

Army Championships 2007/2008

1st LCpl JamieWoodgate 2 RTR

2nd Tpr Jamie Ross 2 RTR

3rd L Bdr Mark Chandler 3 RHA

The Inter-Services was the most competitive it has been formany years, with the Royal Navy fielding a team.This was goodnews for all of us, and made for excellent competition with agreat atmosphere. A total of seventeen athletes from all threeservices started training on 24 February, with the race on 27February.The pressure was on the RAF to defend their title fromlast season, particularly as the Army Team were putting inpractice times that showed they could win. But fate intervenedthe day before the racewhenTpr Jamie Ross fractured his foot onhis last practice-Lauf, so that the Army Team was down to threefor the race,against the other teams of four,of which three wereto count. This meant that the Army had no lee-way, and theremaining three each had to put in two perfect runs. It was notto be, and the RAF deserved to win after some very consistentsliding by their team.The ArmyTeamwas not disgraced, though,and came a very close secondby less than 2 seconds aggregated.TheNavy came third,but also not bymuch,so they did verywell.

Inter-Services Championships 2007/2008

Team Champions: RAF

2nd:Army

3rd: RN and RM

Men’s Individual

1st JT Mike Davies RAF

2nd LCpl JamieWoodgate Army

Women’s Individual

1st SAC Rachel Keen RAF

2nd NA (AH) Ann Edwards RN

The British Luge Championships were held on29 March at Igls in Austria with four women,nine men, and 13 Service personnel from theRoyal Navy,Royal Air Force and the Army joining

Adam Rosen, a GB Luge slider who came sixteenth at the 2006Olympics in Cesana, Italy. As the only elite athlete in the field,Rosen was the only one to start from men’s start at the top ofthe track. Everybody else went from the ladies’ start.

Rosen therefore had to complete the two runswith nomistakeswhich he didwith great ease to become British Luge Champion2008. The Ladies title went to Rachel Keen for the second yearrunning.A special mentionmust go to Pte Ann-Maria ParkinsonAGCwho showed great guts and determination by getting backon a luge for the British championship race after a crash in herfirst week which resulted in fifteen stitches to the chin and anight in hospital.

British Ladies’ Luge Champion

Rachel Keen (RAF) 1:26.08

Ann Edwards (RN) 1:29.71

Michelle Jude (RAF) 1:30.48

British Men’s’ Luge Champion

Adam Rosen 1:44.06 (Men’s’ Start)

Gary Legg (RAF) 1:25.95

Mike Davies (RAF) 1:26.55

This season also saw the return of Colonel John Saville L/REMEas Army Luge Chairman and Combined Services Luge Chairman,after three years away abroad. As ever, Army luge continues toflourish due to the work put in by SSgt Holmes. After thissuccessful season, we now look forward to introducing moreService people into thefantastic winter sport of Lugetowards the end of the year, solook out for more informationon the AWSA web site atwww.awsa.co.uk . Remember,the beginners’ Ice Camp at thestart of the season getsbooked up, so get your bid inearly! Anybody requiringmoreinformation should [email protected] Ext 94251 2517 Civ 01189763517.

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Major Pete McClellan

As has become the custom over the last seven or eight years,the Skeleton season started with the Army Ice Sport Camp, thistime held in Calgary. It was unusually late, at the beginning ofDecember,and boy,didwe know about it! The temperature wasminus 47 degrees in the week before we arrived, warming to amore agreeable minus 25 degrees as the week started. Ournovices were tired and nervous when they arrived at the hotelafter their long journey, but relaxed a little as they found thatthe accommodationwas pretty reasonable.Once the rooms hadbeen allocated, there was a cold, guided, 10-minute trek in thepitch-black and driving snow across the Trans-Canadianhighway up to the Calgary Olympic Park for the evening meal.This was followed by a succinct and well-practised brief fromMajor Helen Carter before the studentswere allowed to dispersefor the evening. There were a hardy few who managed one ortwo beers before they too filed off to bed, exhausted.

After breakfast the following day, the students split into theirrespective groups. Our skeleton guys started with “naming ofparts”, followed by a session on clothing and padding (vital info)and being fitted and balanced on their 40kg tea trays.This was

followed by a session in the indoor Ice House,which has a fullyfrozen replica of the start of the actual track, where they couldpractise running and diving on to the sleds.Then we went for awalk - all the way up the track and back. Student nervesreturned, particularly as a running commentary from Sgt JackBaldwin, our head coach, included the consequences of notdoing as they were told. It was a thoughtful group thatcontemplated their first day’s sliding.

At 0600hrs the followingmorning, the skeleton group stumbled,bleary-eyed, into the foyer of the hotel.As we went outside, thecold took the breath away and it was a rapid walk, led by WO2Donna Leslie,across to theOlympic Park.Breakfast over, the sledswere loaded and taken to the Ladies’start,about halfway up thetrack. This was to introduce speed gradually to the students.When you’re doing 60 mph in a car it seems pretty pedestrian,but when you’re hurtling down the track, with no brakes, noprevious experience andwith your nose an inch off the ice, I cantell you it is pretty overpowering. There is no time to thinkanything other than either“I want it to stop now”and“how longdo I have to deal with this?”These two thoughts interchange forthe whole minute of the run (although it seems much longer).Shed-loads of nervous energy are expended and after two runs,everyone was wiped out, but exhilarated, once they found that,despite some knocks, in themain they would be alright.Mostly!

As the week progressed, people gained in confidence andmoved to the Men’s start at the top of the track. From here, asthe wind howled across the hill, you looked down over the cityof Calgary. A great deal of courage was shown,with one or twoathletes,men and women, taking some big hits, but continuingto slide when they had the option to drop out and recover. At

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the end of the week, everyone was tired, bruised, battered andrelieved.They had all overcome their worries and demonstratedthe ability to think quickly, while under pressure and in fear fortheir own safety and, crucially, make the right decisions to getdown the track safely. This training can be directly related tooperationswhere youmay have to sublimate your own fear andreact correctly, somethingwhich is difficult to replicate in peace-time conditions.

Without exception, every participant had looked deep intothemselves during the training and emerged a stronger personas a result. And what a good bunch of people they were too.Both the groupswho came to Canada bonded quickly andwhatwas really hearteningwas that both dealt with the challenges asa team, looking out for each other all the time. Each group hada good male/female mix and included TA soldiers and someRoyal Navy personnel,with leadership sometimes coming fromthe more junior ranks and with all subscribing to a modicum ofgallows humour to ease the week’s more difficult moments.

The venue for this season’s Ice Camp is unconfirmed as trackavailability will not be known until the international racingcalendar is set in May, but it is likely to be Innsbruck, in lateOctober/early November. The cost is expected to be £450-500for the week, which includes full instruction, accommodationand equipment.Those wishing to take part can email Maj PeteMcClellan ([email protected]) to registertheir interest in what is a great antidote to operations,either forindividuals or unit teams.

Finally, many thanks to the out-going Secretary, Capt JamesStuart, for his unstinting efforts during his two-year tenure andfor bailing out the Chairman on a regular basis throughout.James is leaving to study Sports Psychology (so may not becompletely lost to us) and getmarried,so congratulations to himand best wishes for the future.Capt Belinda (“B”) Robson,Adjt 33Sig Regt, has ably stepped in to take over from James and hashad a great start, so many thanks to her too. Her thoughts onthe Army Championships follow.

The Army Novice Skeleton Championships took placebetween 14 – 21 January inWinterberg,Germany.Nine nervousbut keen novices entered the championships and Capt NigelBooker had the arduous task of coaching the soldiers for theweek. Day one, with memories of the bruises from Calgary inmind, we were told just to lie on the tray, do nothing and holdon! This was a true test of our trust in Capt Booker. Everyonesurvived and we soon realised that, for this track,‘less was best’.Unfortunately as Winterberg is in northern Germany we hadvery poorweather all week - it waswarm and it rained every day.The track started to suffer and by race day the concrete wasvisible if not completely bare on areas on most corners of the

track. By the middle of the week everyone had made vastimprovements to their times and the competition had becomeeven tighter.Weight was added, runners polished and the go-faster Lycra came out.

The race was close but LCpl ‘Elvis’ Elvidge, who had slidconsistently well all week, deservedly took first place. The topthree positions were as follows:

1 L Cpl Brian Elvidge2. Cpl Kevin Richardson3 Capt Belinda Robson

The Army Skeleton Championships took place between 18 –22 February in Igls, Austria. Due to operational commitmentsand career courses, the attendance was lower than expectedandwasmade up entirely of novices.Everyonewas hoping thatthe track in Igls would be similar to Winterberg but we soonrealised it wasn’t going to bewhenWO2Donna Leslie, the coach,started to give us steering points in corner 2. The weather wassurprisingly hot with temperatures reaching 15 degrees.Fortunately the track was kept in first-rate condition and wewere able to slide all week. There was some excellent sliding,especially considering all competitors were still in their noviceyear. Not one person managed to barrel roll and surprisinglythere was only one crash - more effort next time! The positionslooked as though they had been decided before the race but,as with all races, anything can happen. Results as follows:

The Army Skeleton Men’s Championship1 Tpr BradleyWatt2 Capt Andrew Stuart3. Tpr Nick Dinsdale

The Army Ladies’Championship1 Cpl Jackie Davies2 Capt Belinda Robson3 L Cpl Adele Sharrock

INTER-SERVICE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Determined to avenge last season’s first-ever defeat in the Inter-Service skeleton race, the Army pulled out all the stops,including bringing back the old stager,WO1 Steve Anson, fromIraq to lead the challenge before he went on some well-deserved R&R. Despitehaving a good mixtureof youth andexperience and theexpert coaching ofWO1 Anson, theprogress made by theother two Services hadmatched our own andthe Army were placedthird in the race oncemore. The final resultwas as follows:

1 Royal Air Force2 Royal Navy3 Army

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Lieutenant Colonel Iain Saker

Last year Andrew Clarke wrote about the first steps being takento establish Telemarking as a recognised winter sport. Sincethen, progress has been fast and we are delighted to report thata successful and popular Telemark Championships was held thisyear, in Austria.

2007 was the year in which the Army Telemark SkiingAssociation (ATSA) really took shape. Following Andrew Clarkeand Adrian Pery’s early lead, an energetic Committee formed uparound them and set to with the considerable task ofestablishing a new Army Telemark Championships. Our keyconcern was to make the event a success, both numerically andfinancially. It was important to establish from the outset adevelopment path from Novice Telemarker, through ArmyChampionships, to GB Team selection. We also recognised theopportunity to establish the basis of Inter-Services telemarkracing, and to carry that momentum into development of theother single service’s telemarking.

In early January 2008, nearly 70 telemark skiers descended onthe small village of Rauris, near Zell am See in Austria.The ArmyTelemark Championships began with several days of instructionand training, particularly designed to cater for experiencedskiers who were new to telemarking. While most racers hadtelemarked before, we had others who had raced Alpine orNordic, but had not previously been on telemark skis. (Part ofour philosophy is to introduce new telemarkers throughconversion, rather than teach novices from scratch). Once thebasics had been instilled, the entire group went on to race

training Much of the instruction was given by two BASIinstructors, but we were extremely fortunate to be joined byUrban Simci , who acted both as Technical Delegate and coachto skiers of all ability. Urban’s record as a ski-jumper, telemarkracer and national coach for the Slovenian telemark team,brought a wealth of experience and ‘polish’ to what we weredoing. He delighted in everyone’s enthusiasm for the sport andwas just as encouraging to our Novices as to the best of ourracers. Race training included lots of poles, but also coveredskating and jump techniques, and it culminated in a seedingrace to determine the championship start order. Racing tookplace over three days and, like the World Cup series, comprisedthree races: the Sprint Classic, Giant Slalom and Classic races. Allthe races include a jump as well as gates, while the Classic andSprint Classic also include a 360° banked turn (called thereipelykkja, or ‘rap’) followed by a skating section. The Sprint andGS are run twice, with the second run start order reset accordingto the first run results. As the Classic is the longest and mostdemanding race, it is only run once. Finish times are all correctedby time penalties, which are given for failing to make a minimumjump distance or make turns in a recognisable telemark style.

We were fortunate with the weather. Snow conditions were idealfor racing, with pistes well-groomed and not too icy. Our racehills proved ideal, too. The Sprint Classic took place next to themain slopes, on a relatively short course, but one which servedits’ purpose well in introducing the racers to the full range oftelemark disciplines. There were several upsets on the jump, andthe skating section earned respect from all the racers! We movedto another part of the mountain, and a bigger slope, for the GSand Classic. The GS is many racers’ favourite, with a good numberof gates that test a variety of rhythms, but the Classic race is very

30

Army Telemark Skiing

much the ultimate test. Here, the hill shape presented racerswith a reasonably steep first section, to really warm up the legson the initial gates.The middle section was less steep, but racersentered this at a good speed with the jump and were thenpresented with the 360° ‘rap’ (always a wobbly moment),followed by the skating section which took them 100m or soslightly back uphill. Just when lungs and legs were bursting, thethird section of the course took racers steeply downhill againthrough some fast and testing gates, before evening off towardsthe finish. It was the first few gates in the final section that reallysorted out those whose technique and fitness excelled for this

was a very demanding course and one that demonstrated to allcompetitors the benchmark for next season.

67 racers competed in the championships, most of whom wereArmy. However we had just enough skiers from the otherServices for the race series to serve as an Inter-Servicescompetition as well. The Army team comprised Maj Clarke RA,Maj Pery LD, Maj Perkins RA, 2Lt Black LD, WO2 Murray REME andWO2 Holmes REME. The Navy entered a team, but unfortunatelythere were insufficient numbers to establish an RAF team, or anywomen’s teams. In our first year, the championship results weretherefore as follows:

Prize 1st 2nd 3rdArmy Champion Maj Pery LD Maj Perkins RA Maj Clarke RAArmy Champion Lady Capt Heyhoe OCdt Mohamed

RAMCArmy Champion Unit SEAE QDG 2 RTRInter Services Champion Army Royal Navy

The championships were a success in that we had a good cadreof racers, new skiers were introduced to the sport and standardswere improved all round. In addition, the racing was sufficientlydemanding for competitors to leave with a real sense ofachievement. Once the ATSA committee had put the pieces inplace, the championships were made a success by theenthusiastic commitment of those who took part, theconsiderable support we received from Rauris and, particularly,by Urban’s interest and experience.

At the end of our first season, we are quietly confident that wehave achieved all of our initial objectives and we look forward tobetter things in 2009! Army Telemarking could not have got offthe ground without the financial support of our sponsors, or thesupport of those prepared to listen to and encourage new ideas.We are immensely grateful.

Full championships’ results can be found atwww.telemark.army.mod.uk

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OBITUARYRob PollardNumerous tributes have beenreceived following the deathof Rob Pollard, UKSC(G)’scivilian photographer, whodied suddenly in November2007 aged 50.

Rob’s funeral was attended by his many friends andcolleagues, who joined his widow Gitta and other familymembers to pay their respects. A Memorial Service waslater held at St Andrews Church, Rheindahlen.

Rob joined Media & Comms UKSC(G) after serving as anArmy Supply Specialist from 1978-1994. He quickly tookto his new career as a photographer and rapidly becameone of themainstays of the branch,travelling to every areaof Germany and well beyond to carry out photographicassignments. Whatever the task, Rob was to be found,camera in hand,producing awonderful pictorial record ofthe event.

Lt Col Peter Hall, Chief Media & Comms, said:“Rob Pollarddevoted a lifetime of service to the British Army. Hisphotographic rangewas vast and always to the highest ofstandards. There is little in the way of exercises, trainingand welfare that has not been supported and enhancedby Rob’s work”

Former Media Ops colleagues have spoken of Rob withwarmth and admiration. Lt Col (Ret’d) George Attard-Manche originally recruited Rob to the photographic postand had this to say:“I served with Rob for nine years andsaw him transformed from a very conscientious storemanto a proficient photographer. He grew in stature throughhis photography.”

Lt Col (Ret’d) Stuart Green, who worked with Rob insubsequent years, looked back on the fun and flair thatRob put into the job:“On exercise in Poland, Rob saw theopportunity to stage a photograph showing our very tallMedia Ops clerk aboard a Polish tank. The picture madethe Guardian and Rob was so proud – deservedly so!”

Rob’s wider contacts in the Service media world wereequally complimentary about his life and times. PaulBaldwin, RESG Information Officer and ‘Bulletin’ editor, nodoubt spoke for the entire Service media communitywhen he said:“Wewere all deeply saddened to learn of theuntimely passing of Rob Pollard. Rob was a good friendboth to the RESG Information Office and to ‘The Bulletin’andwe hadworked closely together for a number of years.His humour, professionalism and skill will be greatlymissed by all”

Helga Heine

Somehow it was typically British that twoweeks before the firstWorld Championships were due to take place I should receive atelephone call from Robert Redhead, then Chairman of theBritish Nordic Committee, wondering whether I would be free“to pop over to Austria to represent Great Britain?”He went onto explain that he had been told that Biathlon was acombination of shooting and crosscountry skiing.He thoughtthat as I had already raced cross-country in the 1956 WinterOlympic Games andwas a soldier, I should be able to shoot andwould therefore be a suitable person to go.

So,armedwith an old Army .303 rifle andmy one pair of woodencross-country skis, I went to Saalfelden asTeamManager,Trainer,Waxer and Great Britain’s only racer. The comradeship in thosedays half a century ago was fantastic. The Swedish teamexplained the rules, I trained with the Russians and the Finnswaxed my skis.

I was told that the Biathlon competition consisted of a 20 kmcross-country race, with four stops to shoot five rounds atdifferent firing points.The first stopwas five rounds at 250metres,the next at 200 metres, then 150 metres, and finally at the lastrange we fired standing at 100metres.The targets were on card,so it was very difficult to tell where rounds were going, but no

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World Championship where I was the sole GB competitor andwe were lucky to have 200 spectators!

The standard of both skiing and shooting was fantastic. In theLadies sprint race,where we had both Emma Fowler and AdeleWalker competing, the race was won by the German, AndreaHenkel, who hit all twenty targets. The following day, she wenton towin the Pursuit and again shot clear. Forty shots,nomissesin twoWorld Championship races!

In the men’s 10 km Sprint, we had four races, Lee Jackson, KevinKane, Simon Allanson and Marcel Laponder. For once, OleBjorndalen was beaten by Maxim Tchoudov, the Russian.However, in the Pursuit the following day, Bjorndalen made nomistake andwon his 8thWorld Championship GoldMedal.

Superborganisation andwonderful skiing conditions contributedto a fantastic World Championships celebrating 50 years of thesport. For the 50th year,Great Britainwas represented,oneof onlyseven nations who can claim that statistic!

LONmatter what nationality the coachwas behind the firing point,hewouldshout,“OK,John.Spotting”.Therewereof course no proper tracks.We madethose the day before when all 28racers from the seven countrieswould ski round the course,flatteninga track.We then hoped it didn’t snowagain before the race!

Suddenly, a new sport - biathlon -had arrived on the internationalstage.

In 1959, the second WorldChampionships were held inCourmayer and I took a second racerwith me, James Templar. Biathlonbecame an Olympic sport in 1960,when I was joined by Norman Shutt.The only problem for me was that aswell as the 20km Biathlon, I also hadto race the 15km, 30km and 50kmcross-country, all in seven days.

In 1962 at theWorld Championshipsin Finland, Britain had its first team.RobinDent,ConnGage and the greatDuchy Holland joined my wife, mytwo year old daughter, eleven weekold son, Mark, plus boxes of babyfood, paddy pads, four rifles, eightpairs of skis,and ammunition to drivein my car across Europe, throughSweden,round the top of the Baltic tothe South of Finland, trying to findraces on theway so thatwe could getfree accommodation and the oddfree meal!

To be one of those first biathletes was an honour. It iswonderful for an old racer to see how the sport hasimproved, but even more gratifying to see that the racersstill have the same love for a great sport.

50 years on ...Fifty years on, the World Biathlon Championships wereawarded to Sweden’s Winter city, Ostersund, a city whichhosts one of the world’s finest biathlon stadiums.

I was lucky enough to watch the first race from the top ofthe nine storey tower which is part of the complex. Fromthere, I looked down on a superb 30 firing point range,boththe start and finish area, the penalty loop,much of the racecourse and the stands which were crammed with over20,000 spectators. What a contrast and far cry from the first

OLYMPIAN JOHNMOORERECALLS THE EARLY YEARS

33

Major Alex Benn

Jenny Jones and Nelson Pratt join the Army!The previous day had been glorious sunshine with beautifulclear blue skies - the kind of day that you dream about! But thatwas yesterday, and today the temperature had dropped backbelow zero. The beautiful summer slush riding conditions hadturned into bullet proof ice and somewhere on one of Meribel’svast number of runs, Nelson Pratt was shouting and cursing,wishing for some edges,as he slid down the face of the polishedslope ‘attempting’ to set a Giant Slalom course.

Nelson Pratt was of course in Meribel, France for two weeks tocoach the Army Snowboard team in the finer details ofSlopestyle riding and Boarder Cross,with a little bit of GS thrownin as well.

Up until a few years ago,snowboarding has had a relatively smallfollowing within the Army. But the arduous work of the ArmySnowboarding Association, together with the help of severalextremely high rankingOfficers,hasmanaged to raise the profileandencourage the emergenceof Snowboarding inside the Force.

To gain a place on the Army Snowboard Squad riders must firstperformwell at the ArmyChampionships,held in Stubai,Austria.The squad then goes on to compete at the Inter-ServicesChampionships against the Navy and RAF later in the season.Traditionally the Inter-services competition has beengates basedwith aGS,Parallel GS,Boarder Cross counting for the teameventswith a separate exhibition Slopestyle event at the end.A changeto the events’ list this year saw the GS replaced with Slopestyleand some serious changes in the training focus were needed tomove away from the euro-carver style the team had become.

To accomplish this task AndyMoore,a super keen Staff Sergeantin the Royal ArmyMedical Corps,managed to charmbothNelsonPratt and Jenny Jones to comeout to Stubai,Austria for the Army

Championships,andNelson out toMeribel for the Inter- Services.Their immediate success was seen as early as the final of theArmy Championships, where riders were accomplishingtechnical tricks over rails and kickers that they could not havefathomed or attempted towards the start of the week.

We don’t think Nelson was completely aware of how involved hewould be in the parallel GS and BX elements.Thus he soon foundhimself assisting another keymember of the team,Mike Pierce inthe setting and coaching of these two disciplines. Mike, anAustralian turnedAustrianhas ahistoryof technical expertise from20 years of training and racing and has helped the team over thelast few years to dominate in Gates and Boarder Cross disciplines.

The results of this year’s competition were weighted in theArmy’s favour with every possible prize, both team andindividual, being won by the squad. For the men the Duel GSwas won by SSgt Andy Moore of the Royal Army Medical Corps(RAMC), the Boardercross by LCpl Kev Clark, and the Slopestyleby 2Lt Si Nicholson, both from the Royal Electrical andMechanical Engineers. In the female competition Cpl SarahMarriot of the RAMC won both the GS and Boardercross andCapt Dani Stone Royal Engineers won the Slopestyle. BothBordercrosses were hugely contentious as always,although no-one dared to celebrate until way over the finishing line!

The individual prizes for best overall riders were won by CplSarah Marriot and 2Lt Simon Nicholson.The RAF were a strongteam and were unlucky to miss out on a few of the prizes. TheNavy put up a valiant effort but were not in a strong enoughposition to challenge the other two services.

The Army as well as the RAF and Navy are currently heavilyengaged in numerous theatres and on many peace keepingoperations around theworld.Sport is a keyway of teambuildingand also retention positive in a hugely demanding job. If you areinterested in what other opportunities the forces can offer youthen contact SSgt Andy Moore anytime on 07919 090173.

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35

Celia Fielder combs the corduroy

“It could become a 12 ton toboggan” – scary words as Waynelooped the winch cord of the $320,000 brand new 350 hpPrimoth Sherpa around a birch tree at the top of a 45 degreeblack diamond ski run.This sophisticatedmonster,with a cockpitresembling the inside of a 777 aircraft, is CannonMountain’s firstand only winch cat, capable of grooming in ten minutes a pistewhich would have taken as many hours in past years. With amaximum speed of 12 mph, guzzling 50 gallons of diesel each8 hour shift, this is a magnificent and exhilarating piece ofmachinery to drive!

Wayne,a burly 54 yearold golf professional,who for thirty yearshas been on the staffat Cannon, NewHampshire’s oldestand toughest ski area,had invited me onboard at the start of

his shift which would end at midnight. His buddy, Cray, whodrives one of Cannon’s other three pistemachines –without thewinch they are tamer beasts – was a forerunner when Jean-Claude Killy took the downhill World Cup title in the 1967 raceat Cannon. Both admitted they ride the grooming cats forenjoyment and their love of the mountain, not necessarily forthe money. State-owned Cannon has an abundance of “overqualified”employees with degrees in a wide variety of subjects– the loyalty rating here is very high. Wayne and Cray work aneight hour day, 4 p.m. to midnight, five days a week. Four moredrivers start another shift at midnight, working through thepitch darkness until 8 a.m.

“To be honest, it’s easier in the dark. Everything stands out.Thistwilight dusk is themost difficult. I’ve been lucky,“Wayne added.“What I do here is similar to what I do in the summer on the golfcourse. It’s like the fairways and greens – I’m just making theplaying surface more enjoyable.There it is for the golfers. Here,it is for the skiers.”A range of multicoloured buttons, dials and knobs in the cabcontrol the hydraulics and thewinchwhich operates at 3000 lbsper square inch.The deep chunky snow,which had built up into

a sea of unfriendly,untamedmoguls,were adeptly pushed asideby the three front blades, at the same time being combed intoimmaculate corduroy by the tiller behind as we crawled downthe precipitous slope.Despite its vast size andweight,the Sherpaturned 360 degrees on the spot at the foot of the run before weheaded back uphill – with full weight on the birch tree . . . !

“Make no mistake, we are riding in conditions tonight whichwould have been dangerous and unsafe without thewinch.Yes,there have been some accidents”Wayne admitted. He has hadtwo winch anchors break on him this season – concrete posts.Now he uses the birch tree instead. I shuddered.

Back in the 1980’s, his buddy Kirwan, an experienced hand onthe groomers, was testing a Pisten Bully for that company atCannon.Midway down Zoomer, the run wewere grooming, thebrand new test machine started to gather pace, before losingcontrol and heading for the trees. Kirwan radioed base, andWayne, to say he had a problem.By the timeWayne reached thescene, the Pisten Bully on its’virgin outing was a write-off –upside down in the middle of “what looked like a battlefield –scores of trees were flattened in the wake of a pile of expensivemetal.” Miraculously Kirwan was still in the cab – unharmed!

Driving such a hugelypowerful and expensivebeast is a massiveresponsibility – onelapse of concentrationcan be fatal at worst,embarrassing at best.Demolishing a chunk ofthe forest is spectacular,but lodging up againstor knocking out achairlift pylon could becatastrophic.

This sure is a big man’stoy offering a monsterdose of fun. Just makesure your brain is in topgearwhenyouclimb intothe cockpit!

Tethered to a Birch Tree

36

It was a good day for the Leaning Family, when at 5-15 hours(local) on the 1st May 2008, Dave Leaning met his father SpudLeaning at North Cape after an epic solo journey of 122 days onski and sometimes on foot of what is officially 2518kms by road.Dave reckons he had done 3000kms, what with diversions, therise and fall of terrain and indirect routes to take the best trackswhich involved two excursions into Sweden andone into Finland.It was sometimes a hazardous journey,with monstrous weathercondition and huge snowfalls in January and early February,which tested stamina and determination, not to mentionnavigation in the wilderness. The early winter conditions wereconsidered to be the worst for ten years by locals

Quote for 16th January 2008“Another day of hard skiing,terrible downhill sections and crossingfreezing high passeswithwindwhipping the snowacross the hardslopes. Towards nightfall in an attempt to get to my destination, Ifound myself skiing downhill through a thick wood using a headtorch - not to be recommended!

With only a few hundred metres to go to my destination, I foundmyself amongst some treacherous rocks, next to a waterfall, andthe headtorch started to fade.Too dangerous to go on, I began tolook for a flat place to pitch my tent, but there was nowhereobvious. Then by the fading light of the torch, I saw a cave -amazing coincidence - right underneath my feet and only a fewmetres from thewaterfall. It was just big enough forme and allmygear and,with the creative use of some of my stuff to pad aroundthe rocks,was quite comfortable. I ate some sausage and chocolateandmelted some snowwithmy stove for a hot drink.Howamazingto sleep in a cave in this day and age. I felt quite privileged."

As time progressed Dave got fitter and stronger and, in spite ofshoulder and ankle injuries and after the worst weather andgoing,was able to increase pace.He had had amazing kindnessand hospitality as he went along his way in all three countries.Complete strangers would feed him at the point of exhaustionand invite him to stay in their houses or huts.

Quote for 11th February 2008“Left Svarthammer in the dark.Today Iwas attemptingover 30 kms,and I needed asmuch time as possible. Initially I was able to followa snowmobile track - being able to follow a snowmobile track isalmost as easy as following a ski track, but soon I had to leave itand progress in unbroken snow.

Itwas amazingly difficult, the snowwas like porridge and it becamelike skiing across quicksand - energy sapping andmorale draining.Hour after hour of exhausting work, even going along the flat ordownhill, interspersed with moments of terror when crossing icebridges over rivers:having to unclip skis and rucksack,and takemy

hands out of the pole loopsso that if I fell through Iwould at least have achance to crawl back outagain. Towards the end ofthe day, I found a trackagain - utter relief - and thatevening I found a kindNorwegian couple who fedme and let me stay for the night.One of the hardest day's skiing ofmy life (so far). Unless you are really tired and hungry, you cannotknow the feeling of relief and gratitude when you find someonewho takes you into the warmth and puts food in front of you”.

ByMarch 5th,Dave had injured his ankle, luckily not broken,butsprained.This forced him towalk for some days as skiingwas toopainful.His ankle,heavily strapped,survived,ultimately enablinghim to continue skiing again.He crossed the border into Swedenon 17th March.

Quote for 22ndMarch 2008"The last three days have been some of the most amazing of thistrip so far. The sun has been out every day, and the mountainscenery has been some of the most impressive I have ever seen.Most of the time has been spent above the tree line, skiing alongthe snowscooter tracks which abound in the Swedish mountains,and most of the days have been spent skiing across postcardscenery,but that is not to say that theweather has been ideal.Everymorning is bitterly cold,most days have begunwith light snow,andif it iswindy I have towearmyhalloweenmask to prevent frostbite.The first day I headednorth,at around14.00, I hadamajorwipeoutonadownhill section.I came to rest, "shakenbut not stirred",almostat the doorstep of a mountain cabin. I decided to call it a day, thehut keeper gavemeabeer,whichwent someway tomaking up forthe broken nose.”

Progress through Sweden was much faster as there were moreprepared tracks and less hilly terrain. On 11th April Dave wasback in Norway having experienced some roughweather beforeleaving Sweden. By 16th April he was skiing rapidly across theFinnish wedge to enter Norway again on the 20th, but notbefore some drama ashe had a river to crosson the Finnish sidebefore he was back inNorway on the 20th.

Quote from 20thApril 2008“I could feel my heartpoundingandthe sweat

Lindesness to North Cape –Solo in One Winter Season

forming on my brow despite the temperature being ten degreesbelow zero. Slowly the distance across (the river) decreased. Then,frommaybe3/4of thewayover I sawahole in the ice inmypath.Onmy recce fromtheother side,I hadmissedaplacewhere the runningwater showed through.The ice surrounding thiswould beweakandunstable.I had tomanoeuvre to change course.Quickly, I bent downto refastenmy bindings and choose a new bearing to shore. I choseaplacewhere thebank rose steeply,less distance togo,butagreaterchance that there would be deepwater beneath if the bankwas ontheoutside curve of the river -my luckheld and I reached the incline,which meant I was out of the danger zone. I stopped to don mysunglasses and continued intoNorwaywithout looking back!”

Now, with only ten days to go, Dave covered prodigiousdistances daily, as the objective of North Cape became closer.He reached Alta by 24th April to stay with a friend and mentorbefore tackling the remaining 200kms. These were done by acombination of walking and skiing as the snowwas thinning onparts of the route and his ski boots had disintegrated.Happily,hewas able to borrow a pair to complete the journey.

May 1st dawned bright and sunny with a brisk wind. Dave wasby now within 30km of North Cape on the Island of Mageroya.An early start saw him setting out from the island end of thetunnel connecting Mageroya to the Norwegian mainland. Theweather improved as thewind dropped and the sunwas shiningon a glistening white world. As he breasted the edge of theplateau that leads to the Cape, he could just see the top of thecentre that marks the Cape. The race was over and theenjoyment really began ashe was now able to skiunder no pressure.The lastfew kilometers wereclearly a huge pleasure ashe was able to ski in aleisurely fashion,occasionally stopping for adrink from his thermosand to look at the strikingscenery.Then the arrival at North Cape. He able to ski to within50metres of the Cape Monument itself. He was filmed in by amovie company which just happened to be there. It will be aconsiderable time before he gets the clip of this wide angleproduction, but probablly worth waiting for. He got a good

round of applause from the tourists at the Cape and Spud(Dad)was there to shake him by the hand. Job well done!

Quote-Epilogue - 1st May 2008"The afterglow of that feeling remains withme still, like an echo inmy conciousness. I felt like Iwas 12 feet tall, likemyheart hadgrownseveral sizes larger, and was in danger of bursting out of my chest.I had had a dreamand then forged it into reality by the force ofmywillpower alone and I felt the absolute certainty that I could doanything, if I but dared. ..…

“What is there to say - it feels like a lifetime ago that I began thisjourney, setting off in the dark from the lonely lighthouse atLindesness on a damp New Year's Morning (0001hrs). Needless tosay, much has happened since. I look back on those memories ofthe early days of this journey,and it seems like itwasanother personwho began this trip, another me, who struggled with the earlysetbacks. This country has left its’ mark on me as indelibly as theMarines have and now, at the end, the events of the journey flashbefore me like a roll call of characters at the end of a movie. Somuch has happened in these last four months, and I mustacknowledge it has changedme for ever.

“One final thing:as Iwas skiing towardsNordkappon the final day.The sun was beating down on the snow and there were fantasticviews of the sea on both sides. I heard a noise from above andlooked up to see a Blue Tit had landed on the flagpole,which borethe Union Jack, sticking out of the top of my pack.The bird lookeddown atme,chirruped and flew on in the direction of the Cape. If anovelist or a script writer were to include such a ridiculous event ina book or play then he would be derided but, like the rest of this, ithappened - just as I have written. Of course, I did stop to take myhat off and check that he hadn't taken a dump!

“P.S. I am staying at the Park Hotel in Alta tonight for free. In return,I promised them amention,and I can truthfully say that it is a verygood,well kept, clean hotel and the receptionist is very pretty!”

Afternote:DaveLeaning setout fromLindesnessat0001hourson1st January2008.He reachedNorthCape (NordKapp)at1715hourson1stMay2008 - 122 days later - distance covered probably some 3000kms.We think he is the first Briton,but certainly the first Englishman, tocomplete this epic journey on his own in onewinter season.www.skinorway.org.uk

37

Celia Fielder explores New Hampshire and Utah – no East Coastice – no death cookies – no gambling casinos – no Sierra cement.Pristine pistes and powder only.

THE EASTNew Hampshire has an unspoiled charm. I had forgotten howaccessible the Granite state is, just 5 hours behind GMT, the skiareas within a two hour drive of Boston on I-93. Once clear ofthe City, the traffic thins quickly and the further north you get,the greater the likelihood of seeing a moose than a traffic jam.Warning signs every few miles scream:“BRAKE FOR MOOSE – itcould save your life.Hundreds of collisions.”

There are other advantages. Boston is served by numerousairlines, offering competitive fares and the flight time is underseven hours.Leaving Londonmidmorning,you arrive atmidday,local time, and avoid the rush hour traffic. You can be in yourresort in time for tea!

For the independent, adventurous, competent skier, NewHampshire offers the ideal short break. Several of the ski areasoffer 2-for-1 lift passes on certain days,and this is as good awayas any to plan your trip. CANNON, without doubt the mostchallenging and exciting of the state’s areas, has these bargainrates on Tuesdays and Thursdays, although if you stay at theIndian Head Resort (www.indianheadresort.com) on Route 3, atwentyminute ride away, they sell Cannon lift passes for just $25(daily rate at the Cannon ticket office is $60). Cannon’s tram,which was the first in North America, runs only on publicholidays and at the weekends, but it is possible to reach thesummit as quickly by the detachable quad, fromwhere there aresome classic, twisty and narrow trails.Most of the runs at Cannonare classed Black, but there is, strangely, a particularly goodlearning area should you visit with young children.

WILDCAT, in Pinkham Notch on Route 16, a 40 minute carjourney from Indian Head has 2-for-1 tickets onWednesdays. Ifby chance your birthday falls during your visit, make sure youspend it atWildcat for your pass will be FREE!Wildcat is anotherarea best suited to advanced skiers, with opportunities forexperts to pick their way through the trees off the piste. It ispossible to take the scenic route and ski from the summit all wayback to Jackson, 12 miles away! On the opposite side of Route16, for a superfit challenge, there is Tuckerman’s Ravine, on thebackside of MountWashington,NewHampshire’s highest peak.This is tiger country, avalanche territory but a memorable hikeup and ski down.

CRANMORE celebrated 70 years in 2008 with 2-for-1 tickets onSundays at $70 when purchased two days in advance online.Cranmore may be small in size, but it is a ski area steeped inhistory.Founded in 1937 by Austrian Hannes Schneider who fled

the Nazis prior to the outbreak ofWorldWar II, it is an enjoyableski at the start of a NewHampshire visit. Situated in the heart ofNorth Conway, a shopping mecca for the non skier, (there is nosales tax in New Hampshire!) it is a good place to acclimatizeafter the transatlantic flight and time change. Closest place tostay to enjoy Wildcat and Cranmore is the Eagle MountainHouse, (www.eaglemt.com) a historic and comfortable buildingoverlooking the Nordic trails and golf course outside the villageof Jackson.

Midway between here and Lincoln lies BRETTON WOODS,where the 1944World Monetary Agreement was signed at theMountWashington Hotel. It is worth treating yourself to a nightat this legendary historic hotel, (www.mtwashington.com)which has been upgraded and tastefully refurbished.Amassivenew spa complex with swimming pools and fitness area iscurrently under construction. Less formal is the Bretton Arms,and cheaper still, the Bretton Woods Motel at the base of theslopes. Bretton Woods is the largest of the New Hampshire skiareas and has somewonderful long,and deserted cruising runsto get the ski legs going. Again there are opportunites for offpiste skiing through the trees. Even at weekends, there is littlequeuing and it is possible to find yourself alone all theway downa trail.

In the middle of the town of Lincoln, just off Junction 32 of I-93,lies LOON, where there is very comfortable ski-in, ski-outlodging at the Mountain Club (www.mtnclub.com) . Loon iscurrently expanding onto South Peak which will double theexisting terrain – 23.7miles of skiing over 45 runs.Two long andexhilarating runs opened in December on South Peak. A newhotel, ice rink, shops and restaurants are planned at the base.

Lincoln has a variety of accommodation to suit every purse. Atthe Mountain Club at Loon you can fall out of bed onto theslopes, elsewhere a car is useful.

The Comfort Inn, (www.comfortinnloon.com), Woodwards(www.woodwardsresort.com) and Indian Head are all within tenminutes of Loon and Cannon,andwithin half an hour of BrettonWoods. Indian Head has a huge outdoor swimming pool heatedto 88 degrees, plus Jacuzzi and FIFTY inch flat screen plasmahigh-definition televisions in all rooms – a huge bonus if theweather turns sour!

The sixth six ski area I visited, closer to Boston (Junction 28 off I-93) is WATERVILLE VALLEY, an area which has been popularover the years with the Kennedy clan. The top lift here is veryexposed – beware of frostbite – but there is plenty of excellentskiing to be had below the Schwendi Hutte restaurant.Oblivionis an intermediate’s dream,which twists andwinds its way to thebase where you can grab a burger, sandwich or salad at T-Bars.WatervilleValley has teamedwith Cranmore and BrettonWoodsfor an annual Three Mountain Season Pass,which is an option ifyou decided to invest in a bolthole in New England – season

EAST V WEST

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passes are between $650 and $750 (the lower figure has someblack-out dates over holiday periods) – but those used toaffordable Colorado season passes which can be bought online,will find these figures on the high side.Compared however withthe daily rates, it is good value.

THE WESTThe British often overlook Utah despite the huge success of theWinter Olympicswhichwere based in Salt Lake City in 2002,andhead straight for the more crowded pistes of Colorado orCalifornia.But Salt Lake City hasmore competitive air fares thanReno,gateway to the LakeTahoe resorts.True,you can fly to SanFrancisco and hire a car – but it would not have snow tyres asstandard,and the journeywill take over four hours.Salt Lake Cityhas a direct flight from Paris with Delta, a choice of airlines fromHeathrow, Gatwick or Manchester and ten ski ten ski resortswithin an hour’s maximum drive – seven within 35 minutes!

Utah boasts “the greatest snow on earth”. The powder islegendary and there is a genuine reason for its fluffiness. Rainwhich falls at the Pacific coast, has to travel across two desertsbefore it reaches the Wasatch mountains in Utah, where it fallsas snow but with a very lowwater content.“Sierra Cement”and“East Coast Ice” affect ski areas closer to the coast with amaritime climate – this is true too atWhistler, in Canada but few,if any, travel agents will tell you this fact.

Utahhas a feast of skiing for all standards andpurse – andSnow&Ice has negotiated a special 10% discount on accommodation at

the Peruvian Lodge in ALTA (www.altaperuvian.com) for readersand AWSAmembers in November,December, January and April!

Ask any American which is their favourite place to ski, andaround 90% will say ALTA – 10% will say Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin) in Colorado,with which it shares many similarities.Alta isa legend. Situated at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon, astone’s throw beyond Snowbird and within half an hour of theMormon capital,Alta hasmore opportunity to carve fresh tracksin deep powder than any other ski area I know in the States.Baldy Chutes below 11,168 ft Mount Baldy, Devil’s Castle, EastCastle,Catherine’s Area, acres of steep glades off theWildcat liftand cat skiing in Grizzly Gulch – these are just some of theuntracked areas to seek out after a powder dump! In additionthere is heli skiing off the surrounding peaks. This is a paradisefor hard core,adventurous,strong expert skiers.Having said that,and in addition to the unlimited opportunities to explorethrough the trees and jump off the rocky crags, there are milesof groomed cruising blue runs and a particularly good zone offthe Albion and Sunnyside lifts for lower intermediates andbeginners to gain confidence on green graded slopes.

If your flight arrives before 3 p.m., you can ride the Sunnysidelift free till closing time! Lift passes at Alta are much morereasonable than in most US resorts - $250 for five days will buya rechargeable pass (you pay $5 dollars initially for the plastic)which works out at just $49 a day. Compare that with Vail orAspen where the pass is around $80 daily.

Accommodation at Alta is in keepingwith themountain –mostskiers book their return visit for the following year the momentthey check out! I met one couple who had been coming to the

Alta – steep, deep, unlimited powder Photo: Celia Fielder

39

Peruvian for 16 years, meeting friends they had made on thesame week each subsequent year. The Peruvian Lodge, wherewe have negotiated a discount for readers, is a unique place –there are no televisions in the bedrooms. Guests mingle in thecosy lounge by a roaring fire, sharing experiences, jigsaws,chess,or just quietly reading. All meals are included within the price,and you are seated at randomwith others at tables of 8,so if youare traveling alone, you will never feel ignored or isolated. Thewelcome is unsurpassed! And I thoroughly recommend hiringskis here – I was given the latest K2 powder skis and new boots,which saved carryingmy own equipment – or losing it in transit!

One final bonus at Alta – they have a series of workshops tohone your skills or upgrade your technique inmoguls or powdertomaximize your enjoyment.Classes are limited to amaximumseven,and change daily.This is $58well spent for two and a halfhours, especially if you plan to do the Inter-Connect MountainTour which takes all day and covers 28 miles between DeerValley and Alta. But be warned – this tour is for advanced andcompetent skiers only. I met two people who had seriouslystruggled - one was still shaking from the experience 24 hourslater, admitting he had been terrified! If there is a disadvantageto Alta, it would be a lack of nightlife.This is a ski area for seriousskiers – NO boarders are allowed at Alta – and people come toski, not to burn the midnight oil!

PARKCITYwas a thriving silvermining town 250 years ago,butthe silver dwindled and died out, and it was only in the 1980’sthat the town rekindled itself as a ski resort. Since the ski areawas selected in 1995 to host several of the events at the 2002Winter Olympic Games,Park City and neighbouring DeerValley,

which hosted the freestyle, moguls and slalom events, havemushroomed beyond all belief.

DEERVALLEYhas doubled in size since I last visited in early 2002before the Games and it is true to say it has altered in characterfrom a resort catering to the rich who preferred the immaculategroomed corduroy, to a top rate all-round ski area.Two new highspeed lifts, the Empire and Lady Morgan, have opened up vastopportunities to ski steep chutes,bowls andpowder through thetrees.Deer Valley is now a very good all round resort, suitable forskiers of all abilities, and with the added bonus of the finest foodyou will find anywhere on any mountain! Be sure to eat at theRoyal Street Café or sample the SeafoodBuffet – both options aresuperb and great value for money! Further expansion is underway with a huge St Regis 13 storey hotel under construction – atpresent lift tickets are limited to 6500daily,so itwill be interestingto see whether this policy may change.

Over in PARK CITY, where you can still reach the slopes via achairlift fromMain Street, there is a wealth of varied terrain,plus afunMountainCoaster ride close to thebase lodge.For $17youcaneither ridealone,orwithabuddy,controlling the speedbypushingthe levers forward or back – instinct tells you to slam the handlesforward as youhurtle towards the next bend,but that onlymakesyou go faster! To slow down, you pull hard back! They say it isimpossible to come out of the track but unless you strap yourselfin,accidents have been known to happen! It is well worth doing!Park City, like neighbouring DeerValley,has historic remnants ofthe silver mines littering the pistes, and there still exist 1000miles of undergroundmineworkings below the trails! A gigantic60 foot crater appeared only last summer on the Claimjumper

The Daily Chutes in Empire Canyon Photo: Deer Valley Resort

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piste! The town of Park City, originally a collection ofbrothels in its’ mining heyday, has transformed its’image with a wealth of restaurants, bars, shops, artgalleries and a theatre on livelyMain Street.Each year,the town hosts the Robert Redford Sundance Festival.If you want nightlife and variety, this is where youshould head! There are two micro-breweries, theWasatch Brew Pub where the beer is brewed on site,and Squatters, a short distance out on Park Avenue.Also try to visit Jean Louis, who runs a first classrestaurant withMoroccan specialities onMain Street.

While a hired car would be useful (and there is nocharge to park at any of the ski areas,unlike Coloradowhere you can easily spend $20 daily) there is a veryefficient bus system between the various ski areas,and to and from Salt Lake City and the airport. Youcan, if you wish, stay in the City and travel out eachday to whichever ski area you choose!

Close to Park City, lies THE CANYONS. This area usedto be known as Wolf Mountain and before that, ParkCity West, but it was massively expanded a decadeago by the American Ski Company before they wentbust. The original part of the mountain has a charmof its’ own, and it is common to see moose aroundthese trails – we saw one quietly grazing just belowthe lift in the scrubby trees! Beyond, there are fivepeakswith terrain to suit all abilities, including chutes,glades and powder galore. Many of the trails wendtheir way past multi-million dollar second homes –this area is very popular with senior executives,whereas Deer Valley’s hugely expensive homes tendto belong to the film star, celebrity brigade. TigerWoods has a home at Deer Valley, but the anomaly isthat he cannot ski from his front door as he is asnowboarder! Boards are barred at Deer Valley – as they are atAlta – so Tiger has to go to The Canyons to indulge his passion!Like many, he only visits at Thanksgiving and the occasionalweekend afterwards – most of these luxurious homes lieunoccupied for 50 out of 52 weeks a year!

USA • CANADA • JAPANFRANCE • SWITZERLAND • AUSTRIA

0845 310 3030 www.ski-i.com

Next to The Canyons, is Olympic Park where the ice sports andski jumping events were held for the 2002 Winter Games. It ispossible to ride the bob track in a four man bob withprofessional driver,and there is a very informativemuseum andaccompanied tour. The day I was there, the tour was cancelledbecause of a white-out blizzard, but instead I had theopportunity to see what it felt like on a skeleton or luge. Myadmiration for anyone who throws themselves down the trackin either of these is, as a result, unbounded! I was petrified!

Utah offers a wealth of opportunity. In addition to the four skiresorts above, there is SNOWBIRD which it is possible to ski tofrom Alta via Mineral Bowl, but if you are staying at Snowbirdand a boarder, you cannot cross the other way. The skiing atSnowbird is extensive with plenty of opportunity for powderhounds,but the resort has a different atmosphere and clientelefrom Alta.

In the Big Cottonwood Canyon, lie BRIGHTON and SOLITUDE,two smaller areas which form part of the Inter-Connect Tour.Further afield, are SNOWBASIN and POWDER MOUNTAIN,close to the town of Ogden – but still within an hour of theinternational airport.

Salt Lake has somuch to offer – it is a different experience fromColorado.But it is very well worth exploring! And you really willenjoy“the greatest snow on earth”!Deep Powder and Bluebird Skies Photo: Deer Valley Resort

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Ofall theAlpine ski resorts,Zermatt enjoys a cult status.Dominated

by the Matterhorn, the sheer face of which has a hypnotic

magnetism, the Swiss town at the head of the valley has a higher

repeat clientele than perhaps any other ski destination.What is it

which draws skiers back year after year when – let’s face it – it is

not aquickor easy resort to reach? Flying toZurich (it is equidistant

from Geneva), it took me around six hours by train, changing at

Visp.Anewtunnel has cut the train journey fromZurichbyanhour,

but it is still a long haul – and as you creep up the railway on the

single track from Visp, you might well feel it could be quicker on

foot. Swiss trains are, however, a world apart from British Rail,

comfortable,spotlessly cleanandon time.Beware–youhave tobe

slick to change platforms and catch the connection!

I was invited in March to join American friends who had come

over in a sizeable group from New England – all experienced

skiers, several of whom had visited Zermatt before, all of whom

regarded the place as the epitomy of Swiss skiing – a holy grail.

All hotel accommodation I quickly discovered was booked out

before Christmas – though I did find a 2* single room in what

turned out to be a low-key, friendly family run hotel, the

Primavera,where two handsome cats wound their way around

your legs and crawled over the free Internet-access computer.A

ZERMATTajewel in the European crown?

hundred yards or so from the bus stop (uphill), it was relatively

central – with good snow, it was possible to ski back to the door.

However, to be on that first train up the Gornergrat railway, I

soon discovered was an impossibility, unless you skipped

breakfast.With such a handsome buffet spread, this was not an

option,especially if youwanted tomaximise time on the slopes!

And this is, for me,one of the low points of skiing in Europe,and

more particularly in some of the more fashionable Swiss ski

resorts. Queues are the name of the game – to be on the ski

slopes early in order to avoid the hurly-burly, you have to be

smart.You have to skip breakfast – or dig deep into the pocket

and stay right by the railway station and Church in one of

Zermatt’s luxurious 5* establishments,whose rooms are booked

year to year by dedicated skiers from around the globe.

Once up the mountain, the problems ease. Miles of pisted

terrain, further miles of ungroomed powder fan out to the

horizon. Get up early and head for Cervinia for further fun –

there the queues are almost non existent, the slopes south-

facing, the prices in the mountain cafes and restaurants much

lower.While theMatterhornmay still dominate, its’sharp outline

is less recognisable – less of a magnetic draw.

44

Zermatt has huge varied, extensive skiing to offer, but perhaps

the prime reason it is so popular with the British is for its’quality,

variety and number of on-mountain restaurants. There are no

fewer than 38 dotted all over themountainside, including an Ice

Bar and adjacent igloos! The British skier differs from his

American counterpart – for the Brit, to spend two or three hours

mid day enjoying a bottle of wine over a delicious lunch is part

of the attraction. Booking is imperative – if you don’t, you will

end up eating an apple and Mars bar as you wait in line for the

next cable car. Lunchtime can be a quiet time to catch up on

some quick runs!

Wherever you ski, your gaze is drawn to the Matterhorn. Over

on Kleine Matterhorn, where a huge 125 person cable car ride

drops you on the cliff edge of a glacier, there are some

wonderful,undulating cruising runs on the Zermatt side – or an

even longer trail around the perimeter of the Cervinia pistemap

to the valley floor in Italy.There is never a reason to be bored in

Zermatt – there is challenge,variety,and endless opportunity to

stop for a quick coffee or schnapps.

For the non skier, there is plenty of retail therapy, none of it

cheap.Nowhere is it easier for a non skier to join the rest of the

family for lunch on the slopes – buses ride round the car-free

town at frequent and regular intervals,and a non-skier will relish

the 45 minute Gornergrat railway ride.Maybe this is the reason

so many British return? Zermatt offers something for everyone.

43

Photo: Zermatt Bergbahnen

House prices crash –market in free fall! These headlines send shockwaves through the City, alarming every one of us who owns aproperty, and raising the ugly spectre of negative equity.

But every cloud has a silver lining and now is arguably a good timeto invest in an Alpine bolthole which can provide income andenjoyment.

America has seen the sharpest drop in property values, and thedollar has not been at a better rate for British investors for years. Acrazy idea? Not necessarily.Quarter-share ownership is little knowninUK,but it has caught on in the States.This is not the dreadedword,“Timeshare”,where youbuy the sameweek every year.Quarter-sharegives you one week in four, thirteen weeks in a year,with the weeksrotating so that your week will cover the Christmas peak ever fouryears! At the Mountain Club at Loon in New Hampshire, quarter-ownership of a 700+ sq ft slopeside unit is available for only $29,500– around £16,000 - the price a family of six might spend on just oneweek in a ski resort. If you don’t use want to use your unit everyfourthweek,you can exchange any of yourweeks elsewhere,or jointhe rental programme whereby full management is provided andyour unit is let through the hotel. Rental income should cover yourmanagement fees and dues (service charges). A particularadvantage of these Loon units is that they are split into two roomsoff a small communal lobby,one roomwith a king bed,sofa,balconyand separate bathroom, the other a larger room with queen-sizedMurphy bed, plus queen sofabed, balcony and full kitchen andbathroom. Leave the internal doors open and they can be used asone, or you might choose to use only one “half”, and let the otherwithout disturbing your privacy. Each can be locked off separately.Another advantage of the Mountain Club at Loon is its’ upscalerestaurant, Seasons, themore informal Black Diamond Bar and Grill,as well as the large indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, spa, and fitnessarea with weights, sauna, yoga and volleyball court. If you don’t feellike cooking,even breakfast,you don’t have to! For the non-skier, theMountain Club is ideal and the spa a haven of tranquility – be sureto try the all-over Hot Stone Massage! It is the answer to jet lag, oraching limbs at the end of a day on the pistes!

Further West in Copper Mountain, Colorado, you can buy a quarter-share ownership of a twobed,twobath 915 sq ft apartment sleepingsix in theheart of the village,for $139,900 (appox£70,000.)TheCirqueat Union Creek, is Platinum rated (the highest category) with twoswimming pools and fitness and media centre. These luxuriousapartments are just yards fromtheAmericanFlyer andAmericanEaglehigh speedquad liftswhichwhisk skiers andboarders fromthe10,000ft base area to the summit in under ten minutes. Shops andrestaurants are on the doorstep.Again, if you do not wish to use yourweeks, they can go into the Resort rental pool with full management,for an all-inmanagement feewhich avoids all hassle.Buyingpropertyin theUS is quicker and far simpler than it is in UK,with less chance ofgazumping or the seller changing hismind and backing out.

Over in France, Intrawest, whose on-mountain developmentsinclude apartments at Copper Mountain, Keystone and Snowmassin Colorado, Solitude in Utah,Mammoth in California andWhistlerandTremblant in Canada,broke new territorywith Arc 1950 in 2004in the Les Arcs ski area. There, the Canadian company built acomplete new village with traditional styled apartments designedto take full advantage of the stupendous mountain views. Theseapartments, which were marketed by Erna Low Property, sold outimmediately andwere several leagues up from the 1960’s designedconcrete blocks inmany of the purpose built French ski areaswhichwere both unsightly and cramped. Together with Savills

International, Erna Low Property is currently responsible formarketing re-sales, though few of the British buyers whowere in atthe start are parting with their investment!

Bouyed by this success, Intrawest is now building in Flaine – onehour fromGeneva – a similar upscale development with swimmingpools, shops, restaurants and ski in-ski out apartments of 4* quality.The site will be fully landscapedwithwide-rangingmountain viewsand existing trees and flora will be preserved.The first phase of theFlaine Montsoleil apartments are available through Erna Low inLondon on 0207 590 1624 or at www.ernalowproperty.co.ukConstruction is ongoing and further units will be released next year.Completion of the complex is scheduled for 2012.Prices range from250.000€ to 360.000€ for one bed apartments of approx. 38 m2.Two bed apartments from 50 to 60 sq m. range from 360.000€ to550.000€.Three, four and five bed units varying in size between 70and 120 sq metres cost from 560.000€ to 890.000€.

These apartments are available outright or on the leaseback scheme(thus waiving the VAT at 19.6%). Intrawest has a dedicated team toensure apurchase is straightforward.Theywill arrange finance and/oraNotary to prepare the deeds and, if amortgage is required,you canexpect to have the keyswithin twomonths.Without amortgage,theexercise may take just days!

Here too you can place your apartment into the rental pool.Whilethemanagement fees are huge (70%),considerablymore expensivethan the fees in the US, there are various options which guarantee aminimum income return of up to 3.5%over 12 years, including 2 freeweeks in low season.Alternatively,with the proximity to Geneva andthe summer attractions of golf, hiking,mountain biking and regularconcerts, you can forego any rental income and maximize theenjoyment of yourmountain eyrie 1700 ft high in theAlps.Given thesuccess of Arc 1950, it is expected that FlaineMontsoleil will follow inits footsteps as adesirable destination forwinter-holidaymakers.Withthe added summer attractions, I suspect the new Montsoleil villagewill outstrip Arc 1950 in popularity and sell out fast.

Long term, with the threat of global warming, your investmentwould be secure in Colorado where the base altitude at Copper is10,000 ft and snow guaranteed. Loon in New Hampshire, moreaccessible to UK, has a lower base but its northerly latitude meanssnow is assured, albeit the cold may be extreme.Flaine is closest ofthe three options we feature, but the long range weather scenariomight be less certain if global warming continues its presentpattern.Who knows?!

HIGHMOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY

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EVENT (a) NAME (b) LOCATION (c) DATES (d)

All Disciplines AWSA Management Mtg 2008/02 ASCB 15 Oct 08AWSAManagement Mtg 2008/02 Minley Manor 5 Nov 08AWSA 2008 AGM Minley Manor 5 Nov 08

AlpineLand Ski Championships Ex SPARTAN HIKE Monetiers, FRA 10–20 Jan 091 Armd Div Ski Chps Ex PIPEDOWN Les Contamines, FRA 10–20 Jan 09Army Ski Championships Ex LIONS CHALLENGE Serre Chevalier, FRA 21 – 30 Jan 09Res Forces Ski & Snowboard Chps Ex SNOW LION Aviemore TBC Mar 09Inter Svcs Chps ISSSC Meribel, FRA 31 Jan –7 Feb 09RN Alpine Chps Les Menuires, FRA 10–24 Jan 09RAF Alpine Chps Saalbach/Hinter., AUT 10–24 Jan 09British Chps Meribel, FRA 28 Mar – 4 Apr 09

CrestaArmy Junction (Novice) Chps 9/12L Cup St Moritz, CH 23 Jan 09Army Top Championships Scots Guards Cup St Moritz, CH 27 Jan 09Inter Svcs Championships Prince Phillip Trophy St Moritz, CH 29 Jan 09

NordicLAND Ski Championships Ex SPARTAN HIKE Monetiers, FRA 10–20 Jan 091 Armd Div Ski Chps Ex PIPEDOWN Les Contamines, FRA 10–20 Jan 09Army/Nat/Inter Svcs Chps Ex RUCKSACK Obertilliach,AUT 21 Jan – 5 Feb 09

BobsleighArmy Ice CampWeeks 1 & 2 Ex ICE BREAKER TBCArmy Novice & Junior Chps Ex RACING ICE I TBCArmy Championships Ex RACING ICE II (Bobsleigh) Cesana, ITA 1–7 Mar 09 (TBC)British Chps Cesana, ITA 10–15 Nov 08Inter Svcs Championships Keonigssee,GER 8–15 Mar 09

LugeArmy Ice CampWeeks 1 & 2 Ex ICE BREAKER TBCArmy Novice & Junior Chps Ex RACING ICE I TBCArmy Championships Ex RACING ICE II (Luge) Igls, AUT 16–21 Feb 09British ChpsInter Svcs Championships Koenigssee,GER 23–28 Feb 09

SkeletonArmy Ice CampWeeks 1 & 2 Ex ICE BREAKER TBCArmy Novice & Junior Chps Ex RACING ICE I TBCArmy Championships Ex RACING ICE II (Skeleton) Cesana, ITA 1–7 Mar 09 (TBC)British ChpsInter Svcs Championships Cesana, ITA 8–15 Mar 09

SnowboardArmy Championships Ex SNOW JACK Stubaital, AUT 29 Nov – 20 Dec 08Res Forces Ski & Snowboard Chps Ex SNOW LION Aviemore 1-6 Mar 09Inter Svcs Chps ISSSC Meribel, FRA 31 Jan –7 Feb 09British Chps Laax, CH 27 Mar – 3 Apr 09

TelemarkArmy & Inter Services TelemarkChampionships Ex TELEMARK TITAN Rauris, AUT 4 – 14 Jan 09

45

Army Golf & Winter Sports Associations

Membership Application

Cost per annum Army Golf Association - £10.00(for all levels of membership): Army Winter Sports Association - £15.00

Please return this application and your payment/direct debit form by post (please do not fax) to:

Membership Secretary, Army Golf & Winter Sports, Clayton Barracks Thornhill Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 2BG

Tel: Mil (94222) 3582 Civ (01252) 348582 Fax: Mil (94222) 3557 Civ (01252) 348557 Email: [email protected]

For office use only:

Membership No:

District:

Which association are you applying to:

Golf � Winter Sports � Date of first competition you intend to enter: _________________ Handicap: Discipline: Alpine Bobsleigh Cresta Luge Nordic Skeleton Snowboard Telemark

(Circle as appropriate) Qualifications (if any):

________________________________________________________________________

Army No: Postal Address

If applicable

Rank/Title:

Initials: Postcode/BFPO:

First Name: Date of Birth:

Surname: Telephone:

Post Noms: Mobile:

If applicable

Corps/Arm: Email:

Male/Female: Date due next posting:

Status: Membership Type*:

Eg – Regular, TA, NRPS, Retd etc

* Insert the type of membership you are applying for: � Full Member (Serving Army Personnel paying by direct debit)

� Annual Full Member (Serving Army Personnel paying by cheque annually)

� Associate Member (Retired full member, TA and NRPS serving and retired, Serving RN, RAF and overseas forces on Army Foundation Staffs, MOD(A) Civilians

Cheques to be made payable either to:

AGA for Golf Membership or AWSA for Winter Sports Membership

46

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Documents

ex icebreaker

ex spartan hike

bobsleigh major helen

major simon dewar

ex snowlion captain

cresta major james kelly

skeleton major pete

snowboard major alex