Skiing, 'Phoenix Dragon', Les Arcs, France,
Jan 2011, ID 1037
101 FS Bn REME (V)
The Journey
Like any adventure training trip, the journey out was full of
anxious new, and a variety of experienced skiers, in their seats ready for
a long 20 hr coach journey to Les Arcs. All I can say is thank god for a toilet
and Capt Ebo playing DJ on the DVD player. The group of 53 consisted of regular
and TA elements from 101 FS Bn REME.
Sunday we arrive bright and early, too early for the
accommodation, but none the less, Capt Sochon cut about to acquire a few rooms
early so we can off-load our kit and get the ski hire sorted. Maj Mal McGeoch,
Bn 2IC and Chief Instructor for the expedition, ensures no-one can get a crafty
few runs on the slopes by not giving us the lift passes and we’re reminded to
meet at 1700hrs for what will be our nightly meetings and well earned Apres Ski.
First impressions when we arrived was "where is the
snow?". The slopes were in desperate need of a good dump. The heavens
opened that evening with a good 8 cm of snow dropped all around us. This was
very entertaining for the young soldiers with us who ventured outside for a good
old fashioned snow ball fight with the local skiers. The advantage of the high
ground proved a good tactic.
Training
We’re divided into five groups, with Maj McG instructing the
Banzai Bandits, and Capt Sochon the ‘is it time for a coffee break yet?' Old
and Bold team. WO1 ASM Ken Hindle (Bn ASM), Capt Ken Wilson (127 Fd Coy(V)) and
Capt Jamie McMeechan (2 Fd Coy) instructed the beginners and less experienced
skiers. Groups one and two are off to the top on the first lift anxious for the
fresh un-touched snow and the beginners off to nursery slopes for some patient
tuition.
There were 21 complete beginners being introduced to the fine
art of sliding down a hill, in full control?
Capt W had to instruct his team in the art of putting skis on
without falling over, before he could even commence to teach them to stand up
(again, without falling over). Next came skiing very slowly and stopping
(without falling over). Before you knew it he had all of his team sitting in the
snow, demanding padding for their back sides! All this before they had left the
nursery slopes!! Day one finished for them with a run down a short slope in the
fine time of 2 1/2 hrs. By the last day all were skiing confidently from the
top. Hard work, but awesome were the facial expressions. Sgt Carol Parkinson,
127 Fd Coy(V) was a good moral booster keeping her group entertained with words
for each day. The first two days words were fairly unprintable, but by day five
her words for the day were along the lines of ‘whoo hoo,’ ‘when can we
come skiing again’ and, OMG, ‘how do you stop on this run’.
By contrast, the Banzai Bandits managed to put out a few km of
skiing in between ploughing head first into snow drifts as they pushed the
limits of their skiing ability under the guidance of Maj McG. They must have
covered every black run on the mountain and exploited every reasonable
opportunity for piste skiing. Capt S’s group were no slouches either – and
when given an unexpected afternoon of free skiing after he took an equally
unexpected tumble and aggravated an old war (skiing) wound.
It was over too quickly; Friday was the last day of skiing and
was a fancy dress day. Everyone took the cable car to the top and the Locals and
other tourists alike were agog at the sight of Mr Blobby, a couple of nuns and
supermen, a selection of kilts, and much, much more making their way to the
summit. People were asking us if they could take photos and it obviously livened
up the piste for the day. After the course photo we all went off in our groups,
Mr Blobby (Sgt Pat Tinker, 119 Rec Coy(V) had a chance encounter with about a
100 students from Reading University and got pelted with snowballs - much to our
entertainment.
Social/Moral
The daily meeting and briefing was spent in a local bar where
Apres Ski was well earned, and in the early days of the ski training there was
plenty of drained and well worked students. This even included some of the
instructors of the older type, mentioning no names.
The interaction between the regular and TA soldiers was
extremely inspiring and all were delighted to be involved. The experiences
shared on the slopes over a few beers were great fun, talking about what we have
learned or who had the best wipe out. Photos were shared for proof of
achievement with loved ones back home and the fact that we were not on a holiday
but working, learning new skills through adventure training, fell on deaf ears.
Although I think Cfn Srivastava (126 Fd Coy (V)) would rather not show his last
day photo’s, so we have done it for him. Only a minor injury but well worth
being brought off the mountain by the piste rescue service.
Overview
Looking back at the weeks training, and taking into account
all what was learned, did we achieve the definition of Adventure training? "Challenging
outdoor training for Service Personnel in specified adventurous activities,
involving controlled exposure to risk, to develop leadership, teamwork, physical
fitness, moral and physical courage, among other personal attributes and skills
vital to operational capability." Of course we did, but we have also
achieved something else: we have proved that the TA and Regular soldiers are
" One Army", the link and working relationship between us has grown
with firm friendships developing across the TA /REG divide.
Thanks to
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working in
partnership with
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