Page 52 - RADC Bulletin 2019

spirit at the AMS Competition. Out of 105 competitors Maj McCammon come 69th. Sgt Sugden lost a ski on the 2nd from last gate so missed the final gate meaning she was disqualified from the event. No points were given for one legged skiing for some reason.
By now the winter weather came at some strength, very cold and blustery, and so much more snow then we anticipated – and just in time for the 4x5km Nordic race. The weather was fairly brutal and it was decided for the novice team to pull out of this event for our safety. We’d not been practicing for long and we didn’t want to get ourselves into a muddle or disrupt the pros during their race. So we assisted by doing our very best to keep morale high for the AMS competitors, handing out medals and most importantly keeping the sour jelly sweets from freezing. With enough morale and banter at the finishing line everyone enjoyed the day despite how clearly challenging the climate made it. My goodness did we all have a new found appreciation for central heating by the end of the day.
During the second week we all took part in either Nordic 10km skiathlon or 5km novice president’s race in the sunshine. The 10km skiathlon was the first event held with Maj McCammon finishing in 84th place, Sgt Sugden 96th (not too far behind Maj M),
and Maj Brown finished 141st. In the 5km race Capt Prowse-Jones smashed it coming 16th place out of 67 and Sgt Brown came 20th (she was like a duck to water when
it came to Nordic). But the real race was
on between me and LCpl Naulls. We must have bunny hopped each other most of the way round. Since I theatrically flung myself from my ski’s, not just on the corners, but also on the straights, I thought I’d let her take the limelight of the crowds for a change by pipping me to the end at 47th place – No Rayban’s were hurt during this episode.
Anyway, since the most entertaining parts of the trip had passed, the stronger competitors still had some serious races
to finish off the Ex. Special slalom race’s A and B took place for the pros of our team. Race A resulted in Maj McCammon coming in at 38th place whilst Sgt Sugden came
in at 58th and didn’t miss the final posts
– Whoop whoop. Though I think this was the race were Maj McCammon lost half of a pole somewhere. Obviously there weren’t enough obstacles on the slope for Maj Brown’s Race B, where she came a strong 20th.
The last giant slalom B race saw Maj Brown achieve 61st place, Sgt Brown
67th place and Capt Prowse-Jones 71st place. This was actually the first and only opportunity for the rest of us to have a go at slalom racing, we unfortunately missed out on training for it due to the storm we previously had. This was a shame because I really quite enjoyed my sprint down the slope through the gates. I came 16th overall.
The Final Patrol Race. Sgt Sugden (el Capitan of the Nordic team) selected and entered a DPHC (SN) elite Nordic team
for the gruelling Nordic 30km Patrol Race. The selected team members were Maj McCammon, Capt Prowse-Jones, SAC May and Sgt Sugden. All members of the team, bar Sgt Sugden, were new to Nordic skiing. At the time, I don’t think they realised just what they were about to experience. The race began with the patrol inspection where the team were guided into the inspection pen and inspected by the inspecting officer who looked at the state of dress, formality and, a 100% kit check. Well the clowns that formed our patrol team had no actual issued kit, and the compass we had was made from cardboard and dental floss and the Binos were two Dolmio Bolognaise bottles sniper taped together. Need I say any
more?! Luckily the inspecting officer found the funny side and we gained full marks
for effort, happy days! Col Richardson (AMS Corps Col) then grilled us with Corps knowledge and general military trivia. Again, we had some well-educated individuals with us and we gained full marks...great! Now the race itself! Let the grit, sweat, tears and determination begin.
Over the duration of the patrol they encountered many command tasks and obstacles such as a mini obstacle course, shooting range, log run, casualty drag and many more.
5km into the race and the team were absolutely on form and were steaming ahead....... until.... some comedian from
3 med decided to tell them they were heading in the wrong direction. As trusting, or rather gullible, as they were to trust a medic, team DPHC (SN) took the individual’s advice and diverted. 10 minutes into the direction change Maj McCammon spotted another patrol team in the distance....
the penny dropped, we had been royally seen off! The map came out and then the compass - oh damn, the compass we made from cardboard! So, Sgt Sugden made the command decision to head back the way we came from and join the correct path once again. Fuming absolutely fuming!
The team dug deep and powered through, eventually getting back on track.
In turn, each member at some point
in that patrol had a tantrum moment but
this was laughed off with good old military banter, however not once did the team bicker or leave any man/woman behind. The team of such little Nordic experience really gelled and worked together to enjoy the experience and cross that finish line as a complete team. What an achievement! All to hopefully do it again next year.
50 RADC BULLETIN 2019
ADVENTUROUS TRAINING