Page 59 - The Light Dragoon 2024

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Classic!
Christmas Jumpers
As ever with the Cavalry, we couldn’t just go home and sharpen skis every evening and the social calendar was very quickly filled up. This started with a night slalom race with raclette sandwiches, a thoroughly enjoyable evening with a fancy-dress race which was a sight to behold! This was followed by an 80s night and diversity and inclusion Sunday. The latter event turning the Fer A Cheval into a cacophony of liberated men and women. The only rule being if you wanted to talk to a woman, she must be wearing a moustache. During these evenings the team was able to spread their wings like a flock of social butterflies and immerse themselves with the locals.
Back in the Chalet we had broken into a steady routine and the cooking rota was seeing a myriad of impressive home- cooked pizzas and risotto. The company of the Chalet was also blessed by Cpl Newton and occasionally one of Lt Ferguson’s guests. Lt Ferguson, Cpl Neighbour, and LCpl Robinson all excelled in community engagement. Outside of the race training, the team also had the opportunity to ski tour up the Cabin Mont Fort, teetering very
Christmas Day
close to Nordic skiing it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with a beautiful tour and plenty of ice-cold alpine beers, not to mention the fresh slopes in the morning.
With most of the white night exercising troops staying in Verbier over the Christmas weekend it made for a thoroughly enjoyable festive period. Christmas day saw a myriad of activities. Due to the excellent behaviour of the team,Father Christmas made his way down the chimney on Christmas Eve and filled up Lt Ferguson’s ski socks with gifts for the team including Jaeger and Toblerone. To thank the team for their efforts so far, Lt Griffiths and Lt Ferguson cooked a Christmas breakfast with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and mimosas. With the mimosas sufficiently lubricating our joints, the team took to the mountain to compete in the first competition of the exercise, the Jump Competition. For the individual effort this saw the novices who had only been skiing for three weeks taking the big jumps in their stride with Tpr Bulmer in his obligatory banana outfit. Lt Griffiths attempted a 360 and ended that predictably. The Individual Competition
Cpl Neighbour closing the gap
was not for us, however, the team jumps was a different story. With a simple plan, the basics done well and fighting to win, the Light Dragoons took home the Team Jump Competition. Notable mentions go to LCpl Robinson who held nothing back, sending it over the largest jump, ending in a spectacular crash.
After the Christmas break the team was straight into racing again, starting with the Giant Slalom. After a harsh seeding, this saw the team claw its way up the ranks culminating in the LD A team coming 6th out of 17 teams. One of the more notable dramas from this phase of the exercise was the child hanging off the chairlift. After the brief interlude of racing the Chalets, we were joined by the Colonel of the Scots Dragoon Guards’ Daughter, Miss Edwards, and the team saw in the New Year together. As ever, the team was hosted by the Household Cavalry in an excellent party.
There was no time for resolutions in the New Year - just racing. The competition moved onto Slalom which saw what I’m sure the team would agree with, as the best
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