Page 42 - 1RHA 2023

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Alpine Skiing Lt James Leigh RHA E Bty
The 2022/23 Alpine season saw the arrival of a new Team Captain in Lt Leigh with the veteran hand of SSgt Cur- ran in support. Ahead of them lay the first opportunity for a full season of Alpine Skiing since French COVID restrictions halted the traditional success enjoyed by the 1RHA Alpine team at the Gunner Championships in 2021. Along with this came a re-formatted funding process from the Army Snowsports Asso- ciation that now sees a centralised system of funding for each Corps. This relieves teams of the burden of finding the funding for accommodation and lift tickets whilst non-public contributions still help with vital equipment purchases, maintenance, and entry fees.
A new season brought with it a significantly different team from last year whilst retaining some key talent. The eight individuals selected to represent the Regiment were drawn from across the ranks mainly from B and E Batteries due to exercise commitments from the other Batteries. That said, the strength of the team was still obvious, this year choosing to have two mixed teams of four. The A team made up of Lt Leigh, SSgt Curran, Bdr Cottrell and LBdr Birkett, and the B team of developing talent consisting of Lt Newnham, Bdr Sedcole, LBdr Godsmark and LBdr Whitrod. Special mention to LBdr Godsmark, a novice to skiing, and Bdr Sedcole who had little time on skis save for a Nordic season with the Regiment a few seasons ago.
The Gunner Championship (Ex ALPINE TIGER) was hosted in Alp D’Huez this season making a change from the usual training loca- tion, Les Duex-Alps, on the other side of the valley. After the usual 15 Hour overnight pilgrimage in combi-vans with stops in Dover, Calais and a marathon food shop in Grenoble, the team finally arrived and took over the accommodation in central D’Huez. The format for the Gunner championships was an intense 2-week training block from the Ecole de Ski Francais team of instructors, followed by a week of competition across the various Alpine dis- ciplines of Slalom, Grand Slalom and Extended GS.
Alp D’Huez brought with it really varied weather from sunny days that stripped the snow off the racing line of the course, to full on downpours of rain and snow that hampered vision limit- ing it to only a few meters. Despite these conditions the 1RHA team worked hard to improve their racing skills throughout the 2 weeks, all returning to their apartments each evening with dead legs, and either soaked with rain or sweat from the days training. Unfortunately for the Team Captain Lt Leigh, his determination to prove himself during training out did his ability to stay on his skis. During the afternoon of last day of the training he embarked on a timed run on an Extended GS course with reckless abandon. He had however, failed to account for the choppy conditions on the course and the fact that with competition starting the next day, it was time to trade speed for safety. One ski coming off lead to two and the inevitable fall from grace for our hero, who hit the deck with great force. Picking himself up Lt Leigh knew he had a lucky escape as he still had all his limbs attached. But upon skiing to the bottom, he realised that despite his initial assessment he was not unscathed and that he had his collar bone jutting into a thin layer of skin. The world’s shortest evacuation from the bottom of the slope 200 meters to the waiting ambulance and that was the end of the Alpine season for him.
The next day race week arrived, Lt Newham stepped up as the Battlefield Casualty replacement for Lt Leigh and the B team forged ahead as a trio. Despite the tragedy that had struck the team this did nothing to dissuade them, a series of wins across all three events saw a dominant result returned for 1RHA who won overall 1st place at the Gunner Championships.
Ex ALPINE TIGER Results:
Individual Slalom (Senior) – 2nd LBdr Birkett Individual Slalom (Female) – 2nd Bdr Cottrell Individual Slalom (Veteran) – 1st SSgt Curran Team Slalom – 1st 1RHA A Team
Individual GS (Senior and Veteran) – 1st SSgt Curran Individual GS (Female) – 2nd Bdr Cottrell
Team GS – 1st 1RHA A Team
Individual Extended GS (Senior and Veteran) – 1st SSgt Curran Individual Extended GS (Female) – 2nd Bdr Cottrell
Team Extended GS – 1RHA A Team
Combined Individual (Senior and Veteran) – 1st SSgt Curran Combined Team – 1RHA A Team
A triumphant showing from both teams including some very promising results from the B team hopefully indicating a strong future for the team. The team returned from Alp D’Huez in high spirits for a well-deserved Christmas break.
Up next was the Divisional Championships (Ex SPARTAN HIKE) in Serre Chevalier. Unfortunately, due to pre-deployment train- ing commitments in January which limited the availability of the Alpine team, a combined team of Bdr Cottrell and LBdr Whitrod and two 47RA personnel entered the Championship. Despite the team not being at full strength, Bdr Cottrell did extremely well across all disciplines finishing 3rd overall in the female category which qualified her for Army championships (Ex LION’S CHAL- LENGE) the following week. Going into a competitive Army Championships Bdr Cottrell then managed to secure a 10th place finish in the female category. This has led to her being selected to train with the Army Women’s Alpine Ski Team with potential for her to attend the inter-services championship in the future, a great accomplishment that brings Army wide recognition to the Regiment.
Finally, a word of thanks to SSgt ‘Frankie’ Curran who is leaving 1RHA upon promotion to WO2 to join 104 RA. His contribution to the 1RHA and Gunner Alpine teams over the years has been immense and judging by this last season he is still on top form with plenty more to give. We all wish him the best of luck and look forward to seeing him on the slopes next season!
Lt J Leigh RHA – E Bty
Lt O Newnham RHA – B Bty SSgt Curran – E Bty
Bdr Cottrell – O/HQ Bty
Bdr Sedcole – B Bty
LBdr Birkett – B Bty
LBdr Godsmark – B Bty LBdr Whitrod – B Bty
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