Page 118 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

SPORTS
5 RIFLES sent an 8 man team to this year’s Ex FROSTED BLADE. Lt Walker and his team had high hopes of success and aimed at building on last year’s results, with a number of experienced skiers amongst their ranks. The six week Exercise culminates in a competitive racing week, and the competitors are divided by experience into an A and B division. This is aimed at creating a compet- itive environment for all, with the correct levels of progression.
Ex FROSTED BLADE is designed to push its competitors out of their comfort zones, testing them in arduous and often dangerous conditions. This year’s competition did not disappoint, with members
of the A team being able to compete in the Downhill and Super G. Considered to be the pinnacle events of the sport, these could see Lt Walker, Cpl Blood and Cpl Webb nd themselves exceeding 70mph over certain portions of the course. The challenges set were often met with great individual success, Rfn Biggs of the B division won two individual golds, silvers and bronzes across all competitions placing him 4th overall. Though the team could not repeat the successes of the previous year, 5 RIFLES skiing is in a very strong place with a number of exciting new talents gaining experience for next year’s competition.
Lt Teddy Walker, B Coy
5 RIFLES deployed eight Ri emen on Exercise go to the 4 x 5km Classic Relay team, who came
NORDIC FROSTED BLADE to learn Nordic Skiing and compete in the infantry competition. All new to the sport, the team had ve weeks to learn three disciplines: Classic, Skate and Biathlon.
The camp, in Tignes and then Bessans in the French Alps, involved a mix of demanding skiing training, early morning mobility jogs, team runs (at times through horri c blizzards) and robust strength and conditioning sessions. The altitude combined with limited time off meant the team were pushed to their limits, but their hard work was noted by the directing staff and evident in their rapid progression. Initial training culminated with two 8km practice races, and ve of the team nished within the top 30 amongst a cohort of experienced skiers.
After a quick break for Christmas and a long drive from Bulford back to Bessans on New Year’s Day, the team was straight into racing. A 15km Classic race, in which the novice team came 4th, was followed by a 4 x 7.5km Biathlon which unfortu- nately saw one of the team take a wrong turn! The grueling Bessans Classic Marathon - over two hours of gruelling endurance and an internationally-recog- nised event resulted in a cracking top half nish for the team.
The entire squad maximised the excellent oppor- tunity of FROSTED BLADE. Special mention must
3rd overall in the Infantry championship, beating a host of considerably more experienced teams and pushing the remaining two to their limits. Rfn Bunn showed extraordinary talent by clocking the third fastest time around the 5km loop out of over 140 skiers, whilst LCpl Ribbins was selected to attend the Nordic Skiing Instructors course, having proven himself a powerful skier in all disciplines.
The level of achievement bodes well for the future of the sport for 5 RIFLES, who can look to build on their success this year.
Lt Nick Goxton, A Coy
The Battalion left Germany in 2016 having welcomed con dence boost.
dominated the BFG Cross Country scene for nearly fteen years. As time went on troop withdrawals had dramatically shrunk the size of the eld with a corresponding drop in competitiveness. We continued to train hard as a team but without a unit to really push us our match tness waned a little. It was in this context that we entered the UK South Cross Country League in October with some trepidation. We needn’t have been nervous.
The rst league race was held in Bovington. Walking into a gym of around 300 runners was a novel experience and certainly focused the mind. As expected, the race was fast but thankfully at. With such a large eld it was impossible to gauge our relative performance but we left satis ed. This only increased when the results were released and we learnt that we had won the race. A better start than we could possibly have hoped for and a
Quali cation for the Army Championships came via a 3rd place nish in the Regional Command UK South Cross Country Championships, with the Juniors securing 2nd position. The Army Championships itself was held in February at RMAS. Due to other commitments we could only enter a slightly under-gunned Major Unit team for what proved to be more mud-wadding that cross country. Our reward was a much unexpected 4th position.
The season nished with our securing second place in the league with a race to spare. To do so with a league of 33 teams was a real achievement. Individually, Rfn Bunn was the 2nd best Junior of the season – he’s a real talent and will continue to go from strength to strength in 2017-18.
Maj Ben Casson, OC B
116 FIFTH BATTALION THE RIFLES
Cross Country Nordic Skiing Alpine Skiing