Page 64 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Christmas Dinner, wonderfully butchered by Lieutenant Dryburgh. R-L: Corporal Perfect, Ri eman Claydon, Ri eman Longstaff, Lieutenant Lee
Exercise FROSTED BLADE – alpine skiing in Val d’Isere, France
RIFLEMAN CLAYDON WAS SOON TO BE FOUND STATING THAT HE HAD ‘MASTERED THIS TURNING RUBBISH AND JUST WANTED TO GO FAST’
Exercise FROSTED BLADE got off to a fast start for 2 RIFLES, with the majority of the team deploying to France straight off the back of the arduous Exercise BLACK HACKLE, a company-level exercise run by Headquarters 38 (Irish) Bde. After a day’s grace in order to allow the guys to get settled into their new alpine accommodation and rent out their skis, the team hit the slopes. The great teaching from the Evo 2 instructions meant the ‘Bambi on ice’ moments for the novices lasted barely a week. Ri eman Claydon was soon to be found stating that he had ‘mastered this turning rubbish and just wanted to go fast’. He would later get his wish after being promoted to the A Team, alongside Ri eman Herson, for the Infantry Race Week. The team soon got into a rhythm and the weeks ew by. Both teams had the opportunity to see the whole of the Espace Killy ski area during the free ski periods, as well as putting in the hard slog on the race training slopes. Bruises were to be found in abundance once race gates were introduced into the training, with every evening meal time lled with tales of who had suffered the worst wipeout. Christmas Day saw Lieutenant Dryburgh attempting to cook a full Christmas dinner for ve in a tiny one man kitchen; needless to say the results were varied.
However, before we knew it, race week had crept up and the team was broken down into an A and a
B race squad. The A team consisted of Lieutenant Lee, Lieutenant Dryburgh, Ri eman Claydon and Ri eman Herson, whilst the B Team had Cpl Perfect, Ri eman Jones, Ri eman Longstaff and Ri eman Morgan. After the initial seeding race, which deter- mined each individual’s start position and initial seed points, both teams competed in slalom, giant slalom and super G (giant slalom) races, with the A Team going on to compete in the downhill. Conditions were varied throughout the week and it took a large reserve of courage in order to push off and tackle the slopes. Both the carved up ice of the slalom and giant slalom courses, combined with the at out speed of the super G and downhill took their toll, with crashes all round. Thankfully no one was injured during the races; however a warm up run eventually caught out Ri eman Claydon and led to him breaking his leg; he was ably replaced by Ri eman Morgan from the B squad.
By the end of the championship 2 RIFLES had placed 6th in the combined team results, with a 4th place nish on the B Hill and 7th on the A Hill. Overall it was a remarkable result considering the majority of the team had never skied before and a vast improvement on the previous year’s competition. Lieutenant Matt Dryburgh,
Of cer Commanding 5 Platoon
Ri eman Morgan racing
62 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES
Ri eman Herson competing in the night giant slalom
Ri eman Herson on the Super G (giant slalom) course