Page 58 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

Exercise ALPINE CARVER CADET
OCdt Adams
The whole team along with other members of Inkerman Company during day 7’s ‘free ski’
The six of us embarked on a skiing expedi- tion to Val Thorens. As we were mixed abili- ties, we were split into different groups but lived, cooked and cleaned together throughout the week. This made meal times incredibly excit- ing as we heard about the different challenges each of us had faced that day.
Before we arrived in Val Thorens, our first task was shopping for all the food that we would need for the week. We split up meals so each person decided what they would be cooking and thus the ingredients required; this meant the group was treated to some culinary masterpieces as well as some rather uncooked sausages.
The first few days proved challenging as condi- tions were not ideal for skiing. Extremely limited visibility as well as heavy snow tested even the strongest skiers. For Cadets that had not skied
OCdt Walton perfecting her parallel turns and stops
for a number of years, this proved to be a bap- tism of fire, but certainly improved their skiing ability and benefitted them in the long run.
Having conquered the difficult conditions, the Cadets enjoyed a few days of perfect conditions. It was surprising to see how much the tough few days of low visibility skiing progressed our ski- ing. Everyone was full of confidence and took full advantage of the perfect conditions. A real highlight was being able to ski from Val Thorens, around the three valleys and back again, mean- ing the same piste was rarely skied twice.
With the conditions now being so good, the instructors set about finding new ways to chal- lenge the Cadets. Off-piste skiing was regu- larly used to achieve this. This meant even the best skiers were challenged and undoubt- edly improved everyone’s skiing as well as leg strength! Some of the off-piste stretches, the Cadets understandably thought, were impossi- ble to descend. However, inspired by their peers and guided by their instructors, all conquered their fears and pushed their limits. This made skiing on-piste feel effortless and consequently everyone was enormously grateful for the tough lessons. It also gave the Cadets a new sense of accomplishment, believing that they were now capable of much more than they initially antici- pated. This was a great life lesson and some- thing all the Cadets were fortunate to leave with.
Our group of six had a fantastic time in Val Tho- rens, and have undoubtedly gained leadership and resilience from it. The testing environments
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