Page 69 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

passes of the valley and attempting increasingly difficult runs. Some even dared to go off-piste, although this was sometimes not intentional. The long days spent learning a new skill were tiring but luckily the group stocked up on food at the supermarket, and each evening a differ- ent pair cooked a three course meal to keep the Officer Cadets sustained.
At the end of the week the group was proficient enough to ski around the resort unguided, hav-
ing advanced from snow plough to parallel ski- ing and becoming competent on steeper slopes and confident at turning and weaving down the sometimes crowded mountain. As the coaches arrived to take them back to Sandhurst, it was sad to be leaving Val Thorens, but after a busy and enjoyable week everyone felt more resilient and had learnt a skill they would certainly be using again.
Exercise STILLE NACHT CADET
Day 1 (Saturday night / Sunday)
The journey out to Austria ran smoothly, with all eight Officer Cadets departing RMAS on Satur- day afternoon fully equipped for the week ahead in a timely fashion. With a combi van we headed for the Eurotunnel for our drive across France and Germany. A long drive through the night and in the early morning in Austria, where the roads deteriorated, was not without risk – but thankfully nothing went wrong – even if OCdt Dyte did take us a little too close for comfort to other cars. After meeting our host and settling into some brilliant accommodation in Stubai, we went in search of the local culture and our instructor known only to us as Scouse (SSgt Doyle REME). We got an overview of how the week would unfold and how the training would progress. Confident that we were in safe hands, we spent the rest of the evening exploring the Christmas market in nearby Innsbruck before retiring to bed early, ready for our first day on the slopes.
Day 2 (Monday)
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we snatched a quick breakfast in our flat and headed for the bus that would take us to our slopes. Although we have experienced skiers amongst the group, we all started on the introductory slopes for fun- damental skills. Scouse was very patient with us throughout and brought us up to a good stand- ard of control. Even by lunchtime, the novices
The Daily Diary
OCdt Parr
SANDHURST 67