Page 68 - 1RHA 2024

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Ex CYPHER SUMMIT
Ski Foundation Level 1 Course – Val Thorens, France
On a deceptively warm evening at the close of Easter leave; from across O(HQ), L (Néry), E Bty and The King’s Troop Capt Taylor, Sgt Gurung, LBdr Kiernan, along with Gnrs
Chapman, Patten, and Shaw set off for France. Destined for Val Thorens, beloved for excellent late season conditions. For most, this was to be their first foray into Alpine Skiing.
After a lengthy journey and a gargantuan (three-trolley) “weekly” shop, the future skiers drove their winding way up to 7,300 feet and into the resort. After collecting kit and equipment and taking over two small ski apartments. There was time for a brief respite for avant-ski before awakening to the first day on the slopes.
The group held varying abilities with some having to be shown the right direction to point the skis; and others already proficient in carving the pistes. The instructors Capt Milner and Capt Syms, escapees from Army Headquarters, were keen to pass on their tremendous enthusiasm for the sport, and brought a wealth of experience.
After the first day of snow-plough skiing, the “magic carpet”, and plenty of time simply falling over, the team were exhausted. The first order effect of this ardour was the enormous number of calo- ries expended by beginner skiers; which led to pleasant second order effect of the calories to be consumed! LBdr Kiernan and Gnr Patten took their apartment on a culinary adventure, with excellent food ranging across rump steaks, tartiflette, seafood linguine and more. The team managed one trip out for Raclette, with the reviews ranging from the diplomatic to the concerned – mainly pertaining to the smell.
From the first day, all took to the expedition with determination. The attendees were exposed to conditions and experiences that challenged their abilities and perseverance. Developing mental robustness and physical fitness. At times the “red”, and by the end of the week “black” slopes seemed as if the mountain simply fell away into abyss ahead. With the miles of pistes in the legs, and the challenge of the pistes, teamwork and an element of personal courage became vital for the NCOs and Gunners to keep going.
Methods of coping varied, from Gnr Patten finding it best to vocal- ise her concern; Gnr Chapman to simply escape the instructors; and Gnr Shaw to maintain a stoic silence. All three performed excellently and can take skills and experience from the AT into their main trade in barracks and on operations. Sgt Gurung dis- played immense resilience in the challenging, slushy conditions, and LBdr Kiernan belied his limited time on the slopes by carving like a professional. All enjoyed sufficient snow across the week, with one “bluebird” day of perfect conditions – fortuitously arriv- ing at the close of the week – to end on a high.
Ski Foundation 1 aims to teach and standardise the basic level of skiing, to enable suitably experienced and apt skiers to progress onto progressively complex skiing through Ski Foundation 2 and 3. Courses are available for bidding by individuals or units on the Defence Gateway on the Adventurous Training Group (Army) website and 1 RHA will continue to run Distributed Ski courses in this manner also.
Look out for this fantastic opportunity in future.
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