Page 58 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2017

56 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Exercise NORDIC LANCER 17/18
In the early hours of a cold November morning in Catterick the majority of this year’s Royal Lancer Nordic Ski team em- barked on the forty eight hour epic to Norway. Lieutenants Gardner and Parker (Guy) had to wait till Exercise LIGHT- NING ACE had finished and joined the team after the first week. Once again Sjusjøen, a small town just outside the City of Lillehammer and the spiritual home of Nordic skiing, was to be the team’s home for the next six weeks. With the Norwe- gian mountains setting a picturesque back-drop, the team began training with Silje Knox, who has now coached the Lancers for a decade. Silje’s task: to teach the team to ski well enough to race on internationally renowned biathlon courses and refine the technique of those returning. Once again, Silje took the novice skiers; Lieutenant Parker, Corporal Yorke, Lance Cor- poral Toyne and Troopers Richards and Rice, from zero to hero. Again, bang for buck Silje added real value. Our novices were soon catching eyes in the annual, lycra-clad bum-sniffing fest that takes place at the Sjusjøen biathlon range where most of the Army teams train at this time of year.
As well as learning to ski, the team also had to learn to shoot a biathlon rifle which, when you have a pulse rate of over one hun- dred and seventy, is more difficult than you might expect. To help them with this challenge the team employed to Norwegian squad coaches instructing them on the range. By mid-Decem- ber the weeks of technique sessions, intervals and hours on the ranges had worked its magic and the team were almost looking like professionals, Army professionals!
After a short Christmas break from training, Silje took the team through a few days of intense training to ram up the training stress for the races that were fast approaching. With their newly increased cardiovascular abilities and reduced waist lines, it was time for the team to leave their cabin and head to Europe to be- gin testing their skills at this year’s races.
Austria and Exercise NORDIC WHITEFIST, the combined Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery and Army Aircorps Nordic championships, was the first stop. The competition is held on the World Cup course in Hochfilzen, which hosted the 2017 Biathlon World Championships. The technical and hilly course provided many challenges. The Lancers rose to this chal- lenge. The first race - the 10km Classic – was a bit of a baptism of fire and the team were 6th in the Royal Armoured Corps. In the next race, the 4x5km Classic, the team – Lieutenants Parker and Gardner and Lance Corporals Marshall and Churchill –
Exercise WHITEFIST training
found their form and pulled themselves through to second in the Royal Armoured Corps. Next came the 10km Sprint Biath- lon. With some exceptional shooting from Lance Corporal Mar- shall, his fourth place secured the same for the team in the Royal Armoured Corps. The final race of the championships was the 4x7.5km Biathlon relay,. With the team made up of Lance Cor- porals Marshall and Churchill, Lieutenant Parker and Trooper Richards, the race was heated with all teams vying to secure the best place possible. The team were coming second overall and, unfortunately, a fall on the final lap caused an injury with the team ending fourth in the Royal Armoured Corps. Trooper Richards walked away with the overall Youth Novice prize for the competition – an outstanding result.
After Hochfilzen, the team moved over to the other side of the Alps for Exercise PIPEDOWN. This is the 1st (United King- dom) Division’s Ski Championships, based in the French Al- pine village of Les Contamines-Montjoie. Once again the first race was the 15km Classic. The race took place in near perfect conditions over a tough but relatively flat course. The Lancers performed well over this course and managed to take third team. The following day was the 4 x 5km relay and the Hochfilzen quartet teamed up and upped the ante to take a well-deserved second place. After a two days of rest and range practise, the Biathlons began with the 10km Sprint. By an extraordinary coincidence the Lancers placed 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th, se-
Lance Corporal Churchill hoping he hits the last two
The team at Exercise WHITEFIST