Page 82 - QDG Volume 9 No. 5

80 Alpine
Exercise White Knight saw an enormous
change in this iteration, the dreaded
move from Verbier. Sölden, nestled in
the Otztal Valley, in Austria was the new
resort which was selected to host Ex WK
41, the annual ski race training package
for the AAC and RAC.
The QDG team was formed of ten
Dragoons, most had been on a previous
WK and so we had some experience
going into the exercise. Capt Clark and
Sgt Maj Williams were on the Exercise
Committee as Ex 2IC and Ex Sgt Maj,
respectively, meaning that the QDG had
formidable representation for their four
week deployment.
The first two weeks are centred on
‘piste training’, for the likes of Lt Seales,
Cpl Brewster, and LCpl Alston this means
racing down black runs, practicing
carving, completing drills, and getting
some good speeds. On the other hand,
for Lt Johnson and Tpr Edwards, this
looked like pizza’ing down a blue slope
and getting a lot of practice at putting on
your skis while still midway down a run.
With the daily ski training coming to a
halt, the team moved into gate training,
honing our skills by manoeuvring down
an icy course in the best time possible.
Each day, different racing disciplines
were laid out to test our abilities in the
Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super-Giant
Slalom events. In true QDG fashion, the
team put in some promising efforts, with
LCpl Eyles showing real physical courage
by going so fast he managed to take out
a good portion of the course crash net -
setting a new record, of sorts.
Finally, before we knew it, race week
arrived. Lt Seales used his experience
from last year’s Army Championships to
guide the team on and coach as best as
possible before each race day. The expe-
rience of the QDG team began to show
as the week went on, with individuals
placing consistently well. Overall, the
QDG did very well before moving onto
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
the Qualifying Championships held in
January 2025. In the Slalom Team events,
the QDG secured 3rd in both the A and
B team competitions, and in the Super G
Team event, the A team came 3rd.
On an individual level, congratulations
must go to Lt Seales who was awarded
an RAC Team Jacket (awarded to those
who came in the top 9 of all RAC compet-
itors), which he managed to retain for the
entirety of the racing week. Lt Seales also
managed to gain: 3rd Slalom Individual,
3rd Giant Slalom Individual, and 3rd for
Overall Skier.
POSTSCRIPT: EARLY 2025 RESULTS
Divisional Champs
Having seen success at Ex White Knight,
Lt Seales and LCpl Eyles went on to
represent themselves and the QDG
at the Divisional Championships in
Les Contamines. With gravity being a
natural ally to Lt Seales, he managed to
showcase his skills on the speed events
finishing 8th for both Downhill and Super
G. This made up for a potential lack of
agility on the technical races and left
him finishing 9th out of 144 racers in the
overall standings. Having had quadruple
the number of crashes as weeks on the
snow prior to the championships, LCpl
Eyles finished an impressive 28th out of
the 144. Whilst he might not have had the
gravitational potential of his teammate
and alpine mentor, he certainly made up
for this in blind courage.
Army Champs
The weather conditions at the Army
Championships were stark change in
comparison to the blue skies and firm
pistes of Les Contamines. Nonetheless,
Lt Seales and LCpl Eyles competed
against a much stronger field of skiers
as part of the Royal Armoured Corps
team. Despite skiing through rain, sleet
and powder snow, Lt Seales managed to
secure 36th out of 100 skiers. LCpl Eyles
was the real success story ending up the
to 49 skiers in the British Army which only
gives hope to the future of QDG Alpine.