Page 71 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

EX SNOW STORM 18 (Ex SS 18), the annual RA snowboarding training camp and champion- ship, was held on the slopes of the Flauchau-
winkl, Austria from 20th January to 3rd February 2018. The exercise was attended by
Lt W Walker
the inevitable aches and bruises that come with learning a physical sport. Fortunately, there were very few injuries this year; however, most par- ticipants on the exercise were battered, bruised
teams of soldiers from both regular and reserve RA Regiments, and had an impressive turnout of over 120 experienced and novice riders.
Fortunately, there were very few injuries this year
and taking a daily dose of Ibuprofen at the end of week one.
Saturday is a most welcome and mandatory day of rest for all novice riders, and is a chance to see the cul- tural sights of Austria, drink coffee in a mountain top café, or nurse your ach- ing body in one of the local spa com-
Exercise SNOW STORM 18
Having navigated across five Euro-
pean countries, teams met at Exer-
cise HQ in Altenmarkt for registration
ahead of the first phase of the exercise. The follow- ing day, after an initial briefing, novices were put into smaller groups and allocated an experienced instructor who would guide them from zero to snowboarding hero in just six days. You do not have to be an expert to realise that this is a demanding task, which is why the instruction is provided by an expert team of RA and civilian instructors from as far away as Australia and Canada.
During the first few days of the exercise, an area of low pressure brought a heavy snow storm to the mountains. The fresh powder provided ideal snowboarding conditions over the next two weeks, which undoubtedly contributed to the high level of performance this year.
EX SNOW STORM is not, by any definition, a hol- iday. All competitors are given hours of instruc- tion every day in all weathers to prepare for the competition. After three or four days, most of the novices could stand up and link turns with con- fidence and the experienced open riders were busy honing their skills ahead of the competition. By days five and six, self-discipline and a robust sense of humour were essential for tolerating
plexes. A visit to the Red Bull museum at Salz- burg is a must for anyone interested in motor sport, especially as it is free to enter. Unfortu- nately, this moment of calm is all too brief, as Sunday marks the start of competition week.
All competitors compete in three disciplines: Paired Giant Slalom (PGS), Boardercross (SBX), and an assault course on snow and Slope-style (SS) jump- ing over various obstacles, hopefully with style. To determine the order of riders in the elimination heats of PGS and SBX, a ‘seeding’ heat is conducted. All riders are challenged with boarding down a giant slalom course twice in the fastest time possible.
PGS is a test of your ability to turn accurately and maintain speed by taking the racing line through a downhill course marked by red and blue flags. After the initial knockout round, each pair of riders race twice, once on each side of the course. The competition was tough this year and made even more challenging by the very real risk of wiping out on one of the tight turns.
SBX is a game of nerve. To maintain maximum speed over bumps and tight bends, you must
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