Page 28 - QARANC Vol 14 No 6 2013

26 QARANC THE GAZETTE
A BEGINNER’S VIEW - Pte Whatmough
First day on the slopes we were separated into groups according to our level of ability. Cpl Rusk, Viggers, LCpl Beecham and I were placed together in the beginner group as we had never stepped foot on a snowboard before.
After meeting our instructor we all familarised ourselves with our snowboards and learnt how to clip in and out. We were all asked if we knew which our lead foot was which we replied “no”. We then got pushed over to see which foot we put out first; this was then the answer to the question. We then went on to practice some basic control techniques on both our toe and heel edges.
The first few days we spent a lot of time falling onto our backsides, those with the more pear-shaped figures definitely benefitted here and investing in a pair of padded shorts a definite PXR point. By the end of the week we had progressed onto much
bigger slopes which seemed scary at first but weren’t actually as bad as we first thought. Mastering the button lift was a technique in itself as my “falling over and clinging to the bar whilst being dragged all the way up style” was not adopted by anyone else in the group – sometimes fear overcomes pride!
The first week culminated in a slalom race and the more confident riders went for it. Given our short time as “boarders” they flew the flag admirably for beginners with Sgt Lyon claiming the bragging rights for quickest female amongst the intermediate group. I abstained this time; having still to win my battle with the drag lifts but I was determined not to be beaten on week two!
Although we had the option to hit the slopes at the weekend safety controls restricted us to staying on the runs we already knew and we had to have a more experienced
boarder with us. It was decided we would use the weekend to re-charge our batteries, nurse our bruises (and egos) and not battle the hoards of weekenders. A trip to the Innsbruck Christmas market was much more appealing!
The second week was more about perfecting our technique as we now knew the basics and our confidence had grown. We all began to link turns and felt a great sense of achievement that it was finally starting to “click”. There had been times it felt we were never going to pick it up but with the patience of the REME instructors we all progressed well over the two weeks. This was evident when we all entered the final slalom race and not only accredited ourselves well but actually enjoyed the competitive element. Those who braved the slalom on week one saw their times dramatically reduce. I had also won my battle with the drag lifts – YES!!
A SEASONED BOARDER - LCpl Quinn
As more experienced riders Sgt Lyon, Fordham and I were grouped together in the intermediate group. All instructors were from the REME, who had competed in REME and Army level snowboarding events. They naturally progressed to go on to qualify as instructors, so their pedigree was good. We had a different instructor each week as it was acknowledged that our group had progressed by week two but with the instructors both being in the military bonds were made very quickly.
The focus at the start of the week one was to gain miles on the mountains, riding over different terrains to allow the instructors to look at our individual ability. We were then coached on techniques which allow a boarder to ride efficiently through more challenging environments. With Stubai being a glacial resort the weather was extremely harsh so the emphasis to keep moving was welcome.
The instructors would often mix things up whilst on the slopes, teaching different slope-style tricks, such as 180 jumps and “Olly” jumps (flicking the board up). We practiced switch riding which to a boarder is like riding backwards, imagine being right handed but writing with the left! Sounds insane but having this skill
allowed us to efficiently ride out of jumps and tricks that cause us to land backwards. Learning to switch ride as early as you can in your boarding life definitely pays dividends as the longer you avoid it the more unnatural it feels.
The apres-board in Austria is certainly a plus point and The Umbrella Bar, which is located at the bottom of the gondola, is where we would often to go to have a Gluwein (warm wine) and warm up after a very cold windy day on the mountain. Often the wind chill would plummet the slope temperatures to beyond -30°C, so the “Brolly Bar” was a welcome sanctuary.
One day during a medicinal Gluwein in the “Brolly Bar” the atmosphere suddenly changed, the music became very eerie and the place filled with smoke. Menacingly the bar filled with very large and terrifying monsters. They would charge around grabbing people and whipping them, very hard! It is a Christmas tradition in the region for these devil like monsters to come out and scare away evil spirits to protect the children. In my opinion they were the evil spirits scaring adults! I’m not embarrassed to say I was scared and resorted to hiding behind someone much bigger than myself to avoid a
whipping or worse!
The end of week race was a good
chance to test our improvements in a competitive forum. Our week two slalom race was watched by a talent scout for the British Army Snowboarding Team and he was looking for potential candidates to trial for the Army Team. He looked at the best timings on the day within the group and asked some of the riders to go snowboarding with him so he could look at their ability and potential trainability. I was lucky enough to have a good run that day and was asked to spend the afternoon with him to be assessed. The afternoon went well and I was offered a place in the Army trials with a view to competing in the Army Snowboarding Team in the upcoming Inter-Service Championships.
In conclusion the experienced riders all felt that their snowboarding ability had advanced to a very high standard relative to the time on the slopes. The teaching has been extremely good, with instructors taking time to focus on boarder’s skills on an individual basis. We have gained a lot from this exercise and are very grateful to the REME for their excellent coaching and hospitality during this exercise.