Page 34 - QARANC Vol 17 No 2 2019

32 The Gazette QARANC Association
Army Ice Sports Bobsleigh
Fear is a reaction, Courage is a decision!
If you have ever watched Cool Runnings and thought... ‘how on this green earth do I join a Bobsleigh Team?’ The Army has its own Bobsleigh Team, which for some has proven to be the gateway into international level sports. The season runs from December to March each year and consists of three Camps. !
Each year the Army hosts novice training in late November to early December, offering young aspiring athletes the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of Bobsleigh and attempt both braking and driving a two person team. The camp is split over two separate weeks, allowing athletes the flexibility to choose which they wish to attend. The camp benefits from top class coaching from two of our ex GB and Olympic athletes who go right back to basics, teaching the technical aspect of the sled and sliding dynamics through to how the team should operate. By day two the novices will experience their first slide from the ladies’ start. Despite this being a gentle build-up to driving the track from the top, it may
Army Bobsleigh Colours awarded to Corporal Domonique Burge
still resemble being re-born through the screaming jaws of the sound barrier itself, as the sled generates speeds of up to 100kph on the training runs. Once they have mastered handling the sled from the training ramp, they get to go ‘off the top’.
It helps to arrive prepared for the
extreme sport, with a fair level of physical fitness and a robust and positive attitude to get from ‘zero to hero’ on the mountain. Safety is of utmost importance and sliders must confirm their aptitude for piloting the sled before those spikes touch the ice, but the exhilarating feeling of successfully piloting a Bobsleigh down the mountain is irreplaceable.
After successfully completing the novice training camp in Igls, Austria, new sliders advanced to Konigssee, Germany for the Army Championships. The new and technical track proved to be challenging terrain for the teams, resulting in a few spills out of the notorious 360 degree turn, un- affectionately named Kreisel. The driving finesse required for these new turns meant that even a sniff of complacency meant Kreisel would swallow you whole, chew you up and release you back to the world the wrong way up! The rest of the track was equally as challenging to navigate as it threatened to shake each sliding team upside down if they dared reinvent the
Beautiful Konigssee – scene of the Inter-Services Ice War!
Captain Jo Ellett and Corporal Domonique Burge keeping fit in the snow
Captain Jo Ellett and Corporal Domonique Burge – overcoming fear and deciding on courage