Like any adventure training trip, the journey out was full of anxious new, and a variety of experienced skiers, in their seats ready for a long 20 hr coach journey to Les Arcs. All I can say is thank god for a toilet and Capt Ebo playing DJ on the DVD player. The group of 53 consisted of regular and TA elements from 101 FS Bn REME.
Sunday we arrive bright and early, too early for the accommodation, but none the less, Capt Sochon cut about to acquire a few rooms early so we can off-load our kit and get the ski hire sorted. Maj Mal McGeoch, Bn 2IC and Chief Instructor for the expedition, ensures no-one can get a crafty few runs on the slopes by not giving us the lift passes and we’re reminded to meet at 1700hrs for what will be our nightly meetings and well earned Apres Ski.
First impressions when we arrived was "where is the snow?". The slopes were in desperate need of a good dump. The heavens opened that evening with a good 8 cm of snow dropped all around us. This was very entertaining for the young soldiers with us who ventured outside for a good old fashioned snow ball fight with the local skiers. The advantage of the high ground proved a good tactic.
We’re divided into five groups, with Maj McG instructing the Banzai Bandits, and Capt Sochon the ‘is it time for a coffee break yet?’ Old and Bold team. WO1 ASM Ken Hindle (Bn ASM), Capt Ken Wilson (127 Fd Coy(V)) and Capt Jamie McMeechan (2 Fd Coy) instructed the beginners and less experienced skiers. Groups one and two are off to the top on the first lift anxious for the fresh un-touched snow and the beginners off to nursery slopes for some patient tuition.
There were 21 complete beginners being introduced to the fine art of sliding down a hill, in full control?
Capt W had to instruct his team in the art of putting skis on without falling over, before he could even commence to teach them to stand up (again, without falling over). Next came skiing very slowly and stopping (without falling over). Before you knew it he had all of his team sitting in the snow, demanding padding for their back sides! All this before they had left the nursery slopes!! Day one finished for them with a run down a short slope in the fine time of 2 1/2 hrs. By the last day all were skiing confidently from the top. Hard work, but awesome were the facial expressions. Sgt Carol Parkinson, 127 Fd Coy(V) was a good moral booster keeping her group entertained with words for each day. The first two days words were fairly unprintable, but by day five her words for the day were along the lines of ‘whoo hoo,’ ‘when can we come skiing again’ and, OMG, ‘how do you stop on this run’.
By contrast, the Banzai Bandits managed to put out a few km of skiing in between ploughing head first into snow drifts as they pushed the limits of their skiing ability under the guidance of Maj McG. They must have covered every black run on the mountain and exploited every reasonable opportunity for piste skiing. Capt S’s group were no slouches either – and when given an unexpected afternoon of free skiing after he took an equally unexpected tumble and aggravated an old war (skiing) wound.
It was over too quickly; Friday was the last day of skiing and was a fancy dress day. Everyone took the cable car to the top and the Locals and other tourists alike were agog at the sight of Mr Blobby, a couple of nuns and supermen, a selection of kilts, and much, much more making their way to the summit. People were asking us if they could take photos and it obviously livened up the piste for the day. After the course photo we all went off in our groups, Mr Blobby (Sgt Pat Tinker, 119 Rec Coy(V) had a chance encounter with about a 100 students from Reading University and got pelted with snowballs – much to our entertainment.
The daily meeting and briefing was spent in a local bar where Apres Ski was well earned, and in the early days of the ski training there was plenty of drained and well worked students. This even included some of the instructors of the older type, mentioning no names.
The interaction between the regular and TA soldiers was extremely inspiring and all were delighted to be involved. The experiences shared on the slopes over a few beers were great fun, talking about what we have learned or who had the best wipe out. Photos were shared for proof of achievement with loved ones back home and the fact that we were not on a holiday but working, learning new skills through adventure training, fell on deaf ears. Although I think Cfn Srivastava (126 Fd Coy (V)) would rather not show his last day photo’s, so we have done it for him. Only a minor injury but well worth being brought off the mountain by the piste rescue service.
Looking back at the weeks training, and taking into account all what was learned, did we achieve the definition of Adventure training? "Challenging outdoor training for Service Personnel in specified adventurous activities, involving controlled exposure to risk, to develop leadership, teamwork, physical fitness, moral and physical courage, among other personal attributes and skills vital to operational capability." Of course we did, but we have also achieved something else: we have proved that the TA and Regular soldiers are " One Army", the link and working relationship between us has grown with firm friendships developing across the TA /REG divide.