On the afternoon of 29th January staff from the Army Staff Leadership School departed Pirbright in Surrey for Tignes in the French Alpes, a total of 15 staff (1 Lt Colonel, 1 Major, 2 Warrant Officers, 10 Staff/Colour Sergeants & 1 Lance Corporal (3 of whom were reservists) along with 3 instructors. The aim of the expedition was to provide an Alpine Skiing Expedition and deliver distributed training in the form of Ski Foundation (SF) 1,2, and 3. The expedition took place over 5 days, qualifying 15 personnel and provided an insight to the Joint Service Adventurous Training scheme. The training objectives helped participants understand how leadership, physical and moral courage and mental resilience can be developed through adventurous training. This was achieved through maximising the opportunity for individuals to achieve a SF 1, 2 or 3 qualification, whilst operating in a challenging alpine environment. The SF levels were based on the skiers current skill;
SF1. – Someone who has never skied before therefore a novice.
SF2. – Someone who has skied before but has not completed SF1 can be loaded straight onto SF2 under the new regulations OR someone who has completed SF1.
SF3. – Someone that has completed SF2 and is recommended to complete the qualification with their SF2 course report.
Sunday morning consisted of unloading all the remaining kit and allocating ski equipment and collecting any remaining hire equipment for the SF1 group (4x regular & 2x reserve personnel). From this point SF1 began our initial lesson on wearing and moving on flat surfaces in skis. We then made our way over to the nursery slopes where we began to learn the principles of going down a gradual gradient using the snow plough technique. Usefully, but also unintentionally, we also learnt how to get off the floor with skis still attached safely after failing to dodge lots of young children also using the nursery slopes.
On day 2 we made our way back over to the nursery slopes to continue perfecting our snow ploughs but also began learning how to turn from left to right whilst in the plough position. That afternoon we then moved onto our first green slope, we were now in a position to start putting our new skills into practice as we had more space and a slightly steeper gradient to practice on. This slope also introduced us to the button lift which for some was a test of not sitting down and falling over. For some of the group this green slope really helped to test their mental resilience along with perseverance after flying down the slope whilst screaming and forgetting to snow plough resulting in them piling into a mound of snow at the side of the slope.
On day 3 SF1 made their way up to the top of the mountain to attempt their first blue run to put into practice everything they had learnt over the past few days. For some, including myself, this was a huge test both mentally and physically. Sadly, I did not make it down the mountain after having a panic attack at the top, however, the rest of the group did successfully make it down the run. Whilst the team were going up and down the blue run, I took myself back to the nursery slopes to build back my confidence to ensure I didn’t use that incident to negatively impact my newly acquired skills. This highlighted to me that skiing just the amazing photos and videos you often see online; it takes a lot physical and mental endurance and skill throughout.
The following day both myself and one of the others in the group were taken out of the main SF1 group to be given some addition support back on the green slopes to really perfect our skills and ensure we could turn easily along with picking up speed in a controlled manor and being able to stop when needed. This proved really beneficial to both of us and our confidence levels shot up when we then moved to a small blue slope to practice this further. Although at points feeling like Eddy the Eagle shooting down the mountain, we were now able to do this in a controlled and safe manor knowing that we had the skill and the ability to stop without falling over. The rest of SF1 spent the day trying out blue runs across some of the mountains surrounding Tignes where they really developed their skills further in a more physically demanding environment.
On day 5 (our final day) we re-joined the rest of SF1 for a warmup on the green slope before moving back to the blue slope we were on yesterday, once again developing our skills. After lunch the group then moved back up to the top of the mountain to go down the blue run where we were on day 2. We finished the day with an assurance visit where they assessed our learning of the week and how we had developed and overcome mental obstacles.
Although finding this week both mentally and physically challenging along with having a mental and physical block on day 3 I believe it has been such an amazing experience and has helped me take a different outlook on challenges. We would like to thank the Ulysses Trust for helping us have this brilliant and memorable experience.
