East Midlands University Officers’ Training Corp conducted a foundation ski Adventurous Training event from 8-17 Apr 2022. The training took place in Val D’Isere and those attending were accommodated in UCPA Val D’Isere, which is a type of hostel funded by the French Government to promote alpine sports in the winter and mountaineering in the summer. The event was designed to give participants further professional knowledge and promote their personal development and friendships within the unit. The platform for delivering this training was via alpine skiing.
The EMUOTC annual skiing exercise introduces military skiing for Officer Cadets (OCdts), those new to skiing participated in SF1 or Ski Foundation 1. However there were many who also had significant skiing experience and instructor potential. Such individuals were selected to complete SF2 or Ski Foundation 2.
13 students gained the SF1 qualification with 11 deferred and 19 students gained the SF2 qualification and 1 deferral.
The expedition was due to take 52 personnel in total, of which 40 OCdts, 2 2nd LTs and 3 members of staff were under instruction, 7 individuals were to attend as support staff and instructors. 2 OCdts and a member of staff were unable to attend due to contracting C-19 and further member of staff could not attend as a result of new posting commitments. As a result, 50 personnel attended Ex DES as not all empty spaces could be backfilled.
The day to day activity and the experience gained by those attending can be appreciated best from two personal accounts of two participants of the SF1 and SF2 groups. These are provided below:
Ex Dragon EMU Skiing 22 – Personal Diaries
SF1
Ski touring and alpine skiing offer a unique blend of challenge, adventure and an adrenaline rush like no other. That is why Ex Dragon EMU Ski was the perfect opportunity for 50 Officer Cadets and staff from EMUOTC to experience skiing for the first time or to develop their existing skills.
After a 24 hour drive from Nottingham to Val d’Isère, we arrived eager to get stuck in to a week of adventurous training in the Alps. We were greeted by an end-of-season flurry of fresh snow despite the warmer weather and after kit issue and some evening lectures on avalanche awareness and the aims of adventurous training, we settled down for the night in the UCPA hostel.
The OCdts and staff were split into groups led by the expertise of our invaluable instructors, with the aims of completing either the SF1 or SF2 courses depending on previous experience. As a complete novice to skiing, I was put in the SF1 beginner group along with a mix of OCdts from different year groups in the unit. It was a lovely opportunity to spend time together outside of “green” training, and to forge new friendships with students from other Companies within EMUOTC.
Throughout the week we developed a ‘toolbox’ of core skills that would allow us to safely and competently tackle the green, blue and some red slopes of the Val d’Isère resort. On Monday, this consisted of demonstrating an effective snow plough and for some of us simply staying upright on the nursery slope! By Friday we were parallel turning and confidently conquering some of the more daunting slopes.
However, the progression of skills and confidence in our group was by no means linear. We all faced mental blocks at some point throughout the week and at times felt like we were in fact regressing. It was on these occasions that the true value of adventurous training struck home: being able to pick ourselves up from a hard fall on an icy slope was testament to the resilience and ability to find comfort in the uncomfortable that is required of potential officers in the British Army. While the skiing toolbox of turns and ploughs may not feel relevant to our future civilian or military careers, the mental toolbox we have developed certainly will be.
A week of skiing in the fresh Alpine air, loosening up our muscles at après and some questionable karaoke has brought us closer together as a unit and developed both our physical and emotional resilience to challenge. Most of all, the Exercise has allowed us to create memories that will last a lifetime. Bring on next year’s trip!
OCdt Messenger
SF2
Over the past week I completed SF2 with East Midlands Universities Officers’ Training Corps. I was already a keen skiier with around 6 weeks of skiing experience in my life and was therefore put into the SF2 group to do some more challenging training including off-piste skiing.
On the first day we did some easier on-piste runs to re-familiarise ourselves with the basic techniques involved with skiing and build confidence going into the more difficult days.
Day 2 was spent mostly off-piste where we were taught techniques such as stem turns, jump turns and kick turns. We also talked about our avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels, and practised a group rescue. We learnt how to locate a buried casualty and how to dig them out safely and efficiently.
On the remaining days we continued to work on our off piste skiing and had an introduction to ski touring. This included putting skins and ski crampons on to our skis and walking up steep slopes where we learned how to perform up-hill kick turns. We further practised our avalanche drills by individually conducting a simulated avalanche rescue.
Over the whole course I believe that my skiing, both on and off piste, greatly improved under the instruction of our leader Captain Oliver Soord-Gurney, and I learnt many new skills to aid in any future skiing I do. This course was my first proper experience of off-piste skiing and I really enjoyed it! I look forward to doing SF3 some-time in the future.
OCdt O’Callaghan
