Ex Frosted piste was took place in Les Arcs, a Resort located in Savoie France within the Tarentaise Valley. Officer cadets took part in Ski Foundation (SF) courses of varying ability with many having not skied before and were based in the UCPA centre situated just outside of Arcs 1600. The SF2 course is an introduction into ski touring and more advanced ski techniques to provide greater control when skiing off-piste.
Here is a day-to-day blog from one of the participants on the Exercise – Sheffield OTC ski trip blog – OCdt Waldron.
Day 1
The first day involved kit familiarisation and an introduction into the touring kit used. We covered the weather brief so that we were able to better interpret the snow forecast, and the mechanics of avalanches and the associated risk factor and learnt about the kit used to increase avalanche safety such as; shovels, probes and transceivers. We were keen to get on our skis due to the good snow conditions as it had been snowing since the previous evening. Our touring skis were fitted to our boots using a calculated Dyn setting that was explained by our instructor W02 Michael Joyce. After lunch we hit the slopes and despite the poor visibility there was excitement while we practiced edge and pressure control on our skis to produce different turns. The group connected well and there was high confidence as we learnt to ski backwards and do 360s while moving. The last lift was a must before we skied back to UCPA. That evening we enjoyed socialising with Officer cadets from Glasgow and students from the French sports academy HSE who were also there.
Day 2
After a nice breakfast the group was keen to get the first lift. After having all contributed to the weather brief, we skied down to Arcs 1600 ready for a long day. The visibility was also poor however the snow was only getting better. We picked up the pace after warming up and had a rewarding morning of navigating the resort, venturing up to Arcs 2000 (which was noticeably colder!) and practiced the techniques we had discussed the previous day. Due to thick cloud, we descended to Arcs 1800 for lunch where the first round of hot chocolates was bought! The visibility improved over lunch, and we met another SF2 group to ski with mid-afternoon, and continued on the slopes mastering our techniques.
Day 3
Another early start saw us starting to use the safety equipment we had been issued so we were familiar with it when we completed our ski tour the next day. We had fun putting the skins on our skis and practicing kick-turns which came more naturally to some than others! After this we completed lots of off-piste skiing. It was challenging due to the thick powder present meaning it is much harder to control your skis which is why we had to apply different techniques such as side-slipping which Michael had gone through with us earlier in the morning. Today was much sunnier and we stopped for lunch on an off-piste section near to the snow park. The afternoon involved learning avalanche rescue drills and was a fun way to practice using the shovels, probes and transceivers. A transceiver was buried in a rucksack and in two groups of three we went to “rescue” it.
Day 4
Now that we were familiar with ski touring and avalanche safety, we completed a tour starting from the UCPA centre. We gained 500m altitude touring through forest tracks, heading further away from the piste. The weather was optimum and helped provide a challenging morning that tested everyone in the group. As the tour went on the terrain got steeper and so we put our kick-turns into use which felt very surreal being in such a beautiful environment. The tour took us just under two hours and was almost 4km long – we certainly earnt our turns! The afternoon involved more advanced off-piste skiing and allowed us to practice route selection, building each group member’s leadership skills and took us to much higher altitudes up to 3000m where the powder was extremely deep being far above the treeline.
Day 5
Having completed the tour, we had technically done everything required to complete SF2. We spent this day practicing our long radius turns allowing us to ski faster in much more expansive areas. We navigated our way to Peisey Vallandry which is further down the valley from Arcs 1800 – towards the La Plagne side of the Paradiski area. Our instructor gave us challenges to test our ski control such as skiing backwards and spinning down the piste individually and in pairs holding each other’s poles. This provided much entertainment and was a great way to build our confidence! Later in the day we did more off piste closer to Arcs 1800 choosing different lines down similar sections we had previously done, making sure to stop off at our favourite hot chocolate place for a debrief.
Day 6
For the last day skiing we were allowed to free-ski without our instructor in groups. I stayed with my group and we skied with some Officer Cadets from SF1 groups in the morning helping them to navigate to new areas of the resort. We later split off for lunch – treating myself to a pizza for the last day and had a fun time finding new runs to try in the afternoon. It was fun completing challenges that had been set for us as a group across the resort throughout the day. The weather closed in towards the afternoon so after a final hot chocolate stop, we skied the last run in. Overall the week was excellent, I learnt a huge amount and gained confidence in my abilities. The instructors were excellent and has made me want to progress further in my skiing.
Overall impact on the participants
Thanks to the trust grants of Ulysses and other various grants this expedition helped retention, recruiting and growth of leadership and teamwork in YOTR. The opportunity to take this many participants and instructors showed the possibilities that joining the regular and reserve Army can offer.
