ALPINE

ISSSC 2023 – Lt Col Spook Spenlove-Brown SCOTS DG, Interim Chair Alpine

‘It’s good to ski for fun, but I still want to win races as often as possible’. Hermann Maier

I was lucky enough to stand in for Col Rupert Kitchen as Chairman Alpine for the championships and my first time at ISSSC.  This year’s season has been hampered throughout by lack of snow and warm weather.  Almost all World Cup racing has been affected and organisers have been at pains to change programmes to suit the conditions.  We were later in the season due to the World Championships held in Courchevel and Meribel some ten days before.  This allowed the teams to have a full week’s training prior to the event on the Olympic piste, honing skills, bonding teams, and individuals after a considerable break off snow.

Arriving in Meribel to rain and sicky wet snow didn’t bode well.  Making a conscious decision to wait for colder conditions later in the week and bank the speed training that had taken place during the previous training week we changed the programme and kicked off with Slalom, sponsored by BT, on a very hot Sunday morning.  The slope had to be salted, which increases the freezing rate and hardens soft snow to keep the snow from rutting.  This changes racing techniques and forces the racers into slower race lines and to make mistakes.  In the men’s race Lt Josh Serdet convincingly beat Cpl Barney Rudge from the RAF by 10 seconds, with Spr Matt Jessop giving the Army individual first and third and securing the team prize.  In the Women’s race Fg Off Kirsty Guest beat Maj Tessa Pirie from the Army, with Lilias Hopkinson from the Royal Navy coming in third.  Overall the Army Women took the team prize with the RAF second by 38.23 points.

We moved on to Giant Slalom, praying for colder conditions and being forced to use salt to stabilise the piste.  The wait for the salt to set the course was rewarded by a great race seeing Kirsty Guest dominate the women’s race, beating Tessa Pirie by a comfortable 9.24 seconds and Lilias Hopkinson again securing a bronze medal.  The Army Women took a convincing team victory with five racers in the top ten with the Royal Navy coming second.  AB Graeme Price from the Royal Navy put down a blistering second run to win the men’s individual competition, with Lt Josh Serdet in second and Lt James French for the Royal Navy in third.  The RAF won the team competition with some great team racing, piping the Royal Navy by 2.62 points.

Due to the weather and some welcomed snow, we delayed a further day starting early to run Super Giant Slalom (Super G), the first of our speed events sponsored by PWC.  We were blessed with a perfect bluebird day and fast course.  In the women’s race Tessa Pirie narrowly missed beating Kirsty Guest by five hundredth of a second, with a now familiar Lilias Hopkinson coming in third.  The Army women failed to get four team members down the course and were disqualified.  The Royal Navy were victorious over the RAF in the team event.  The men’s race was also dominated by the Royal Navy, with Graeme Price taking the gold from his teammate James French and Spr Duncan Kuwall coming in third for the Army.  In the team race the Army were beaten by only 2.27 points by the Royal Navy making it a clean sweep for the senior service in Super G.

With the temperature dropping overnight we gave our competitor perfect conditions for the Airbus sponsored Downhill, the Blue Riband event, on the Roc de Fer piste used as the venue for the 1992 Olympic Downhill.  Speed always gives some surprise results and although the usual suspect featured on the podium but credit should be given to those who gave it their all with some plucky skiing, focus and dedication.  In the women’s race Kirsty Guest won her fourth individual race by just 1.34 seconds from Tessa Pirie, with Cpl Maddy Critchley getting her first podium of the championship in third.  The Army comfortably won the team race with women RAF second and Royal Navy in third.   The Royal Navy cleaned up in the men’s race; Graeme Price winning with James French runner up and Flt Lt Ross Luice-Smith finishing in third for the RAF.  The team race was a convincing victory by the Royal Navy over the Army, with the RAF in third.

Our final race was the combined event, a combination of Downhill and Slalom.  Having taken the downhill results, we started the racers in reverse order for a single slalom run with a rolling podium in the finish area.  As racers beat the next previous competitor, they take up position on the podium (as in the World Cup).  The Women’s combined race was convincingly won by Kirsty Guest, with Tessa Pirie second and Lilias Hopkinson third.  The men’s races saw James French just beat Fg Offr Dan Barton from the RAF by seven hundreds of a seconds and Josh Serdet for the Army taking the Bronze medal.

Overall the Army men and Royal Navy women were outright winners, with Lt Josh Serdet (Army) and Fg Ofr Kirsty Guest RAF as our combined Individual Champions.

Finally a big thank you to Yannick and his ESF team for their huge support, flexibility and good humour for running all the races in challenging condition; the hill team for their dedication, early starts and professionalism; the competitors for a great atmosphere; competitive spirit and some great skiing and the sponsors for their generosity.  Look forward to 2024 and pray for snow.