ALPINE

ISSSC 2024 – Maj Rob Ronz RA, UKAFWSA Chair Alpine

There was much to look forward to in the build up to ISSSC 24; we would be joined by our colleagues from the Australian Defence Force and the Armed Forces Para-Snowsports Team, the weather was set fair, the athletes benefited from a 4 day training package and rumours swirled of exciting new talent. ISSSC 24 did not disappoint.

For the second year in a row a scheduling allowed the three single Services (joined by the ADF) to benefit from some pre-ISSSC training on the world class facilities in Meribel. This invaluable opportunity allowed our racers to hone their skills whilst also casting their eye on the competition, “friendly” rivalry and the odd mind game or two wetted the appetite for the main event.

It is worth a quick recap of the last few years of Inter Service Alpine competition to set the scene. In the Women’s category the RAF had dominated for a number of years with individual success, from the Army in particular, threatening but never overcoming the light blue grip on the overall Team Champions crown. On the Men’s side it was the Army that had set the pace for much of the last decade with some notable individual and team performances from the Royal Navy  occasionally breaching the Red Wall, the RAF having been champions in 2015 had faded as a serious competitive threat… until now.

All to play for and Service honour at stake, to the downhill to kick off proceedings. The Meribel Downhill on the famed Roc de Fer Piste is not for the faint hearted and so it proved during the 2 mandatory days of training runs before the main event. We were all reminded of the inherent risks and dangers associated with Downhill ski racing with several competitors falling and the resulting injuries ending the championship early, we wish them well and a full recovery . A serious and focused tone was set for the main event with our racers demonstrating their courage and mental fortitude, they did themselves proud.

In the Women’s category last year’s champion Fg Off Kirtsy Guest was straight out of the blocks pushed close by Maj Tessa Pirie in second, also making the Podium was LCpl May Percival, the Army going on to set a good lead in the team event. In the Men’s competition the rumours of exciting new talent proved to be understated. Fg Off Ollie Weeks (1^st), Plt Off Jed Mcnabb (2^nd) and Fg Off Dan Barton (4^th) posting some storming times with Capt Josh Serdett (3^rd) preventing an RAF podium lockout by 4 tenths of a second. The RAF established an ominous lead and a rare smile was spotted on their team captain’s (Cpl Barnabus Rudge) face. Special mention must go to the ADF racers who have benefited from far less speed racing than their British counterparts, their positive attitude and bravery was noted by all.

The Super G followed and Maj Tessa Pirrie showed Fg Offr Kirsty Guest her heels, the individual competition was heating up. Excellent team racing from the Royal Navy saw them secure a credible second place, however, it was again the Army that led the pack. In the Men’s competition AB Graeme Price showed the new kids on the block that they would not have it all their own way with a champion performance following his disappointing day at the downhill. This allowed the Royal Navy to push the RAF in the team event, however, second was their reward, the Army trailing in third.

The Slalom is often the most entertaining race at ISSSC with the increased likelihood of mistakes and falls as racers get a close to the edge as possible (and often over) offering opportunities for those that stay the course. This time Fg Offr Kirsty Guest walked away with the honours ahead of Maj Tessa Pirrie with Lt Lilias Hopkinson making up a tri-service podium, the Army maintained their iron grip on the team competition. On the Men’s side Fg Offr Ollie Weeks led the charge with AB Graeme Price and Capt Josh Serdett giving us our second tri-service podium of the day. In the team competition some falls from key RAF racers opened the door, The Royal Navy needed no second invitation storming to victory.

All to play for on the final day of ISSSC in the Giant Slalom. In the Woman’s field Fg Offr Kisrtsy Guest had two storming runs with the overall combination in reach (circa 2 metres away) when disaster struck, missing the last gate for the first (and I suspect the last) time in a serious race. Maj Tessa Pirrie made no mistake and was a deserved champion leading the Army team to the Team combination after years of agonising defeats, bravo to all.

In the Men’s competition the RAF had a job to do and they bought it home. Fg Offr Ollie Weeks capped off a memorable week for him with victory crowning him the individual champion, the RAF team led by their now ever smiling captain Cpl Barnaby Rudge lifted the combination trophy again, a glorious moment and a reminder to us all that in Alpine racing the fortunes of our Services rise and fall, but they will always be back.

Finally a special thanks to our ESF colleagues and the Alpine Committee who make the racing possible, their professionalism, positive attitude and hard work is often thankless and unremarked upon, we could not do this without them.

The BRITS 2024 – UKAF Alpine Team

Fg Off Kirsty Guest RAF

After a close fought Interservice competition, the 2024 UKAF team, who would go on to compete at the British Championships in Tignes, France, was unveiled. UKAF Captain, Fg Off Kirsty Guest (RAF Marham) was the only returning team member while the rest of the team, Capt Josh Serdet (ITC Catterick), Lt Sian Lewis (RAF Shawbury), Fg Off Oliver Weeks (RAF Benson), Plt Off Jed McNab (RAF Spadeadam) and Spr Matthew Jessop (Royal Engineer Corps), made their debut.

The team headed out on 19 March to complete a week of training before the Championships. The training week was essential as for many it was their first experience at racing on FIS Level Skis. Additionally, it provided a fantastic opportunity to train alongside members of the British Team and it was clear by the end of the week of the strengthened bond between services.

The race week was marked by adverse weather, presenting tough racing conditions for our UKAF racers, who started from the back and led to the cancellation of the highly anticipated speed events. Despite these challenges, all showcased impressive skill and strong performances, notably, Fg Off Kirsty Guest and Fg Off Oliver Weeks who both posted Top 20 finishes. Impressively, Fg Off Oliver Weeks also scored a PB Giant Slalom result in the same race as Olympic bronze medal winner Victor Muffat-Jeandet!

When asked about their experience at the British Championships, Capt Josh Serdet said, “the opportunity to train against some of the highest performing racers in the country was eye opening. As my first UKAF experience, there was a clear step up in the level of difficulty, with the courses being the most difficult I have skied and a great test of mental and physical resilience for the whole team.”

As well as testing our service personnel, the UKAF presence at the British Championships provided an equally good service engagement and recruitment opportunity, with several of the younger races expressing an interest in joining the forces due to the sporting opportunities and ability to continue skiing at a competitive level.

In my capacity as captain and on behalf of the UKAF team, I would like to take this opportunity to thank WO2 John McClelland (UKAF Team Manager) for consistently managing team administration, often working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the team can attend the British Championships. I also extend a huge thank you to our sponsors whose unwavering support has made this all possible.

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.