The Volunteer - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets ...
The Volunteer - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets ...
The Volunteer - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets ...
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MANCHESTER AND SALFORD<br />
UNIVERSITY<br />
OTC<br />
Telemark Skiing<br />
Championships<br />
CDT EDWARD BONNAR<br />
MSUOTC assembled for<br />
the 2011 Army Telemark<br />
championships in Rauris.<br />
Apart from the CO, none<br />
of the team had Telemark<br />
skied before; therefore it<br />
was a very strange feeling<br />
for all to get used to having<br />
the heel of the ski boot<br />
completely free. This<br />
resulted in an amusing<br />
first day on the slopes with<br />
most of the team spending<br />
a lot of time with bottoms<br />
concreted to the snow rather than<br />
elegantly descending the slopes<br />
smoothly lunging through each<br />
turn.<br />
Learning to Telemark is perhaps<br />
best described as a combination<br />
of skiing and ballet. Telemark<br />
racing is conducted on the same<br />
slopes as Alpine downhill racing<br />
and consists of gates, a jump<br />
where the racer must cover a set<br />
distance and land in a Telemark<br />
position, a 360-degree banked<br />
turn and a skating section.<br />
After a long and hard few days<br />
of mastering the technique, a<br />
little nervous and shaky the team<br />
headed to the first race. This was<br />
a development race, which would<br />
determine whether individuals<br />
would be competing in the<br />
Championship or Novice races.<br />
Due to the fact that this was<br />
the first race that any of the team<br />
had ever done before, results<br />
were fairly mixed, but four<br />
team members – the CO Lt. Col<br />
OCdt Mike O’Connor gracefully<br />
demonstrates a perfect Telemark turn.<br />
Suzanne Anderson, OCdt Graham<br />
Stephenson, OCdt Mike O’Connor<br />
and OCdt Edward Bonnar, were<br />
placed into the Championship<br />
race, and the remaining two, 2Lt<br />
Dan Lihou and OCdt Louis Cross in<br />
the Novice.<br />
Every member of the team<br />
competed hard for the week of<br />
racing, never once giving up after<br />
falling, never once chickening out<br />
before a jump and never once not<br />
pushing 100%.<br />
All the effort was worth every<br />
minute. MSUOTC Telemark Team<br />
smashed boundaries! Starting<br />
the Champs as a small group of<br />
young beginners, leaving as proud<br />
Champions. Prizes won included<br />
1st place Team combination –<br />
i.e the winning team, 1st place<br />
Ladies Combination - with the<br />
CO winning every single race, the<br />
Tom Sawyer Best Novice prize, and<br />
many more gold and silver medals<br />
Feeling proud with heads held<br />
high MSUOTC returned home<br />
with more precious metal than<br />
the annual output<br />
of a small African<br />
mine!<br />
RUPERT TAKES TO THE FELLS<br />
Thanks to his two brothers, Maj Rupert Collis, Regt 2IC at MSUOTC<br />
was recently “talked” into entering the Cartmel Trail Race over<br />
18km. Some may say that he entered the race for the physical<br />
challenge and the spectacular scenery of the Lake District or there<br />
are those less charitable friends that would say that it was for the<br />
T-shirt and the sticky toffee pudding!<br />
Either way, Major Collis, Patrick and Andrew Collis and Philip<br />
Gardner completed the race and in the process raised in excess of<br />
£1,375 for Help for Heroes.<br />
Army Telemark<br />
Skiing Association<br />
Championships 2011<br />
winning team –<br />
MSUOTC. L –R OCdt<br />
Edward Bonnar, Lt Col<br />
Suzanne Anderson, OCdt<br />
Graham Stephenson,<br />
2Lt Dan Lihou, OCdt<br />
Louis Cross, OCdt Mike<br />
O’Connor.<br />
52 THE VOLUNTEER www.nwrfca.org.uk
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