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The Corps 2013/14 Ski season

The Regimental team from 1 Regiment RLC, based at Gütersloh, was faced with the huge challenge of meeting Corps expectations. The departure of SSgt Marc Walker to the Olympics at Sochi 2014 and the loss of LCpl P A Beyer and Cpl C R Richards on the Nordic side left a vacuum in the team.

On the Alpine side, the team was stronger than ever with the progress made by Lt R J Kelly, the arrival of Cpl A M A Edris and the continued domination across all disciplines by SSgt Macpherson.

The Nordic team completed a month of training in Norway, followed by two months in Austria which included running the Corps training camp. In reverse the Alpine skiers started in Austria and moved to Norway, seemingly “to avoid any of the physical training being carried out by the Nordic team”.

When it came round to racing at the Divisional Championships, Exercise PIPEDOWN, both teams were on great form, with no injuries or illnesses, and there was a clean sweep in both disciplines. SSgt G D Macpherson won overall champion in the Alpine and Lt Matthews finished second overall on the Nordic side in his second season. When the teams moved to the Army Championships the Alpine side, led by a ‘walking wounded’ Lt Robert Kelly, stayed strong and clinched a hard fought overall win ahead of 7 Battalion REME. On the Nordic side illness struck the team for the first week and misadventures with waxing, left the overall championships open until the very end. 1 Regiment RLC secured a win in the patrol race, but it was not enough to hold off a hugely impressive 17 Port & Maritime team, led by Cpl B A Woolley and bolstered by the outstanding junior Pte J R E Foley, and they won the SAS cup by just 1 point. With first place in the Alpine and second in the Nordic the 1 Regiment RLC team finished the season with another strong Marina Cup win. Congratulations to Pte S U MacKay, Pte N Hindle, Pte F G Paterson, Pte C L Aldridge, LCpl L S Doody and Cpl J D Dunnett, all of whom qualified for National Training Squad. With two young and relatively inexperienced teams to build on, the future looks bright for skiing in the Corps.

The Royal Logistic Corps

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