It’s all downhill from here

Team members at the 2002 ESSC: (L-R rear) LCPL Adam Boyd (5/6 RVR), CAPT David Pearson (4/19 PWLH), SCDT Adrian Healy (MUR), BDR Sam Bewsher (2/10 Fd Regt), LT Brendan Moore (2/10 Fd Regt), CPL Alistair Cooke (2 CDO); (L-R front) OFFCDTs Simon Beckenham (Air Force), Amanda Gosling (Air Force) and Liam Colreavy (Air Force).

A TEAM of ADF skiers and boarders from various units recently took part in the 16th Victorian Emergency Services Snow Championships (ESSC) at Mt Buller.

Officer Cadets Simon Beckenham, Amanda Gosling (snowboarder) and Liam Colreavy represented the Air Force at the annual snow sports event, joining members of the Army, Army Reserves and Navy to compete against personnel from all other Victorian Emergency Services.

The Air Force team from ADFA was pitted against the likes of experienced ski patrollers from the Ambulance Service, and keen Victoria Police skiers, some of whom had represented Australia at international ski events in recent years.

The ADF team was also a critical part of the services event, in which it placed third overall. Points were allocated to all members of a service who competed, regardless of their placings in teams or as individuals.

Services participating in the ESSC included State and Federal Police, Ambulance, MFB, SES, Air Force and Navy personnel, as well as the Prisons Service, Parks Victoria and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, plus the Sheriffs Office and the Surf Lifesaving Association, which had been added to the list this year.

The one-day event was the major gathering of its kind in Victoria each year. Competitors competed in skiing and snowboarding events, with some trying their hand at both.

For the record, OFFCDT Gosling finished 9th in her snowboarding event, while OFFCDTs Beckenham and Colreavy placed 9th and 17th respectively in the open male skiing.

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