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COOL
CHANGE
From
the Top End to the mountain top
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Darwin-based
Flying Officer Beth Chaffers displays her snowboarding skills
during this year’s Air Force Alpine Championships at
Mount Hotham in Victoria.
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THE
Top End is a long way from the ski fields of Thredbo or Falls Creek,
but the tyranny of distance doesn’t stop Flying Officer Beth
Chaffers from indulging in her passion for snowboarding.
FLGOFF Chaffers’ role as an Air Defence Officer with No. 1
Mobile Control Reporting Unit (MCRU) at RAAF Base Darwin means she
has precious few chances to head to the slopes, but she makes the
most of the opportunities she gets.
FLGOFF Chaffers began snowboarding in 1995 and became a self-confessed
snow sports addict when she went through the Australian Defence
Force Academy in Canberra.
“The three years I spent there were fantastic. I used to go
to the snow almost every weekend in winter. It is definitely a prime
location during the snow season,” she said.
“I love being able to investigate different bits of the mountain,
try new things and go fast. It is definitely the adrenalin that
gets me, trying to go a bit faster than last time or hitting a jump
and going bigger than before.”
Now thousands of kilometres from the nearest snow-capped peak, FLGOFF
Chaffers still has that hunger for adrenalin and snow pumping through
her veins.
“The first snow season I was up here it was torture. I would
still check out the snow reports daily even though I was so far
away,” she said.
Earlier this year, she managed to swap the heat and humidity of
a Darwin winter for the brisk mountain air of the Victorian alps
when she competed at the Air Force Alpine Chamionships at Mount
Hotham.
It was her first time competing on snow, but the experience left
her champing at the bit for more.
“I would love to do more of it and I am hoping to go to Europe
with the ADF team next year,” she said.
Three competitors from Darwin – two snowboarders and a skier
– made the journey south as it was an economic way for the
base’s snow enthusiasts to get to the ski fields.
Although there’s nothing even slightly resembling snow in the
Top End, FLGOFF Chaffers has found a cure of sorts for the snowboarding
bug that often overcomes her.
“RAAF Darwin has a great waterskiing club and I have found
that wakeboarding provides some relief for snowboarders who live
so far from the snow.”
Further relief could come if FLGOFF Chaffers receives confirmation
of a posting to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma in the US.
“Colorado is nearby and I plan spending much of my leave time
over there snowboarding.”
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