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Snowing off
By LS Yuri Ramsey
Volume 49, No. 15, August 23, 2007 |
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BALANCING ACT: SGT Steve Medaris from 77SQN took first place in the giant slalom snowboarding event, ranking third overall in the ADF Snow Sports Championships at Mount Hotham, Victoria.
Photo by LS Yuri Ramsey |
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SPEEDY: WGCDR Dominic Sims from DMO flies through the gates in the giant slalom race at Mount Hotham.
Photo by LS Yuri Ramsey |
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AIR FORCE skiers and snowboarders carved up the slopes of Mount Hotham in the best snow conditions for many years during the annual ADF Snow Sports Championships held from August 7-9.
WGCDR Dominic Sims from DMO ranked third overall in the alpine events, with SGT Steve Medaris from 77SQN taking third overall in the snowboarding events.
This year, a UK defence force team of one RAF and six Army skiers also competed in the races with the ADF.
First event contested was the long GS (giant slalom) on the tight Snake Gulley run, starting at an elevation of 1765m and finishing at 1550m.
A clear day of racing was soon spoiled by clouds rolling in, resulting in poor visibility. This, combined with hard-packed snow, made the race challenging for all.
Taking first, second and third place for the long GS were Matt Shepard, Clint Hamblett and Dougie Macpherson, all from the UK. Close behind were the ADF’s LCDRs Brad Vizard and Justin Mangan, Army’s CAPT Mike Atkinson and WGCDR Sims.
The snowboarders were up next. Taking first was SGT Medaris, followed by Army’s CPL Conan Sinko and PTE Ben Nelson, with AB Stew Smith in fifth as the highest-placed Navy snowboarder.
Even poorer visibility conditions and soft slushy snow made it harder-going in the GS than on the first day. UK’s Matt Shepard and Dougie Macpherson claimed first and second, with LCDR Mangan taking third.
Army snowboarders, LT Alistair Court, CAPT Anna Russell and CPL Sinko, dominated the snowboarder GS, taking the top three spots.
For skiers, it was off with the long skis used for the GS and on with shorter ones for the slalom. Low cloud, high winds and light rain made this tight course the hardest yet.
UK’s Matt Shepard, LCDR Mangan and UK’s Dougie Macpherson took the top three spots.
Snowboarders were meant to compete in the Bordercross located near the summit of Mount Hotham but the event was cancelled due to bad weather.
After a highly competitive three days of racing, Army took the team championship trophies for both the skiing and the snowboarding events, with Air Force second and Navy third in both disciplines.
Navy did better in the individual results with LCDRs Mangan and Vizard taking the top two ADF skiers spots, and WGCDR Sims taking third. Army CAPT Claire Baker and LTCOL Kath Stewart took first and second for the women’s individual results.
The individual snowboarding results were led by Army and Air Force. CPL Sinko and LT Court took the top two individual places for Army, with SGT Medaris close behind in third for Air Force.
| Air Force rankings |
Combined individual results
Alpine events
3rd – WGCDR Dominic Sims
12th – FLTLT Gareth Baker
14th – FSGT Kevan Latty
17th – FLTLT Paul Heslewood
18th – FLTLT Ewan Reid
Snowboarding events
3rd – SGT Steve Medaris
4th – CPL Tim Seager
9th – FLTLT Tim Clark
10th – CPL Troy Vanderplas
13th – CPL Bryce Nietvelt
16th – CPL Advaita Myler |
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