Exercise SNOWBOARD EAGLE 2023

Ex SNOWBOARD EAGLE 23 was a 10-day exercise in Flachau, Austria, providing instruction, challenging training, and culminating in the AAC Snowboarding Championships. 4 AAC sent a team of three ‘open riders’ and three novices to compete for the unit title.

The team assembled at Wattisham late on a Sunday evening ready to slog out the 17 hours to Austria. Crammed in to a 9-seat combi van along with all the Corps’ equipment, the journey was probably far less comfortable but with significantly higher calorie and caffeine consumption than the flights and hire cars the other teams were forced to endure.

Arrival at the resort, check in and kit hire were seamless and an itinerary of four days of instruction, followed by various training and competition elements across the three Army disciplines of snowboarding lay ahead. Conditions in Flachau and the surrounding Ski Armade area were good but in need of some fresh snow which thankfully appeared on the second day. Open riders got their legs in under the direction of qualified Army instructors, whilst novices got to grips with a new skill and were confidently linking turns by the end of day two under local instruction. Suffering a few bumps and bruises the learning curve was steeper for some than others, but all were navigating the variety of slopes around the resort comfortably in time for the competition elements. As a warmup competition, an endurance challenge was set with the winning team covering 26 miles (without the day. The confidence gained by getting so many miles under the belt was a perfect set up for the follow up competitions of Snowboard Cross (SBX) and Slopestyle events to be held over the following days.

Predictably, the only poor weather came at the worst time; on the hill for the race and freestyle day. This made race conditions particularly difficult on the twisting, steep SBX course with and speeds in excess of 40mph. 4 Regt took second place in both the Novice and Open categories, assuming team first place.

The championships culminated in the slopestyle competition held in the Burton ‘Stash’ park. Best trick and best Novice were awarded to Airtpr Harvey Matthews of Command Troop, having landed a backflip after just five days on snow. Second place in the Open competition was also taken by a 4 Regt rider, meaning the team would finish second in this event. Totalling the scores, 4 Regt finished a very close second overall, gaining best Novice and most improved prizes at the final awards ceremony.

The time came to pack up the van and head back towards Blighty for another emotional journey, stopping in at Red Bull hangar 7 on the way through Salzburg for some high-octane culture. Overall, a fantastic trip that all would attempt, and are encouraged, to do again. A huge thank you must go to the exercise organisers for their dedication and for the atmosphere created. The exercise has successfully grown a foundation of 4AAC snowboarders ready to compete at the Army Championships, Ex SNOWJACK next season to be held again in Flachau.