Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Rifles, based in Beachley Barracks, Chepstow recently took part in a challenging cross-country skiing competition in the French Alps.

Cross-country or Nordic skiing was invented in Norway as a means of getting around in the winter. It is one of the most gruelling aerobic sports, in which participants propell themselves up and down hills at great speed on long thin skis attached only at the toe.

Local soldiers had just two weeks in which to get to grips with the sport before competing against some of the best athletes in the country, some of whom will represent Great Britain at the Winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, this time next year.

Captain Kraig Graves and Corporal Kitty Deeley did well enough against such stiff competition though, and qualified for the British national championships, held annually in Ruhpolding, Bavaria.

While Scandinavians raced each other for many years in their local and regional competitions, it wasn't until 1924 that the sport was included in the Winter Olympic Games. The arrival of Nordic skiing into the mainstream was soon followed by Biathlon, which includes skiing with rifles. Biathlon relays are the blue ribbon event at winter games, where vast numbers of spectators gather to watch the action at the range, which is usually adjacent to the start and finish line. In biathlons, athletes must ski extra distance around a penalty loop for each target they fail to hit on the range.

After skiing in four races in modern lycra race suits, soldiers from 1RIFLES went back to their infantry roots, and dressed in white camoflauge to compete in a 20km military patrol race. Soldiers raced in teams of four and navigated through woods and remote villages in the French Alps, completing a number of military tasks on the way.

Soldiers from 1RIFLES performed well, emerging the best infantry team at their championships, with Cpl Kitty Deeley going on to win the Ladies team events at the army championships, and Capt Kraig Graves coming in 21st overall at the national biathlon championships.

By Captain Kraig Graves