A RESERVIST serving with the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) recently put his physical fitness and skills to the test to take part in Exercise Telemark Titan, the British Army Telemark Skiing Championships.

Sam Potts, a Troop Leader, joined 80 other competitors on the slopes of Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps for the two-week exercise to compete in a series of races in the telemark discipline: a sport that involves downhill, jumping and cross country skiing.

Although the 28-year-old site agent had skied all his life he said telemarking had proved to be very challenging.

“I have gone from being a relatively experienced alpine skier to a beginner learning new skills and techniques,” he said. “It is unnerving to start with yet once you get used to the free heel and embrace the technique it is quite liberating and looks very smooth – of course that is when it’s done properly!”

After finishing fifth in the novice race Sam qualified for the championship races where he achieved two top 30 finishes, a fantastic achievement given the tricky icy conditions and that it was his first competition. “There is a mixture of fear and nervousness when you are at the start gate, the pressure builds up and then you push off,” he added. “From then on it’s all about concentration to overcome the different challenges and the adrenaline rush; it’s a fantastic feeling when you get to the end having successfully completed the course.”

During his 10 years in the Reserves Sam has travelled on training exercises and adventurous training to The Falklands, Kenya, Cyprus, France, Peru and has recently volunteered to deploy to South Sudan on a United Nations peacekeeping mission.