Disabled servicemen travelled to Oberstdorf, Germany, to have a go at adaptive skiing as part of Exercise Snow Warrior.

Report: Stephen Tyler
Pictures: Graeme Main

TWELVE of Britain’s injured Servicemen and women were the centre of their fellow skiers’ attention as they began their descent of a steep run above the German holiday resort of Oberstdorf.

It was not the team’s bright red jackets or a morbid fascination with their missing limbs or lack of mobility that drew the stares, however.

Instead, the many eyes were looking on in admiration as the disabled athletes handled the slope with just as much style, grace and balance as their able-bodied counterparts.

The military men and women were on the mountain to take part in Exercise Snow Warrior (Adaptive), the first event organised as part of Battle Back, an initiative dreamed up by Lt Col Fred Hargreaves, Royal Signals.

Inspired by the American Wounded Warrior programme, Battle Back aims to help injured Service personnel get involved in sport by making it easier to access the array of opportunities available to them.

“Once the guys try adaptive skiing, it becomes clear to them that they can achieve a very active life,” said Lt Col Hargreaves, adding that he hopes to have two members of staff based at a new Battle Back office in the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey. “There’s a lot on offer to our wounded Servicemen that they don’t know about, so we wanted to have one central point where they can ring up and speak to subject matter experts.

“The number of traumatic injuries is increasing and there is a push to try and tap into the sporting potential that creates. I have written a paper saying that we could have a massive impact with just a minimal input.

“From our point of view, this exercise has convinced us that progressing with this is immensely achievable. I think we will be doing this now indefinitely.”
Adaptive skiing utilises special equipment to allow injured athletes to tackle exactly the same slopes as able-bodied people.

Skiers unable to stand up can use sit-skis to slalom their way down the mountains, while those missing a limb can do so on regular skis fitted with a prosthetic limb or descend on one leg, counterbalancing with outriggers – effectively crutches with mini-skis attached to them.

Learning the sport following a severe injury may sound like a daunting prospect, but the military adaptive skiers had all reached a proficient level by the time Soldier visited them four days into their ground-breaking course.

LCpl Rory Mackenzie, RAMC, was a dedicated sportsman before he was injured in an IED attack as he travelled in the back of a Warrior convoy in southern Iraq last summer.
He was rescued from the wrecked vehicle by Sgt David Lovell of the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, but the blast caused catastrophic damage to his right leg. LCpl Mackenzie underwent seven major operations back in the UK, resulting in the complete loss of the limb.

Since beginning his recovery at Headley Court, the self-confessed adrenaline junkie admitted that one of the things he missed most was the feeling of speed, so he signed up for Snow Warrior as soon as he heard about the event.

“When you lose a leg, everything slows right down,” explained LCpl Mackenzie. “In the early days after I returned to my apartment from Headley Court, I used to hold my head out of the car window just to feel the wind on my face.

“I was a very active, sporty person before and after losing my leg I had to reassess my extra-mural activities, so to get to come skiing is just amazing.

“You have the extreme rush and the wind going past you. It’s as good as it gets.”

Joining the wounded Service personnel on the slopes were representatives from Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK), a charity which also runs the British adaptive skiing team.

Although it was the first taste of the discipline for many of the participants, DSUK staff have already identified potential team members and Lt Col Hargreaves hopes that future Exercise Snow Warrior courses will help develop a new seam of sporting stars.

“We have found that a lot of these guys are progressing faster than able-bodied students, which has a lot to do with their levels of balance and the fact that they have better core strength,” Lt Col Hargreaves explained.

“They get one-on-one instruction, which helps them to pick it up quickly, but it’s important to remember that adaptive skiing is no more difficult than able-bodied skiing.”

With expert coaching from fully-trained instructors, the Army’s adaptive skiers are progressing at a great rate.

True to his sporting roots, LCpl Mackenzie is already planning to break into an adaptive ski team and he is keen to convince other disabled soldiers that hitting the slopes is a great way to bounce back from injury.

“I was nervous about it at first, but I know the Army are not going to make me go down a black run first time and the instructors are absolutely brilliant,” he said. “My aim now is to get onto the Army’s adaptive skiing team and see where that takes me. I would love to compete because it’s something I have got a real taste for.

“You can never rule this out until you have tried it for yourself, and I think that for most people once they do try they will never stop because it is so addictive.

“Apart from the excitement of skiing, this has given me back a sense of freedom and independence.

“As I see it, I have only lost a leg. I’m not dead and it’s not the end of the world. There’s a lot of light at the end of the tunnel and it’s exercises like this that can really help pull you through.”