I was formally taught skiing on Armed Forces courses in 1979 and 1980 while in the RAF.
I qualified as a Military Alpine Ski Instructor to the BASI Central Theme in February 2005.
I qualified as a Military Off Piste Ski Instructor on courses held in January 2006 and January 2007.
I have logged 74 weeks of downhill skiing, frequently going for a week at a time to as many as two or three different ski resorts per season. In the later years I was cruising at 30mph and occasionally reaching 50mph. I know this for a fact since I always skied with a GPS data logger in my pocket which recorded my track, my altitude and my speed, downloadable and then converted into map overlays. (I use it for all mountaineering excursions).
Once you have learned to ski entirely on your edges without ever skidding or sideslipping, skiing is genuinely effortless. On my final trip to Selva in Val Gardena I just managed to ski two consecutive anti-clockwise circuits of the Sella Ronda in one day, by catching the first lift of the day and never stopping (for anything other than toilet breaks).
| YEAR | THE SKIING RESORTS | |
| 1979 | 1 2 | Aviemore Sauze d-Oulx |
| 1980 | 3 4 | Aviemore Courmayeur |
| 1982 | 5 6 | Avoriaz Les Arcs |
| 1983 | 7 8 | Cervinia Chamonix |
| 1984 | 9 | Les Arcs |
| 1985 | 10 11 | Avoriaz Meribel |
| 1986 | 12 13 | La Plagne Meribel |
| 1988 | 14 15 | Val d'Isere Avoriaz |
| 1989 | 16 | Isola |
| 1990 | 17 18 | Tignes Cauterets |
| 1991 | 19 | Val Thorens |
| 1992 | 20 | Cervinia |
| 1993 | 21 | Val d'Isere |
| 1994 | 22 | La Plagne |
| 1995 | 23 | Avoriaz |
| 1996 | 24 | Meribel |
| 1997 | 25 26 27 | Germany Banff Kaprun |
| 1998 | 28 | Selva |
| 1999 | 29 30 31 | Tignes Chamonix Zermatt |
| 2000 | 32 | Verbier |
| 2001 | 33 | St Anton |
| 2002 | 34 | Motaret |
| 2003 | 35 36 | Selva Wengen |
| 2004 | 37 | Bavaria (Professionally paid to teach Army Cadets to ski during their February half-term week, getting a team of 6 complete novices up to rough-parallel standard.) |
| 2004 | 38 39 | Morzine Oberjoch |
| 2005 | 40 41 42 | Selva Oberjoch Silvretta |
| 2006 | 43 44 | Klosters Tignes |
| 2007 | 45 46 | Argentiere La Plagne |
| 2008 | 47 48 49 | Klosters Les Coches Tatras |
| 2009 | 50 51 52 | Klosters Meribel Mottaret |
| 2010 | 53 54 55 | Morzine Wengen St Anton |
| 2011 | 56 | St Anton |
| 2012 | 57 58 | Wengen Val Thorens |
| 2013 | 59 60 | Meribel Val Thorens |
| 2014 | 61 62 63 | Tignes Selva Val Thorens |
| 2015 | 64 65 66 | Davos Les Coches Val Thorens |
| 2016 | 67 68 69 70 | Damuls Vail Aspen Val Thorens |
| 2017 | 71 72 | Kitzbuhel Canazei |
| 2018 | 73 74 | Selva Flims (Laax) |
My personal skis have heel-lift bindings, enabling the heels to be either locked down (for normal down-hill skiing) or free to rise for ski touring. I also have ski-touring skins, which I stick to the underneath of the skis (only when ski-touring), with sloping bristles which enable my skis to slide forwards but not backwards. This enables me to ski both horizontally and uphill.
| DATE | AREA | OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED |
| 31-Dec 81 | Snowdonia | Penyrolewen, Carnedd Dafydd, Carnedd Llewellyn |
| 15-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Verbier to the Mont Fort Hut |
| 16-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Mont Fort Hut to the Prafleury Hut |
| 17-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Prafleury Hut to the Dix Hut |
| 18-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Dix Hut to the Vignettes Hut |
| 19-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Vignettes Hut to Zermatt |
| 20-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Zermatt to the Britannia Hut |
| 21-Apr-84 | Pennine Alps | Britannia Hut to Saas Fee |
| 07-Mar-90 | Pyrenees | Peigne d'Aragon |
| 12-Mar-90 | Pyrenees | 3 cols traverse |
| 13-Mar-90 | Pyrenees | Petite Vignemalle |
| 15-Mar-90 | Pyrenees | Vignemalle |
| 11-Apr-01 | Scotland | White Corries |
| 12-Apr-01 | Scotland | Nevis Ranges |
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