The first Army Telemark championships were held in between 05-15 Jan 2008. By all standards they were a great success and they easily justified holding another Championship in 2009.

We aimed to get 50 skiers in 2008, but were delighted to have 67. Although mainly Army, there was also a contingent of 5 from the Royal Navy, 2 from the RAF and 3 civilians. Experience ranged from the highly capable members of the current GB Telemark squad, to Novices who may have skied Alpine or Nordic before but had never tried Telemark. We had a range of Unit teams, matched by a similar number of individual Telemarkers, many of whom formed hors concors teams for the races.

Rauris went to enormous lengths to support us. Competitors remarked widely on how warm and friendly the locals were, while the Committee were immensely grateful to the lift Company and Tourist Office for generous support both on and off the piste. Beyond this, three factors were instrumental in making this year a success:

• Our sponsors - both military and non-military - without whom the finances would not have worked.
• Our BASI Instructors, who taught our Novices an extraordinary amount in a short period, and ensured that they were able to compete properly.
• Urban Simcic: Slovenian National Coach, bottomless mine of information, exceptionally good bloke and our Technical Delegate. Urban coached the better skiers, designed our races, smoothed the way with the lift company and provided a depth of experience and credibility that transformed our first Championships from 'Good' to 'Thoroughly Impressive'. Urban has kindly agreed to help again in 2009.