AN eight-man team from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland have been conducting Nordic skiing and biathlon training in the French Alps in preparation for the Army Divisional Championships that will be held early next year.

Nordic skiing is physically demanding and sees competitors race on flat cross-country routes on narrow skis, with biathlon events combining this skill with rifle shooting.

The Royal Scots Borderers’ team have been training three times a day - two skiing sessions and a rifle practice on the shooting range. Their four-week camp is being conducted alongside other Infantry units. The team will return to France for more intense training prior to the Championships after some well earned Christmas leave.

Private Jack McCaldin, 19, from Haddington, who is part of the squad, said: “It is amazing to get the opportunity to do something like this. It’s great to wake up in the morning and see the snow and blue skies and head out to do some training. I was pretty unsteady on the skis at first but I am really getting the hang of it know – as are all the boys. My shooting has improved too from the training on the biathlon rifle.” Pte McCaldin, who is also a member of the Battalion cross country team, added: “It’s amazing how much I have already crammed into since joining [the Battalion]. It’s mostly been military training but I’ve been cross country training in Cyprus and in the New Year I’ll be back here doing more Nordic skiing training before heading off on overseas exercises. I’ve also really enjoyed being in the cross country team where we have won pretty much all the events we have entered.”