Signaller Lizzie Mayo works as a Project Manager for Turner and Townsend and joined the reserves in 2015 spending 3 years at Exeter Officer Training Corp (OTC) followed by 4 years with the Army Air Corps, joining 39 Signal Regiment in November 2022. She learnt to ski with the army whilst at University followed by two and a half months working in Val D’Isere.
Sig Lizzie Mayo recently attended Exercise TELEMARK TITAN, the GB, Royal Navy and British Army Telemark Ski Championships run by British Army Telemark which took place in Pralognan-la-Vanoise (PLV), in the French Alps. Telemark skiing is a skiing technique that combines elements of Alpine and Nordic skiing, using the rear foot to keep balance while pushing on the front foot to create a carving turn on downhill skis with toe-only bindings.
There were 150 participants from across the Army, Navy and GB squads with a mix of regular, reservist and OTC teams.
The exercise consisted of 8 days telemark training with ESF instructors, followed by a qualification race to split those entering the championship and development races. Three days of racing followed starting with the Development Sprint, The Development Classic which included skate sections and jumps. The racing concluded with the Mountain Race, a 1km uphill ski section followed by skating and a downhill section with a chicane to complete.
Sig Mayo qualified for the development races, her results included:
- Women’s Novice Champion
- 1st Women’s Development Classic
- 2nd Women’s Development Sprint
She came 9th in the overall race standings; an outstanding achievement. Sig Mayo said that “she found the exercise to be a fantastic opportunity to push herself out of her comfort zone and learn a challenging new form of skiing, meeting new people and forming new connections across a number of Corps and cap badges." She hopes to encourage other members of the R SIGNALS to take up this opportunity and attend next year as part of a R SIGNALS team at the 2024 championships.
