The party that followed that evening gave the cadets an opportunity to meet some of the other teams.  Outside of our uniforms the other teams let their guard down and ended up having a great time with everyone.  Other teams started to realize that though we were all military members, we were university students like the rest of them. 

On Thursday at 5 a.m. we left the hotel and headed to the hill.  RMC’s sled stood next to elaborate designs covered in shiny fiberglass atop small concrete skis, and an impressive display of hydraulic systems.  With everyone else in their costumes, we stood quietly in our winter combats and mukluks.  It was clear that we were the new guys, and definitely the underdogs.  When we arrived at the pre-race brief we found out that our sled was one of the first teams to go down the hill.  Together we gathered up our kit and headed up the hill.  The crowd cheered for every team as they went down the hill.  It was a thrill to see hundreds of hours of work finally being put to its practical use.  We watched in awe as toboggan after toboggan screamed down the slopes before us.  The average time down the hill was 25+ seconds, with top speeds estimated at around 40 km/hr. 

It was finally our turn to go.  Five officer cadets squeezed into the sled a little nervous, and unsure of the outcome.  Due to a lack of snow in Kingston, It was the toboggan’s first run down any hill, and no one was sure if the brakes even worked or not.  The flag was dropped, and with a push the team was sent over the hill.  As we came speeding down the hill, the crowd was stunned.  Blasting through the finish line, our braking system sent an explosion of snow atop the audience.  By the time the snow had settled the sled had come to a complete stop.  Seeing the sled still intact and the crew safe, the crowd was somewhat confused for a split second.  The silence was followed by an eruption of cheering as they stood and sang the national anthem.  We had taken the hill in just over 15 seconds, with speeds doubling some opponents.  The bar was set and RMC was the team to beat. 

At the end of the first of two runs, we were one of the fastest teams.  On our second run we changed our riders around a bit, putting new riders in each position.  With a mighty push we were sent flying down the hill.  The snow, compacted from many runs, sent our toboggan off towards a wall.  Correcting for this the sled had to be redirected, resulting in a fishtail.  At the top of the hill another team member turned to our pusher and said, “Nice push, but it looks like your team is done.”  He turned and replied, “Oh, not just yet.”  And sure enough the sled went from 45 degrees, straightening out just before crossing the finish line.  This was the fastest run and our time remained unbeaten all day. 

At the ceremony Saturday evening there were a number of smaller awards given including best concrete design, best team spirit, and top speed.  People from every team came up to congratulate us on our run.  We knew were in good standing to get best rookie team.  But the actual overall award for the week was based on a number of components, including quality of the technical report, design of concrete and brakes, deceleration rate, and team spirit, just to name a few.  It became obvious that we were the crowd favourite when the announcement of the best rookie team was interrupted by the crowd chanting, “R.M.C , R.M.C.!” before the winners were announced.  

We had picked up two smaller awards (best rookie team and fastest average speed of the day), but were curious how we did overall.  As they announced 3^rd and 2^nd place teams we began to think that we may not have done as well as we thought.  But the room exploded in cheering when the organizing committee of the host school announced, “Royal Military College of Canada” for first place overall.  The entire room, consisting of some 500 young engineers, stood up and once again sang the national anthem.  It was an unforgettable experience. 

As a group we would like to thank everyone who was involved in getting us there, providing funding, support, and technical advice.  This would not have been possible without the work of everyone involved. 

For all of us, this experience reminded us how little the general public knows about the military and RMC.  I was surprised by the reaction of others when we were in uniform.  It was a humble reminder how the public views our uniformed image apart from our personal one.  We went from being the unknown underdog to the crowd favourite.  Another team later approached us and said “We were happy to lose to you.”  I have no doubt in my mind that the Canadian Forces left a positive impression on hundreds of future engineers across Canada 

The whole class deserves congratulations for all the work that they have put into the event.  Team members are: 

OCdt Gourd; OCdt Rubletz; OCdt Kang; OCdt Harding; OCdt MacDonald; OCdt Donald; OCdt Leblanc; OCdt Jupp; OCdt Payant; OCdt Spilkin; OCdt Bosse; OCdt Bolduc