A NORTH YORKSHIRE soldier has been honing her military skills in the freezing environment of the snow-capped French Alps.

Lance Corporal Carly Joanne Armstrong, 21, of 5 Army Air Corps was one of 300 soldiers to compete in the Army skiing contest Exercise Pipedown, in the French Alpine town of Les Contamines de Montjoie near Mont Blanc.

Former Pindar School student Carly, of Scarborough, who joined the Army in 2007 and has completed tours in Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, took part in the Alpine (downhill) event after learning how to ski as part of an Army skiing course.

She said: “I only started learning to ski just eight weeks before the competition started. I asked my career manager if I could get into skiing. I trained in Austria and found that I really enjoyed it.”

Despite being a relative novice on the snow, Carly finished a creditable 53rd out of 77 compeititors.

Exercise Pipedown is part of the British Army’s programme of winter sports and provides an important opportunity to hone important skills and help soldiers withstand the rigors of operations and rapid deployments.