Meet the Meribel daredevil debutant who lost his arm just three years ago
Every year at the Inter Services snow sports championships at Meribel, there are first-time competitors experiencing the French Alps.
This year, one of those debutants is Lance Corporal Jack Silverwood from 1 Yorkshire Regiment who is part of the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport team.
In 2019, he suffered a traumatic injury in Germany when he lost his arm, but now, he's at Meribel and aiming for more.
He said: "I jumped out of a tree in Germany into some water and on the way down, the rope caught my arm and just tore my arm off.
He recalls a meeting a year later which changed everything: "Amy Richardson caught me in the guardroom. I was going to pick up some Covid tests and she chased me out of the guardroom.
"I'd had a bit of week where I'd been in a lot of trouble.
"She turned around and said 'Oh you've got an arm off – do you want to come snowboarding?'
"Next thing I knew, we were in Castleford snowboarding. I loved it."
LCpl Silverwood's style of snowboarding is sure to catch the eye.
He races on the edge with a determination to be the fastest as he explained: "I like aggressive snowboarding. I like big turns and kicking a lot of powder up.
"We had about an hour to get from one end to the other end and it's a good two-hour ride.
"We did it in 45 minutes. I like to think I can get around the mountain fast."
But will that daredevil style result in a place at the Paralympics?
"I hope so," he said.
"I don't want to say yeah but I'd like to."
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