A 34-YEAR-old St Arvans man has joined the ranks of daring winter sportsmen, taking on one of the last fully amateur high-speed sport tracks in the world.

Competing on the infamous toboggan Cresta Run in southern Switzerland, Captain Benjamin Cooper, formally of 1RIFLES in Beachley, joined the annual Army Cresta Championships and became the fastest infantryman in his category.

New to the sport, Captain Cooper competed on 24th January after training on the ice over the course of the week. He achieved the fasted time of any infantryman in the Junction Handicap race, coming eighth overall, and sixth in the novice competition.

Currently serving with Reading-based 7RIFLES, Captain Cooper and his team-mate, Sergeant Harry Sowerby, represented the Rifles in the race for the 17th/ 21st Lancers Inter-regimental Cup, winning eighth place.

The Cresta Run, in St Moritz, was first built in 1885 and attracts amateur thrill-seakers from across the world.

The ice run sees entrants toboggan at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, down the three-quaters-of-a-mile long track, tackling the course's ten fearsome corners.

On the Cresta Run, male only riders go down alone, lying on a toboggan head-first, using rakes on the end of special boots to brake and steer.

Captain Cooper spoke of the importance of the army's involvement in the sport: "If soldiers can learn to manage their fears at the top of the Cresta Run, they are more likely to harness their fear when deploying on operations.

"It's all about exposure to risk."