The journey went smoothly and we arrived in
Mittersill without incident, we were staying in two man rooms in a very pleasant
Austrian guest house.
Our first day skiing was met with glorious weather, we were
split into groups according to ability or experience. The quivering wrecks also
known as ‘beginners’ were taken trembling to the nursery slopes. After half
an hour of head scratching and confusion, they concluded that there actually is
no left or right ski. Following this arduous aptitude test, an introduction was
giving in the principles of ski touring and an explanation of the equipment
used. This was followed by an easy tour for the students to find their ski legs.
The evening comprised of lectures on avalanche risks and avoidance of cold
injuries, a practical demonstration was also given on waxing skis.
By day two, we had found our feet and were coping quite
comfortably with red slopes, where it was also discovered that Gnr Lowes could
gracefully perform the splits.
Over the next couple of days, conditions became more testing
with heavy snowfall, blizzard conditions. However, this served only to improve
our confidence and co-ordination, especially with judging turns in poor
visibility and flat light, which meant contours were practically invisible.
Day three began with a ski touring expedition, which Gnr Byrne
had not so enthusiastically described as ‘stinking of effort’, but by the
end of the day, she was a convert and hopes to go to Norway for the 5 day Tour
Leader Trainer course.
After sticking the skins to our skis, we took it in turns to
trail blaze a course, through almost waist-deep snow, up the mountain to a
pre-designated area, where we found a ‘body’ buried in an avalanche using
peps transceivers. We were also taught how to gauge the depth and stability of
freshly fallen snow in potential avalanche areas, how to probe for avalanche
victims, and how to build snow holes to increase your chances of survival in an
emergency situation, and how to use and emergency shelter.
Towards the end of the week the advanced group had progressed
sufficiently to tackle the notorious Hahnenkamm run, renowned as one of the
toughest slopes on the world cup circuit, where speeds of up to 90mph can be
reached, along with a jump of 80 meters. This was the highlight of the week for
the advanced skiers, who travelled about 35k in total that day.
The expedition was exceptional, despite a minor glitch in the
form of mild D and V – less the V... which made for a few emotional runs down
the mountain. Everyone, bar none, gained something from the trip, whether it be
a qualification, a new found love for the sport or muscles in places they didn’t
know existed.
The aim of the expedition was to develop leadership, courage,
team spirit, fitness and the qualities necessary to enhance the performance of
the students, especially those that are due to be mobilised and encourage
retention and recruitment. These aims were achieved in spades despite the
extremely bad weather at times, which brought out the qualities of discipline
and the determination to succeed, these are the types of qualities which
increased all the members operational effectiveness overall.
Thanks to
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working in
partnership with
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