Page 77 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

Exercise ALPINE WARRIOR 2019
On a cold Sunday morning at the end of another challenging term of the Regular Commissioning Course at the Academy,
a group of five cadets from the Intermediate Term set off for Kuhtai in the Austrian Alps for an adventurous training expedition with the aim of learning the art of Ski Touring and gaining the Ski Foundation 3 qualification.
Fully rested after our first night in the outstandingly quiet alpine village of Oetz, our week started with a day of skiing in the resort of Kuhtai in order to refresh the basics and blow off the cobwebs. This also gave us a chance to get used to our touring skis, which are much lighter than regular alpine skis and therefore require a bit more finesse to make it down the mountain without a face full of snow.
The next day we set out on the first of our tours, out into the back mountains around Kuhtai. Whilst all members of the group were experi- enced alpine skiers, none had been touring on skis before and as such the art of walking uphill with skis attached to feet proved a little tricky for some. However, before long we had begun to get the hang of things and were making pro- gress up the mountain to discover how spec- tacular the scenery is outside of the hustle and bustle of a ski resort.
Having reached the top of a particularly steep section of the mountain, it was time to turn around and ski back home. It was at this point that Peter, our instructor, became acutely aware of our lack of experience at off-piste skiing, as the group proceeded to put on a masterclass
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of how not to ski down a mountain, and spent more time finding skis lost in the powder after a fall than actually skiing on them. However, with some excellent coaching from Peter and strong perseverance from the group, we were all able to make it back down the mountain in one piece ready to go again the next day.
Over the remainder of the week we undertook a further series of tours around the mountain, all the while improving our ability to go both up and down hill without falling over. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, we were shown a number of techniques to understand and mitigate the risk of avalanches on the mountain whilst out touring. From digging into the snow- pack to understand how stable it was and the likelihood of avalanche, through to using con- ducting transceiver searches and digging out simulated casualties, the course was insightful, and we all walked away with a greater under- standing of mountain and avalanche safety.
On our final day of the trip, having completed the required number of tours for the SF3 qualifica- tion, we ventured over to the larger nearby resort of Solden to have a day back in the familiarity of piste skiing and working on improving our alpine skiing technique.
Overall, the trip was equal parts educational, challenging and enjoyable, and each of the members of the expedition left with a new set of skills that will certainly be put into use in the not so distant future on further AT trips once we all arrive at our units later this year.
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