Page 85 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

The week began on Monday after we’d picked up our instructor and flown out to Kühtai, Austria. Although our group had a lot of skiing knowledge and experience collec- tively, none of us had in fact done the previous qualifications – SF1 or SF3. We knew it was going to be a challenging week.
First, we learnt the ins and outs of all the equip- ment we’d be using for the week’s training and expeditions. This included but was not limited to, the use of snow shovels, how to apply skins to our skis, the theory behind the use of ava- lanche probes and avalanche rucksacks. We then moved onto the local slopes to see how we faired.
OCdt Handley
through the use of a small circuit that wound up and down the side of a small hill, with trees act- ing as obstacles. We finished with a confirma- tory lap of the area before heading back to the accommodation for dinner. This was an essential day to prepare us for the tough tours we would do over the coming days.
On Wednesday we had our first major climb and experience of off-piste touring. The mountain we were to climb was named Perchkogl and loomed some 800 metres above us in the car park. We set off and immediately started climb- ing on quite a gradient. After reaching the sum- mit, we stopped for some quick photos, before
After getting our ski legs back on Monday, we spent Tuesday training the skills that would be necessary to conduct safe and efficient ski tour- ing. We drove out to an area near Kühtai, where the snow was good enough to get some prac- tice on skills such as the correct application of skins, kick turns, using touring bindings, going up and down hill with the bindings unlocked, the use of crampons for extra difficult terrain and avalanche drills. This practice was conducted
ory of what we’d learnt that day. Special mention must go to OCdt Percival for his fantastic culi- nary skills, providing us with hearty meals at the end of each day’s skiing. A particularly memora- ble meal was the home-cooked pizza that we all had a go at on Thursday night; needless to say some turning out more edible then others!
It was a truly memorable week of AT and one that has inspired us to take our new-found skills & passion for AT to our future units and soldiers.
Exercise KÜHTAI CADET
Our instructor, Derek, was keen to stop every 100m to provide his thoughts and insight on our skiing techniques. We began on blues and moved on to reds and blacks by the end of the day, having felt a real improvement in our skiing as we found our legs again.
We set off and immediately started climbing on quite a gradient.
beginning the treacherous ski back down the valley off-piste. This was a tremendous challenge and there were some impressive athletic dis- plays on the way down.
The evenings were spent listening to lectures from our instructor, Derek, and going through some of the the-
SANDHURST 83