Page 23 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

EXERCISE
DRAGON’S
CLIMB
Jack Munnings
In this article, Jack Munnings shares valuable lessons from the Infantry Battle School’s climbing and Via
Ferrata expedition to the Italian Dolomites
In the last week of May, 12 members of the Infantry Battle School (IBS) flew to the Dolomites. Throughout this piece, I will pass on some of the lessons we learnt. The idea was to get six days of Via Ferrata and climbing in. Having booked the trip in the first week of the season, this was seen as optimistic, considering the famous lightning storms and post- 1600hrs weather changes during the day. Until about a week before, there were sizeable amounts of snow still deposited around most of the higher Via Ferrata routes. Lesson one: properly consult the weather and season dates, as opposed to planning round a Forecast of Event. Afterall, you can’t move the weather. However, with Maj Al Mason fulfilling a weatherman function and providing regular updates, luckily on arrival most
of the snow had cleared and the team arrived under sunny skies in Venice.
IBS instructors spend around 20 weeks of the year living in the field, so accommo- dation had to be cost effective but also have a roof. This saw the team based just south of Misurina, providing decent access across the Dolomites. A point for anyone considering the Dolomites – the 17-person chalet cost a similar amount to camping per head, especially with the cost of vehicle parking and other elements added in. Once the team had settled in, kit was issued, plans hatched for the weeks training and the first pizzas from a local Italian restaurant were eaten.
The climbing focus of the trip was to give all attendees an experience of multi-pitch routes. To set the conditions for this, a mass assault took place onto the East Face of the Hexenstein. This gave everyone the chance to learn to belay before heading out with the RCIs on multi-pitch routes. But also avoiding some of the polish of some of the longer established sport venues or easy routes. For around 80% of the routes, it was necessary to stand on a large snow and ice deposit that still hadn’t melted, giving it an Alpine feel. Wet climbing shoes gave some people a good excuse for some of the harder routes. Another lesson learnt: the grading of the sport routes throughout
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 23