Page 14 - RADC 2016

Ex KLETTERSTEIG TIGER 2016
By Major Drew McLean RADC
At the beginning of June 2016 I was informed by the Master at Arms at ATR Winchester that I had been chosen to represent HQ Sqn and the RADC on Exercise Klettersteig Tiger; it appeared to be an excellent opportunity to man up and to conquer my fear of heights!
Ex Klettersteig Tiger was a Level 3 Adventurous Training exercise that also combined a Battle eld Study: The exercise involved climbing in the Italian Dolomites in an area that was ercely contested during the Great War from May 1915 onwards. The team from ATR Winchester consisted of the MAA and his gymnasium staff, three training Corporals, two very t Warrant Of cers,
two ultra-marathon running Of cers (one of whom was the CO), and I.
The area of Northern Italy in which we climbed was Austrian territory prior to the war. The Italians captured and retained this ground during the allied victory. This land capture was one of the primary reasons for Italy joining the Triple Entente in the May of 1915. One in six Austrian military lives was lost in Dolomites during the con ict. (http:// www.dolomythos.com/en/lexikon/ rst- world-war.asp)
Quite unlike LCpl Taylor’s experience my attendance on this Exercise did not involve ying to South Africa with Emirates! Instead it involved a joyous 23 hour drive from Winchester in a short convoy of vehicles. As an old(er) man I was in the “fortunate” situation to be one of only three licenced minibus drivers. This was not to be a negative experience as we had the most amazing roads to drive in the Sella Ronda.
I believe that the drivers of Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, Maseratis, and superbikes, thoroughly enjoyed being held up during their dream drives by our white eet vehicles! This was also a really big area for road cyclists; with the roads being closed off at times for various events.
During the War both the Austrians and the Italians attached metal ropeways, ladders and rungs to the mountains. On the Austrian
side this is referred to as Klettersteig and on the Italian side Via Ferrata. The iron ropeways were placed in areas where it was dif cult but also essential to climb. They allowed troops to move themselves and supplies in an easier and slighter safer fashion. They were however still exposed to enemy re, shelling, avalanches, rock falls and adverse weather.
Essentially Klettersteig/Via Ferrata is like
12 RADC BULLETIN 2016
ADVENTUROUS TRAINING