Page 101 - Mercian Eagle 2013

Exercise Dragon Montagna Eagle 18-31July 2013 By Pte David Everett (F-Coy)
Having had a relatively busy summer
with the Battalion already – part of which involved exercising in the shadows of the Dolomites, I was quite
wary of the challenge
that faced us in the
Alps. Nevertheless,
as I jumped out of the
minibus upon arrival in
Courmayeur and gazed
up at the impressive
backdrop to the small
camp, I welcomed this endeavour with keen eyes and a smile on my face.
The first two days consisted of finding our feet on the Mont Blanc massif. Luckly, the Alpini instructors were on hand to help and proved most informative as we got to grips with using our equipment and learning the basics of rescuing team-mates from crevasses. The second day culminated in
traversing a knife-edge ridge to the top of Aiguille du Midi, which required nerves of steel as it overlooked the French town of
acute effects of altitude sickness as we reached the Mountain lodge. Still, it was nothing that a few aspirin didn’t solve, and the next morning we scaled Monte Rosa, with its spectacular views of the Matterhorn in the distance. We even managed to fit in a little white-water rafting at the weekend. Certain members of the expedition were so keen to engage in the activity that they were even willing to forsake the raft as a formality and swim in the rapids, (if only momentarily).
Regrettably, a combination of weather and risk meant that we had to cancel our ascent of Mont Blanc. Still, I would gladly return to that beautiful region in order to redress that. If I’ve taken nothing else away from Dragon Montagna Eagle, it’s a new found love of mountaineering...well, that, and a strong desire not to eat pasta again for some time...
The first two days consisted of finding our feet on the Mont Blanc massif.
Chamonix, a long, long way down! There were plenty of hairy moments throughout the trip
in fact. Reaching the summit of Gran Paradiso for example involved scrambling over boulders and
clinging to rock faces in order to reach a statue of St Mary at the very top. I was bemused to find that even the precarious nature of this ascent did not stop the more impatient of climbers from pushing in front of groups to get to the summit first!
The trip to Monte Rosa proved a tad more interesting, as the height we climbed by the cable cars alone left me feeling the
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