Page 27 - QARANC Vol 14 No 6 2013

When: Where: Ex IC: Group:
1-16 Dec 12
Stubai Glacier, Austria
Sgt Lyon QARANC
Sgt Fordham QARANC, Cpl’s Rusk QARANC, Viggers QARANC, LCpl’s Beecham RAMC, Quinn RAMC, Pte Whatmough QARANC.
INTRODUCTION - Sgt Lyon
I realized when I started my tenure as Unit Snowboarding Rep that the main aim was to get troops boarding on a Winter Sports Development Camp in order to give the AMS a stronger foundation of snowboarders – spread the gospel of the board! Due to my early departure from the Unit on a long course, mid board season, the obvious option of the AMS camp was off the table, so luckily I managed to secure some places on Ex SUPREME GLACIER (SG), the REME’s Development Camp on the Stubai Glacier in Austria. They weren’t going to turn down the offer of a bus full of nurses were they!
Never one to do things the easy way I had to do the majority of the exercise planning and organization whilst deployed in Afghanistan. I was only due to return five weeks before departure! From an initial orbat of twelve I finally went firm
with seven due to work and private commitments, however it was a good mix of complete beginners and seasoned boarders all at the rank of Sgt or below. I got good financial backing from Brigade, Garrison and both QARANC and RAMC Associations. In conjunction with unit PRI funding I was able to set the personal contribution at £275 – beat that Thomas Cook! (Fingers are still crossed for the Army Sports Lottery Grant applications).
I have to say my biggest headache was the transport. My plan was to use a combi-van to drive to Austria, given none of us had D1 licenses, but TSU Catterick do not have one so it would have to go to hire and the expense was too much. They did however have a 17 seat minibus with winter tyres, back to the D1 problem. After a few more e-mails from Afghanistan I managed to link up with a REME
unit who were going on Ex SG with a plethora of D1 license holders. Our combined transport plan now allowed 102 Bn REME(V) to stand down one of their combi vans by accepting four seats in our bus, as long as they were taken up by D1 drivers – sorted!
After a drive across Europe that resembled a “Top Gear endurance challenge”, but we finally arrived in the picturesque Austrian alpine resort of Neustift. Whilst the girls unpacked and settled in I had a bit more admin to do by way of registration and hiring the kit that we couldn’t secure in the UK. The fact that the unit has six snowboards on its books was a massive plus and saved a lot of money – a wise investment!
Below are two accounts of Ex SG from different perspectives – a beginner and a seasoned rider.
THE GAZETTE QARANC 25
Exercise Supreme Glacier 2012 –
MDHU (Northallerton)