Page 10 - 2002 AMA Winter

Exercise Bavarian Jubilee 04-19 May 2002
brave went climbing at a place named Tiefenbach and the stupid went drowning... sorry... kayaking. I was attached to SSgt Dodwells’ climbing helmet for the day which was great in the sunshine but I was kidnapped by Lt Claire Sapwell whilst he was performing some rock hugging on a more difficult climb. Unfortunately this meant I was to spend another day with Dolph - but this time down the front of his trousers to avoid further kidnapping incidents.
Wednesday 08 May 2002
The group split into three today.
Group 1 - Alpine walkers set off to the top of the Hochgrat mountain (1834m) via cable car. They undertook a ridge walk taking in four peaks. The walk was overshadowed for Re Sharon McMahon by SSgt Paul Dodwell’s imitation bird noises and everybody pointing to imaginary birds.
Group 2 - Kayakers were joined by members of HQ 4 Div (who were also staying at Haus Magnus) because their kayaking instructor had injured himself. So Capt. Jim Strickland agreed to help them out and take them under his wing.
Group 3 - The alpine moun­ taineering group set of in the Zugspitze/Hollental valley in search of some snow. They undertook a day walk up to the snow line along a path with an impressive 500m sheer drop of to one side
W02 Yvonne Woods nearly got to take care of me when she tried getting out of her kayak with the spay deck still attached, as did Dolph when he decided to throw some of his climbing equipment down the rock whilst climbing. But the Chef CpI Paul Merrony saved both of these. It is worth explaining that Paul lives and works in Bavaria and has done so for a number of
The adventures of Mr. Beaver!
From the 04-19 May 2002 Exercise Bavarian Jubilee took place, unsurpnsingly in Bavaria. Germany. The aim of the exercise, was to develop in indi­ viduals the qualities of moral and physical courage and lead­ ership, through challenging team and individual adventur­ ous activities It was the culmi­ nation of a number of Deep Ranger adventurous training weekends and courses and on 04 May 2002, 22 enthusiastic candidates set off for Germany from Grantham.
For those that aren't aware. Deep Ranger is the adventur­ ous training unit for the RLC TA. It runs weekend, week and two week long courses sometimes in the UK, sometimes abroad. Activities range from hillwalking to kayaking to rock climbing
and mountaineering and Deep Ranger caters for all levels of expenence. If this sounds like it may be of interest, you should make contact with your unit rep­ resentative in the first instance.
As a way of boosting morale throughout the trip, by highlight­ ing faux pas and misde­ meanours a special member of the Deep Ranger Team came along. Standing just three inches high, covered from head to toe in fur with a shiny black
nose, this team member came to Germany with a mission. His mission was to accompany those whose mouth often works without first contacting the brain, those for whom the thought process often starts after the event and to give them time to think about their wrong-doing. May the Deep Ranger Team introduce to you Mr. Beaver.
If you had the pleasure of Mr. Beavers' company for the day you had to keep him dry, in your possession at all times and upon the cry of ‘Challenge Beaver’ show him within thirty seconds to the challenger. Easy...hmmmmm!
Fortunately for all of us being the professional that he is, Mr. Beaver keeps a diary and has kindly allowed us to use it for the benefit of telling everybody about the expedition.
Saturday 04 May 2002.
After an uneventful crossing through the channel tunnel
and France and Belgium I'd had no one to spend the day with. I knew that it wouldn’t be long and sure enough Lt Hinton (the event organiser) became my first carer after dis­ playing some rather unortho­ dox convoy skills in his turbo­ charged Sherpa van. We
stayed overnight in Rheindalen in transit accommodation.
Sunday 05 May, 2002.
Not much to say about today really. Three mini buses and a transit van travelling through Germany on the autobahns - that's as exciting as it gets. We arrived late afternoon at Haus Magnus, an Army-run guest­ house situated in Wertach, Bavaria, Southern Germany. The standard of food and accommodation was good so we looked set for a good fortnight.
Monday 06 May 2002.
After two days on a mini bus, every body was in dire need of fresh air and leg stretching. So in small groups we set off on gentle day walk through the Bavarian countryside, from Wertach to Nesslewang. Wertach is situated at approx. 900m above sea level and we reached a height of 1250m on route so nothing to strenuous, but enough to get some clean air in to your lungs and some oxygen in your blood. During our walk SSgt Paul ’Dolph’ Dodwell decided that it would be beneficial for us all to leam more about the local flora, fauna and wildlife. This for him involved dissecting local bird faeces and discussing what said bird had been eating. Guess who I was going to spend the next day with? In the afternoon we all took a swimming test in the local pool, followed by an
hour of childish energy burning in the water slides.
Tuesday 07 May 2002.
Today we split into two groups. The brave and the stupid. The
ARMY MOUNTAINEER