Page 40 - QARANC Vol 14 No 8 2014

38 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Ex DRAGON MEDIC 2013
Exercise Dragon Medic is open to both Regular & Reserve personal. It takes place in Dombas, Norway. The 2013 exercise took place from the 19th November to the 17th December. This exercise will take the complete beginner and teach them to cross country ski (Nordic skiing) using both the classic and skating methods. Those people that have experience in Nordic skiing the exercise will develop them further to gain an intermediate qualification and also further develop people into ski leaders in order to prepare them to go onto their Nordic Ski Instructors course. This exercise is also an opportunity for teams to train for the competitions that start in January 2014.
I have done a good amount of downhill skiing but only a brief amount of Nordic skiing. I looked at Ex Dragon Medic as an opportunity to learn how to Nordic ski to get the techniques right and practice them over a week. I was not disappointed.
My journey started with a flight from Gatwick to Oslo Gardermoen, which was just under 2 hrs. I had pre booked my train ticket from Oslo Lufthavan to Dombas in the UK. The train journey is 4 hours but you travel through some lovely scenery. The train station is in the airport (very similar to Gatwick) with the ticket machines at the entrance to get your pre booked tickets from.
I was met at Dombas train station and taken to the hotel where I would be staying for the week. As well as the hotel there were self-catering cabins that accommodated teams. The hotel had a sauna & Wi-Fi, which were a real treat.
Wednesday 11th December was my first day and I was joining Andy’s group. We were meeting in the lobby of the hotel at 0830. It was still dark as sunrise in Norway this time of year is not until 0940. The sun does rise but it does not make it over the hills that surround Dombas so for the whole week I was there I never saw the sun. We all walk up the hill to the stadium and put our boots on in the hut that is up there. We were skating first so I brought out what I thought were my skating skis only to be told that they were classis skis. So my first skating lesson was on classic skis but it gave me an idea. We stayed around the stadium and practised our technique.
After lunch it was back up the hill and this time it was classic skiing. I had Fish
scales as classic skis. We went around the loop in the stadium and then ventured up the M1, as it is known. The sun sets about 1500 this time of year so you tend to finish about 1600.
Thursday 12th Dec followed the same format as Wednesday with the only difference being the weather. There was a thaw and the temperature was up at plus 4 degrees. The snow was melting from the roof and also on the ground. If you did not have waterproof boots then your feet got very wet going up the 800m to the stadium. Now to me there is nothing worse than wet feet before you start your training. I was very thankful I had brought my Lowa boots. We skated and worked on technique and had some fun relay races at the end to finish off the skate morning session. In the afternoon it was back to classic and we headed out along the track and up the M1. The wind had picked up and the snow was still melting and the track was a little worse for wear. To compound matters we felt rain on our faces. Looking behind us we could see the weather front that was coming and had been forecast. The decision was made to head back to the stadium as there is no point in being out in the rain.
Friday 13th Dec we got the go ahead as the weather front had gone and it had snowed overnight to go on a classic ski tour. We brought a packed lunch, extra cloths and gloves in a day sack and headed up the hill. We came out about half way up the downhill ski slope, which overlooks the hotel. It was a clear day with blue skies so we had a fantastic view as far as the eye could see. I took out my phone to take a picture and managed to get one picture before and a panoramic
video before my phone turned itself off due to the cold. Lesson learned; keep electronics warm if you want to use them in the cold.
It was back onto the track and onwards and upwards from there. We came out of the woods and along the track to some buildings. We were heading to the next village. The was one bit that was very exposed and very icy so after our 2 lead people falling decision was made to take skis off and walk this treacherous 100m.
Skis back on and we continued to this village which had no signs of life around. The roofs of the houses were covered with soil and had green stuff growing on it. This is done for insulation. We kept going until we found a spot for lunch. Andy our instructor had brought a group shelter for us to eat lunch in. We sat on our bags inside our shelter and ate lunch. The warmth that the shelter brings with 8 people inside is great. Andy warned us that once we got out from under the shelter it was very important to keep moving and get back on our skis smartly and start to head back. The chill went right through you once outside the shelter. I got my skies on quick smart and started to move. My error was putting on slightly damp gloves that were not wind proof and the feeling in my hands was lost in just a couple of minutes. I have heard people say about losing all feeling in their hands and that their hands feel like they do not belong to them. I now know that feeling and had to stop and break out my mittens before my hands got any worse. The simple task of undoing pinch clips was much harder as I had no feeling in my hands. With my mittens on it was go, go, go. I could feel the life start to come back into my hands and