Page 67 - AGC Journal 2018

AGC JOURNAL 2018
Exercise White
Lion 2018
By Lieutenant Sam Smith
The Annual Exercise White Lion was held on the Stubai Glacier.
Stubai Glacier
Far away from the crowded ski resorts of
St Anton and Mayrhofen, and yet only a
30 minute drive from the beautiful city of
Innsbruck, Austria’s biggest glacier ski area
awaits. Renowned for its friendly locals,
challenging wide ski routes, state of the art ski
lifts and umbrella bar, the Stubai Glacier is the
perfect choice for Exercise White Lion 2018.
Teams
Competing teams and officials travelled from
the United Kingdom and Germany, some
flying out, whilst others made the long road
trip.
Accommodation
Teams were split down between properties
in Neustift and neighbouring villages. Next
was the team captain’s meeting and kit issue.
Skis, poles and boots were sought from local
stores as well as the food essentials needed
to supply the groups for the upcoming two
weeks. Stubai requires a 30 minute drive from
Neustift to the base of the main cable car so
teams were required to bring everything they
would need to survive eight hours on the
slopes.
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Week One
The first week followed a similar format in terms of structure.
Each team would make their own way to the glacier in order
to meet their instructors in the ‘Gamsgarten’ restaurant at
8 a.m. Teams were split down to best fit ability groups and
assigned an instructor. The purpose of the week was to learn
to ski (if you couldn’t already), hone existing skills, and learn
everything there is to know about the ‘Slalom’ and ‘Giant
Slalom’ disciplines of alpine downhill racing.
Week Two
Week two arrived and the teams were eager to start racing.
The instructors took a step back from instructing, focusing
instead on the smooth running of the Junior and Senior hills.
The skiers would compete twice a day, once in the morning
and again in the afternoon. Times would then be counted,
scores created and the running order for next day would then
be generated. The leader board was in a constant state of
change, especially for those in the top 15. Those coming fastest
in the morning would compete later in the afternoon to give
those nearing the 15th position a fair chance of competing on
good snow.
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