Snowy Dragon is an annual skiing adventure training for the TA and regular components of 170 (Infra Sp) Engr Gp. It took place in Morzine, France from the 9 – 30 January 2010.
The objective of the exercise was to coach the students to enable them to attain basic or advanced ski proficiency in alpine skiing and ski touring proficiency in an arduous but safe environment.
A few days before we departed, the country encountered some of the worst weather seen in many years. We could have started some of our training in the UK, but there wasn’t that much snow. We were lucky that the roads and the airport had been cleared; the journey to Geneva was on time and trouble free. Our instructors had travelled by road to France a few days earlier and met us at Geneva airport.
We arrived at our accommodation and settled in. An exercise briefing was given by the instructors and admin team outlining activities to be conducted over the coming days. All the ski equipment was issued and we were ready to go.
The next day was an early start, the sun was shining and the snow was fantastic. We all skied the first few runs as a group allowing us to get our ski legs back. Some people got their technique back quicker then others, and some of us never had the technique in the first place. We were then split into smaller groups based on our ability.
The next few days were spent under constant instruction and everybody’s alpine skiing skills improved. The novices had started the week with no idea of how to stop or turn, by the end of the week they were parallel turning and carving down the slopes. Those of us who started with the basics had progressed to basic off piste skiing. We were now ready to commence the next phase of our training.
Touring was a far more arduous way to get around the mountains. Walking up hill on skis was quite a challenge. We were instructed in the use of the equipment. Each person was issued with a transmitter/receiver unit and trained in their use. These are used to locate people in the event of being buried in an avalanche. We received training in methods of searching which was both interesting and enjoyable.
The final element of touring was to master the skiing down hill once we had completed the climb. Trying to ski knee deep in the snow and not knowing what you were skiing over proved to be a challenge, but did have its funny side; many of us ended up face first in the snow. Although we initially thought that we were made to wear a back pack to keep our equipment in, we soon discovered that it was actually to give your friends some thing to pull you out of the snow with.
We all took a lot away from the training and the instruction was excellent. I believe that this training should continue to benefit soldiers in the future.