RAOC Gazette - page 11
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1977 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1977 |
| Late date | 1977 |
| Transcription |
EXERCISE IJV SNOW CAPTAIN C. IT is just live years since Corps skiers first took an interest in ihe Army Ski Association Meeting in Scotland; there were four RAOC entranls. The Annual Meeting consists of three days of giant slalom competition for the Regular Army and T and AVR, WRAC and Novices, The Cairngorm Mountain slopes near Aviemore. Inverness-shire are used for the event. The problem for Corps skiers was a lack of organisation *'rxc no facilities existed and as a result., only the keenest -.dividuals L had a go/ Major General Stanyer, during his i.me as Chairman of Corps Ski-ing, decided to overcome this problem by providing an annual base camp, to be established for the period of the Scottish Ski Championships. This idea has now developed into what is known as Exercise Snow Plough. Colonel Berresford took over the Chairmanship of Corps Ski- ing in 1975 and building upon the foundation laid by General Stanyer, formed a Ski committee whose aim is to promote and I'oster Corps Ski-ing and in particular, to provide adequate facilities in UK for those Corps members who learn to ski in B \OR- The committee has ambitious plans and has developed ' o major Adventure Training Exercises, Snow Plough; the 1977 Exercise described in this article and Knees Bend, the name given to the newly formed RAOC Scottish Ski Hut. Exercise Knees Bend will be described in a later article but as a result of these two Exercises, over two hundred Corps skiers and affiliated WRAC, have enjoyed excellent training facilities. Snow Plough consists of a tented base camp with support- ing staff formed from one of the Field Force Units. Their task is to provide the accommodation and food for Corps participants in the ASA Scottish Meeting. The Camp is located y.ich year beside Loch Morlick in Glenmore, a picturesque siting amongst spruce forests and beside the sandy shored ioch. This year it fell to 19 Ordnance Field Park to provide the camp and staff. K. PIX)I O i l M V K H A Y Major General Minogue, Together with Mrs Minogue* gave considerable support and encouragement to the Corps teams RAOC Units participated this year (out of a total of forty one from Ihe Army). The Corps teams coming from Headquarters Northern Ireland, Training Centre, the Apprentices College, 10 Ordnance Support Battalion, CAD Kineton, CAD Bramley, COD Bicester, COD Donnington, CVD Ashchurch and RAOC from the Royal Marines Logistic Support Group; in all about seventy participants. In addition, fourteen WRAC (RAOC) skiers from CODs Bicester and Donnington took part. From the beginning of the week the weather was fairly kind to us and much credit must go to 19 Ordnance Field Park for their smooth handling of the administration which enabled the skiers to concentrate on their ski-ing. achieving a maximum amount of time on the slopes in practice. The camp itself is not an easy one to run and is not in the most sheltered position —as we found to our cost on the Tuesday night, A freak wind, registered at one hundred miles per hour, hit the site and literally in seconds all but the Dining Tent and Cookhouse was de- molished. Tentage took off, kit was blown away, and at one point a valiant Staff Sergeant (who shall remain nameless) was seen to be hang-gliding from a tent as it swept across the camp site. It was a miracle that no one was hurt, and judging by the debris, it looked as though Exercise Snow Plough would have to be cancelled. But through dint of hard work and unselfish action, the inhabitants knuckled down to salvaging what re- mained. Tents were recovered, the woods were searched for personal kit that had blown away and by 0300 hrs most of the debris was secured. It was with gratitude to the Head Forester who lent us the heated loft of his offices and with great relief, that we finally spent a short nighfs sleep on hard, but sheltered, wooden floors. A calmer moment at the base camp By Thursday the 17th the various teams had begun to show their ability and it was soon apparent that the dark horses would be Headquarters Northern Ireland. Bicester and the Training Centre were the favourites followed closely by the Kineton team. Bramley, Donnington. Ashchurch and 10 Ord- nance Support Battalion were also well in the running for a team prize. By this time nerves were beginning to show, and the ' apres ski' practice of drowning one's sorrows was in full swing. The Meeting took place from 17th to 19th March. The vVRAC Novices and Apprentices to race on the 17th, followed sy the Regular Army on the 18th for the Team Prizes, with the £nal day of the 19th covering the races for the T and AVR and Regular Individual Prizes. It was planned to set up the camp early so that our skiers had a few days to acclimatise to the unique snow and weather conditions of the Cairngorms. Ten 3 — |
| Book number | R0246 |