Exercise Vixen Eagle - Cross-country Skiing

Seven members of 606 were selected to attend the RAFs Exercise Vixen Eagle, a Nordic Skiing course aimed at personnel with all levels of Nordic Skiing experience. All the members from 606 had no experience at all, a complete unknown.

The day we were due to travel to the airport the snow arrived in the UK, which made everything considerably more difficult. The flight to Munich had been cancelled which meant getting 52 people to Germany was the main objective. After a 5 hour wait in what was the longest queue some of us had ever seen, we managed to get everyone on a flight to Stuttgart, adding an extra 2 hours onto the transfer but at least it meant we were on our way. We arrived in Zweisel around midnight and were shown to our chalets where we settled in for the night in anticipation for skiing the following day.

The next day, after collecting our Nordic ski equipment we were given our groups for e week. There were 3 categories bronze, silver and gold, each demanding higher skill and experience respectively. Everyone from 606 had been entered into bronze groups having never cross-country skied before. Fitness level was also taken into consideration so that all the groups were evenly matched. We boarded the buses to Bretterschachten ski area, which is wide undulating area largely wooded with coniferous trees and crisscrossed with tacks and cross-country ski trails.

The week progressed from leaning the first elements of cross country skiing such as the "diagonal gate", sliding one foot in front of the other, putting all your weight on the leading ski and combining the use of the poles to assist in propelling yourself forward. Sounds relatively easy on paper but unless you commit yourself fully to the movement you either don't get traction when going up hill or your skis start sliding in strange directions and potentially end up with you being closely acquainted with the snow. With perseverance though we all started to get the hang of it and each day there were new skills and longer distances being covered.

“Kick double pole”, “double pole”, and “half snowplough”, the skills were being picked-up and the terminology learnt. By day 3 we had pretty much got the basics and were covering numerous kilometres of “Loipe” (marked cross-country skiing track).

Day 5 was the tour day where we covered a 20Km route and ventured to the top of the Grosser Arber, the highest peak in the area; with an overall climb of around 400m it certainly tested everyone’s endurance and fitness levels. The hard work was rewarded with a lunch stop at the slipper café for some well-earned strudel and hot chocolate. As the name suggests, you’re welcomed with walls of slippers to change into before going upstairs to the warming hospitality and home-cooked food. Going back out into the cold the return leg was tough but it was certainly a satisfying day. We all slept well that night in preparation for the assessment and time trial day.

It was the last day and once the assessments had been competed we were all given a number in preparation for our individual time trial. 1.5Km route as fast as you can, it was an imperative to not let the red mist of the trial cloud your technique otherwise it was back to being like Bambi on skis and time just slipped away. This was followed by the main event, the team 4x500m relay, a comical event of fancy dress, teams going all-out on the uphill section and as much speed as you dare on the downhill to the finish. The finish was preceded by a sharp right-hand bend lined with people cheering and showing their encouragement, some even provided a gantlet of snowballs to avoid. It was all in good humour and everyone had a great time.

The last night was awards and presentations where everyone was awarded their skiing competency that they had achieved for the week. There were also other awards for fastest time trial and best fancy dress, 606 Sqn came away with Bob Lacey Memorial trophy for going “over and above” which was a great surprise to us all and humbly received. All had a great week and everyone who attended from 606 came away having learnt something new and achieved the bronze award. Many thanks to all of the instructors and organisers for putting on such a well organised event. We’ll be back next year!