A map, a compass, skis and a backpack with compulsory equipment make up the necessary tools for the soldiers who participate in the Czech Army’s international winter outdoor polyathlon championships of Winter Survival 2012. This extreme competition is held in the Hruby Jeseník Mountains in really harsh conditions with temperature falling at night to minus 20 degrees centigrade and lots of snow everywhere.
Having spent another freezing night in the forest the soldiers started the next morning with the “fighter’s path” event in the vicinity of Karlova Studánka resort. There were eight checkpoints along the path, such as crawling under stretched ropes or through a tunnel, passing a suspended log, moving a thirty-kilo heavy backpack or close combat skills. They were wearing a gas mask during the event.
Passing through the event the teams had to retrieve indicia of the next movement from the “lampoon” and set out into the surrounding mountains. To be fast means sometimes rather putting on skis and take several kilometres more along the level line than choosing the shortest route across the valleys and deep snow.
“Actually, we do not mind the freezing cold, but moving across the mountains is punishing. It really requires all our effort,” confessed lieutenant Viktor Novotný of 73 tank battalion Přáslavice team.
The winter outdoor polyathlon in this year, arranged as ever by the University of Defence Physical Training and Sports Centre, is typical by high physical and mental demand placed on the athletes, especially when climbing the rock blocks or artificial obstacles. Probably the hardest event on Wednesday was that named “Balancer”.
It consisted in passing three sections of a rope way. The team members first climbed on a twenty-metre high rock to cross the gap from the rock to high tree tops on two “slacklines” and a horizontal beam. Two of them moved on the ropes and the third one on the beam to the goal. They used two rope loops to keep in balance. The ropes as well as the beam were divided by three painted lines into four sections. The event finished either by falling a team member to belaying or by crossing all four sections. Only one team, a Polish one, was able to finish the event successfully.
Another team withdrew from the competition during the day. The patrol for 44 light motorised battalion Jindrichuv Hradec was facing troubles with ski equipment and binding was what eliminated them.
After arrival in the stage finish there was another test of special skills. The soldiers were tasked to administer first aid to persons injured by a grenade blast. In Veronika chalet next to Ovcarna facility, the team members were to treat several serious injuries, such as open pneumothorax, devastating upper limbs injury, arterial bleeding or deep lacerated wounds in face. The models were masked by a Red Cross personnel and event accomplishment was assessed by Czech military health service professionals. Authentically looking injuries made a large impact on competitors’ psyche.
Eventually, the endurance stage eliminated nine teams of seventeen from the championships. The best teams in the period of three days were for Military Police, Ammunition base Tyniste nad Orlici and 73 tank battalion Praslavice I.
How is going University of Defence team II, the only one of the three that remained in the competiton? After the first stage they ranked in 8th position.
Text: Pavel Pazdera, WS 2012 press officer, photo: Jiří Pařízek and author