Military Ski Training Facilties (w/ Photos)

[Lhartley]

They train in the Revelstoke backcountry in sled access zones and Roger's Pass

[Lhartley]

Check out the Instagram page @jtf2.canada

[mongol8]

This page has some good info about discounts available to military skiiers: https://www.moaa.org/content/benefits-a ... -getaways/

[Manney]

Awesome. Thanks for posting. Wish they applied to me… but will sure be helpful to some members.

Might be worth starting your own thread, so ppl can add things not well publicized. Betcha lots of mom and pop outfits in America, Canada, and Europe offer some sweetheart deals to serving and retired members.

[Manney]

Post script…

Had a look at the Instagram photo… one only, taken thru night vision goggles (certainly not clear enough to identify the split board). Given the unit involved and only one set in view, doesn’t appear to be an item that is part of the military normal inventory.

Saw the same sort of thing (one off skis, not split board) in a photo of a member of the Israeli Defence Force… excluded that one too.

Trial gear appears in military photos from time to time. It’s very interesting because it shows that soldiers will try all kinds of things. It can take time after an initial trial for stuff to undergo more stringent testing, acceptance, contracts, and distribution. So will put split boards on a BOLO (be on the lookout) in an operational setting…

Also saw a video of SOF shooting on skis. More ski, stop quickly, shoulder weapon, fire at target. Almost instinctive shooting but nothing remotely similar to Black Diamond Tommy Guns blazing Nazis falling Hollywood stuff.

If the person who sent that to me could, please post (want to see credit given to the member who found it). It’s different than the slower and more deliberate crossed-ski-poles-while-shooting technique that the Finnish Defence Force backcountry skiers favor but interesting none the less.

US and allies have adopted this technique from our Finnish friends. Photo of German Army soldiers demonstrating this technique from the standing position below.

Cool article here…

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/202 ... wehr-skis/

Love the quote “biathalon on full auto”. LOL

Might be a good future subject… videos of military skiing competently (not recruits falling in training… we all have first hand experience of falling on skis) and doing real tasks. Not that any of us here doubt that they do!

[Manney]

Northern Warfare Training Center Manual

[Manney]

Finished reading German Ski Training and Tactics. This manual was written for the German Army based on experience taken from the Finns (who had an alliance with Germany in the war years as a way of power balancing against the Soviet Union).

The small unit stuff wasn’t of much interest but the section entitled “Marches on Skis” was very good… more pathfinding type stuff.

https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/f ... mber20.pdf

[Manney]

New entry for Japan, based on info gleaned through recently obtained videos.

https://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic. ... 034#p61803

Japan appears to be unique because it delivers basic military ski training at (1) civilian ski facilities and (2) teaches to the Japanese Ski Association Standard using instructors with formal civilian qualifications. Militaries don’t typically do either for cost, logistical and operational reasons.

The upside is that soldiers who pass JSDF training could end up with recognized civilian proficiency qualifications. This could later be applied quite easily to being an instructor or civilian ski patroller. The end result, however, is that JSDF skier skills are directly comparable to civilian skiers who have completed formal training. This is not the same as other countries, where it is hard to draw a clear connection based on overall skiing proficiency.

This is a good segue to explain military terminology and reflect on military skiing in general.

Orientation is an informal process; basically a “show and tell” with an opportunity to try out gear. It is sometimes done beside another soldier who has basic proficiency with a piece of equipment. This sort of thing occurs at very low levels and doesn’t result in the granting of any specialist qualification.

Individual training is the formal application of instruction, like a course, to students. In this case, basic, intermediate or advanced skiing over a period of at least a week (often more). Individual training involves performance checks which, if successful, lead to the granting of a specialist qualification, badge, or assignment to a jaeger or alpine unit.

Militaries don’t normally buy lift tickets for their troops (except for things like unit morale day etc.). It’s not the 4H club or the Boy Scouts. So if you see uniformed troops in a video on a ski hill, they are there for a reason. And that reason isn’t “practice”. They can do that in a military training area free of charge. It’s to receive “training”. Sometimes it is for active tasks, like patrolling and field security when the hill or area borders a sensitive site or an important event.

Exercises are a form of collective training, typically involving groups of soldiers at the unit level and below… shoot, move, and communicate kind of stuff. Manoeuvres are larger scale… involving multiple units, within which general and specialized functions are applied as a means of confirming combat efficiency and effectiveness. Loading, transport, insertion, movement, targeting, engagement, withdrawal, redeployment. Activities of this nature involve troops that have already received individual training, if for no other reason than to reduce the chance that personal accidents don’t derail a large scale activity (think of somebody unfamiliar with skis fouling a rotor blade or the disruption caused by an untrained skier requiring rescue after losing control and skiing off a cliff).

This helps explain why some nations (Japan), or even units (National Guard) conduct training at civilian ski centres. It isn’t a place to “practice” skiing… it’s just one way to deliver formalized training to individual soldiers. Like taking a lesson on a ski hill (in a group, not a private lesson), as opposed to buying a lift ticket and going skiing.

It also explains why it is unwise to draw conclusions from a single photo or video of troops on skis. Without knowing the context, erroneous conclusions can be drawn about a force’s winter warfare proficiency.

The distinction being made is no different than operating in the field and going camping. The military does the first. Civilians do the second. One is a profession punctuated by lack of sleep and limited food choices. The other is a pastime involving fun diversions and singing around the camp fire. Both involve tents and trees but are quite different.

So anyone wanting to emulate military ski training should take a course from a qualified instructor. That course could be basic, intermediate, or advanced skiing… or avalanche training, or a NSP level. Just don’t forget to get the full “practice” experience by donning an 80# pack, ski 20-30 miles a day before pitching a tent, eating MREs, and standing sentry duty before getting four hours of sleep a night for a week or so after your course. Maybe do it again with 5,000 buddies the day after flying half way around the world. (Don’t worry about jet lag… it feels the same as normal exhaustion).

Unless you’re in an alpine unit. Then you spend most of your time skiing after initial training so far from a ski lift that you start seeing them in your sleep. Same 80#s, only this time it’s on the verts with crampons until you get to a high altitude OP… or practice alpine rescue until your shoulders and mid back can’t take it any more. There is a bit of pow skiing, but you pay for it.

So why write about military ski training? It’s of genuine interest to some people. Other “heroes” love to laugh and brag about the funny things they see soldiers doing on skis. LOL, ROFL, Ha ha. You know the drill.

If most of these folks actually did military skiing for more than a day or two, they’d return to their retirement homes a hot mess and never even look at their skis for the rest of the season. But the rest of us… those with a pinch of humility and a deliberately expired lift pass… understand that skiing can be harder in some forms than others.

[wooley12]

This popped up in my study of WWIi. 1930's Finnish newspaper political cartoon. With a ski motif.