9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1987 - Page 0070
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1987 |
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THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCFRS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL Langlauf Team This year we were forced to spend the first part of the season training at Wolfenbltttel. This was due to financial constrictions and to the Americans deciding to charge us for the lodge we normally use at Garmisch. We spent the early part of December getting fit and learning langlauf technique from l.t Wilson and Cpl Parry. Unfortunately Lt Wilson was not able to ski this year, so we had a novice team, with the exception of Cpl Parry it consisted of 2Lt Routledge, LCpI Williams and Tprs Aslin and Ramsden. We left for Ruhpolding and the RAC meeting on 27 December. This would give us ten days on snow before the races started. Everyone found the tran- Ex Delhi Diamond 1986 Eight members of the Regiment (Lt Righy. 2Lt Douglas-Miller, Sgt Kerridge Tprs Richmond. Winter, Duff, Aslin and Hall) travelled last year to India, to trek 200 miles up the Zanskar Valley in North East Jammu/Kashmir. After a weekend in Delhi the Ex- pedition drove to Manali in Northern Himachal Pradesh and began to assemble the equipment required for the estimated 3 week long trek. This included tents. pots and pans, rice, potatoes, fuel and twelve pack horses. After a few days preparation we set off northwards into the mountains in a truck, and after the routine break- down, we met our guide and horses. to begin the real walking The fits! leg of the trip into the Zanskar Valley was probably the hardest. because it involved the greatest climb and we were not properly acclimatized sition from roller-skis to snow-skis relatively easy. However, time on snow was our major problem. By the time the races arrived both Cpl Parry and LCpl Williams had improved dramatically and we felt that, as a novice team, we had done quite well. Our first race was a disaster due to the difficult choice of waxes; we found ourselves with an inch of snow stuck to the bottom of our skis. We treated the RAC meeting as a means of getting experience before the division- al meeting at Axams. The conditions at Axarns were perfect if very cold and in our first race we were pleased with our performance especially with LCpl "Bill' Williams, to either altitude or temperature. After three days Trooper Hall developed acute mountain sickness and a Pul» monary Odoema which cost him his place with us. He had to be evacuated back to Delhi and on to England. Luckily this was the only serious problem we encountered, for the next three weeks we trundled through the Him- alayas with inevitable blisters, occasional fatigue but a good deal of interest and enjoyment. The food, mainly rice and dal, was pretty dull and undernourish- ing, the company (a lZ—man Indian Army Liaison Team) often irritating but enthusiastically helpful, the scenery breathtaking. It was a useful experience for all of us to be in an alien environ- ment without the normal backup and comforts, and we all benefited enorm- ously. We visited some very interesting who was spurred on by the arrival of his girlfriend. The highlight of the meeting was the 25 Km patrol race. A lot of effort went into the preparation of equipment and we were pleased to be awarded extra points for our turn-out. It was a hard race but at the end we felt that we had achieved something so that all the effort and training that had gone before was worthwhile. Although the results were not fan- tastic the exercise was enjoyed by every- one. Next year with more training and the experience we gained this year, we hope to have a more competitive team. tourist spots en route, including several Tibetan monastries (one of which now bears the Regimental badge on its tea urn). By the end of the trek we had become quite adept at walking consider- able distances on relatively little food. A week-long R at R period at the Dal lake in Kashmir followed by the statutory visit to the Taj Mahal (“Is it compulsory, Sir?”) provided a fitting finale to a long, tiring but greatly enjoyable jaunt in the mountains. It did not need an undue amount of organization and cost each of us under £250. One of the better ways to relieve ‘Germany Blues‘. |
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