The U.S. team brags about their hard training and preparation. Them boys from VNG were trained to do better this year (target to finish in top 10)
Glowing follow up/write up on the performance of the U.S. team back in 2019 by some ski magazine.
Team USA Achieves a First at the 2019 Edelweiss Raid
Never before has a first-time competing team finished this military mountaineering race, until now.
MARCH 19, 2019
Over the last weekend in February, a team of eight elite U.S. military mountaineers took on the
, a grueling two-day, 40-kilometer ski mountaineering race through the
that included 4,000 meters of elevation change. Over the course of the competition, teams had to traverse high consequence terrain and show their proficiency in challenging mountain rescue and military skill events. Team USA managed something no other team has before: They finished the race on their first try.
“The best part of the Raid for the team was achieving our goal of finishing with all eight participants” says Maj. Nathan Fry, a Vermont National Guardsman and training officer at the Army Mountain Warfare School in Vermont. “We took the race slow and steady, worked at everyone’s pace, and shared the load so that we could all cross the finish line together.”
All the training leading up to the Raid paid off for the U.S. team, as they were prepared for every obstacle they faced during the race. If anything surprised the team, it was the conditions they encountered in Austria.
