In Germany, military ski races include grenades and HKs (PHOTOS)

By Chris Eger

Alpine snow camo? Ja. Skis? Ja. Old school Heckler & Koch G3? Oh, you know that a ja. (Photos: German Army)
A recent event in the Alps attended by European military teams had all the cool things you look for in a ski movie. The International Mountain Warfare Patrol, conducted earlier this month, pitted 15 teams from Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Slovenia in a 30km race through the snow-covered mountains around Chiemgau Arena.
Yet, it wasn’t just skiing around the bunny slopes looking for hot chocolate stands. Competitors had to stop to engage targets with small arms fire, toss grenades, rescue the “wounded,” and complete avalanche excavations against the clock. The exercise yielded a host of great images that look like they came right from Hoth.
How’s that for a starting pistol? Apparently, the Germans dig wheelgun Wednesday

Those G3s
The French team looking…like they are going to come in fifth place.
Chiemgau Arena near Ruhpolding, Bavaria, is where the Biathlon World Cup is often held. It also doubles as a jigsaw puzzle model.
On the hand grenade station, competitors had to stop, chuck a practice grenade 15 meters while kneeling until the team landed 18 “Eier” in a two-foot target circle.
On the rifle stages, competitors

Source: Guns.com