However, we should start the search for the roots of this and similar competitions with a look back into the military history some forty years ago. At that time, the multidiscipline competitions such as “Military fitness badge” or “Sverma’s path” were checking the soldiers’ abilities of off-road movement, crossing obstacles, and typical military skills like firing arms or throwing grenades. In 1990s, in the world wide surge of survival events, the Czech had some experience to resume adding only a new spice and follow the latest trends. That is the birth of Winter Survival.

Holding a winter version of survival competition in the period of summer survival boom was a true challenge beyond the civilian sector’s capacity due to the extreme demands. The Department of Physical Training and Sports at the Brno Military Academy took the initiative and held the first military Winter Survival competition in the Jesenik Mountains in 1995. The organizers made good use of Hradec Kralove pedagogy faculty’s experience that was the first in the Czech Republic who arranged a winter survival event.

The first years of the military winter survival competition were held under the sign of looking for the way, viability and gathering experience. The Brno Military Academy Physical Training and Sports Department instructors had exercised a good effort of incorporating something that would correspond special military physical training into the military competition, something of developing special military personal skills used in meeting the order objectives. The competition took three days. The first day was devoted to downhill events, the second day to the endurance stage that comprised activities such as climbing practice, orienteering and all-day marching by military map. A 3 x 10 kilometre relay race took place on the third day. A competition of the kind livened the military competitions up a bit and the athletes considered it successful.

The Winter Survival became held every year and more difficult in terms of athletes skills. It grew an all-military sport competition being held on international basis since its fourth year. Four foreign teams used to compete in average every year until 2001, representing for the military forces of Belgium, the Netherlands, USA, Germany, Austria, Norway, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. From 2002, only German and Slovak teams came until 2004 in what year there were five teams representing for foreign forces of Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and Poland. In 2007, four teams arrived for Austria, Germany, Belgium and Slovakia while Austrians gave up participating in the following year leaving Germany, Belgium and Slovakia in the game.

The contemporary Winter Survival features a four-day three-stage race run in winter conditions including activities of "outdoor" sports family – off-road movement by map, orienteering, downhill and cross-country skiing, mountaineering, transport of an injured person, open air overnight, and more. The three-member teams compete in the way a military patrol operates in unknown mountainous area requiring the athletes to perform high level of individual skills and ability, as well as team-work.

The military winter outdoor competition level in the previous years, perfect milieu, and the social background provided by the cooperating institutions, organisations and individuals prove the exceptional sport event improve the Czech military forces domestic and foreign credit. The Winter Survival is a new tradition, a battle and a feast, a new philosophy of sports, an outstanding chance of representation, all of that plus enhancement of military sports.

Number of teams participating in the Czech military international winter outdoor multi-event championships: