The athletes could expect many kilometres of marching in free rough terrain, special mountaineering tasks, crossing water streams, paintball weapons fire, ropeway movement, azimuth race, injured rescue or overnight in the open air. The track profile is heavily broken changing uphill climbing and downhill sections, all with considerable elevation. Despite the problems with the lack of snow, soldiers can move on skis in most of the track.

The second stage of the international winter outdoor championship started in the vicinity of Bily Potok settlement near Vrbno pod Pradedem on Tuesday 27 January 2009. At seven AM, all seventeen teams set off to approximately twenty-five kilometres movement in different directions. Having picked the first indicia they set off to the circle track on the Hruby Jesenik hills. Carrying heavy backpacks on their shoulders, the content of which must include mountaineering set, head flashlight, sleeping bag, a cooker, spare clothing and food, the athletes went to face both rated and unrated “survival” events.

The most challenging event on the endurance stage first day was crossing natural and manmade obstacles. The stewards made a sophisticated ropeway among high tree tops for the teams to pass. Every team member got a different task.

One member was to get to a whistle through rope net, vertical rope ladder, on tree and then on horizontal ropes stretched between grown spruce trees forty metres away one another. Then he had to rappel down. Another member was to get through leaning rope ladder and then on tree trunk to the final base, represented by horizontal log hanging twenty-five metres high. Achieving the final base this man took ordinary grip hanging position on the log as long as he could. When he slipped of the log eventually, he was moved down to the ground with rope. The third team member was to get up a leaning Burmese bridge and vertical rope ladder. From the ladder he was to “bear-like” embrace the tree trunk waiting as long as possible.

Here is an evaluation given by one of the athletes. “Climbing trees or ropeways is a matter of skill. We were doing well. The Burmese bridge was pretty steep,” said SSgt. Michal Zavrel, a Charles University military branch team member.

All the teams eventually arrived at the finish of the endurance stage first day, all within day time limit and all right. In the emergency overnight area in the vicinity of Medvedi Vrch Hill the athletes erected their impromptu sheds and sat together around the fire to dry clothing, make food they had brought and drink beverages to balance their water demand.

The end of the day confirmed the favourable role of the University of Defence team I and of 73 tank battalion Praslavice. On the contrary, the team members for 22 AFB Namest nad Oslavou were a bit disappointed by their performance. “We had problems with the last checkpoints. We simply went astray,” complained 1Lt Martin Hanacek.