Bridgeport, California. (April 26, 2025): To most of us, scaling a mountain in a driving snowstorm would be an ordeal. To the Marines, it is the perfect place to take a hike. In this photo by Sergeant Mary Torres, Marines and Sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, take part in a tactical exercise during Mountain Training Exercise 2-25 at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.

The Mountain Warfare Training Center is used to prepare Marines and allied forces to operate in mountainous, high altitude, and freezing weather environments. The Center was established in the 1950s to season troops in freezing weather before they deployed to fight in the frozen mountains of Korea.

Located 6,800 feet above sea level, the Center is one of the Corps’ most remote and isolated posts. Winters here are harsh with snow accumulation reaching eight feet and temperatures dropping to twenty degrees below zero.

This year’s exercise was organized into three stages consisting of pre-environmental training classes, mobility training, and a final field evaluation exercise. Marines practiced moving heavy equipment wearing snowshoes and utilizing Marine Corps Cold Weather Infantry Kits. The kit contains a lightweight platform to transport gear over snow covered terrain that is ergonomically designed to lessen stress on individual Marines.

The exercises pushed the Marines to their physical and mental limits, giving them an appreciation for the difficulty of fighting in such a frozen mountainous hellscape.