On Sunday the 17th April 2011, three cadets from E Company and two adult instructors from C Company made their way to Halton Training camp, situated near the Yorkshire dales, for 5 days of specialist adventurous training. Four of us were booked on to a Summer Mountaineering proficiency course and one E Coy cadet on a caving course.
Halton training camp is one of three centres across the UK which plays host to Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training (CCAT) personnel were they deliver a wide variety of courses to national cadets from all over the country. |
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Sunday evening saw the usual allocation of bed spaces coupled with an introduction to the cadets who were also on our courses as well as those on the other CCAT courses. We were also inroduced to our course instructors. |
Following evening meal (which was surprisingly nice!) these introductions were a pleasant way of settling into the camp and getting know the different nationalities of the cadets and adult instructors around us. All unpacked and admin done, it was time to get some shut eye before a Monday of mountain walking intertwined with various navigation assessments or,in Cdt Sgt Samson’s case, underground exploration and cave safety. |
Soon enough Monday came around and with a swiftly eaten bowl of honey loops in our bellies and our walking gear on, we eagerly awaited the weather announcement. It was going to be hot, hot, hot! So plenty of sun cream was a the order of the day - even though it may have fallen on deaf ears in some cases! |
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Next, with the "packing a rucksack" lecture over, it was time to hit the hills in our group of 12 enthusiastic individuals. The day saw us practicing "the art of pacing" thoroughly practised, "mountain navigation" revised and carried out and "general traversing" up and along one of the lake district’s mountains. A heck of a lot to learnt from scratch, and there were many unused and forgotten techniques brought out and put into practice in one day, very productive.
The evening was quite a contrast in terms of effort required. The day had been spent walking up a steep hill, whereas the evening lecture was learning HOW to walk up steep hills! This along with a nice warm heater ensured that we became very sleepy! However, all said and done and with the theory knowledge on board, the next day’s admin was prepared and we learnt that we would be going even further afield. |
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0700 and billet 141 was up and ready for breakfast. followed by the usual morning weather brief which would give us a clear indication of what to wear for the day. With rucksacks all packed and risk assessments filled out, it was time to head up to the upper part of the lake district for a full days mountain walking. During the ascent much of the local geography and land features were explained in great detail to us by both course instructors who had extensive knowledge of the different types of rocks, local fauna and water features |
The course leader, Mike Owen had been in the army for a number of years and had numerous skills. Many of these attributes were gained whilst serving with the parachute regiment as an army medic. He served in a multitude of countries such as the Falklands, The Gulf and Ireland. His Adventure Training knowledge and personality was a great asset to the course and his brilliant sense of humour proved to be a major benefit whilst we were walking.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday saw the overnight expedition phase of the course. The aim of the expedition was not to cover an abundance of miles but to practice even more navigational skills, walking disciplines and to further our camp craft. The expedition was conducted over the Yorkshire Dales, specifically the Yorkshire three peaks.
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On Wednesday we left camp and travelled to the small town of Ingleton with the overall aim of reaching the top of the first Yorkshire peak, Ingleborough (723m). With some town navigation complete, we swiftly made our way out onto the wild tracks towards the very large mountain that loomed in front of us. |
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Throughout the day Nick, the other mountain leader, was constantly putting us through our paces with navigational exercises such as pacing and boxing. There were also some fauna questions such as what is this plant and what can it do?. With one foot in front of the other we soon realised (or our calves did!) that we were ascending Ingleborough, all the while conscious of the vast amounts of sun cream we had to apply! Soon enough we reached the summit and there was much joy and relief from group A, dubbed the “officers mess”. |
Group B, headed up by Mike Owen had decided to ascend Ingleborough from the other direction so we could meet somewhere in the middle......hopefully!
During the descent down from Ingleborough there was much discussion on the different meals that the group would have for evening meal a little later. |
Many were excited at the prospect of enjoying a hot meal. However, our excitment had to be put to one side when we were tasked to set up an emergency shelter somewhere on the mountain side due to a “emergency situation” that our instructor had thoughtfully made up!! |
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Conitnuing on our way, we stopped off for a light snack at Gaping Gill, a gill which has a shaft that is in excess of 105metre in depth and 7.2 miles long at its bottom.
A real natural English beauty. |
After arriving back at the campsite, setting up our tents and eating our meals, it was time for general admin and a well earned rest ready for tomorrow's trek up another Yorkshire Peak.
This time the peak was Whernside, 736m above sea level. The usual early morning admin and routine completed, we we set out on our walk. |
Somewhere along the trail towards this great beast, we discovered a rather large aqueduct which was built in the 1870’s by railway builders. Because so many of the workers lost there life during its construction, the railway owners paid for an expansion to the local graveyard! |
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During our Whernside trek, a great number of navigational techniques were practised and many These included a railway which was still in use even though it was in such a remote and secluded area of the dales. A great sense of achievement was felt once we were at the summit of Whernside looking across at where we had started from and the land that we had crossed. Soon enough, the sun was setting and a uniform feeling of sleepiness was felt across the entirety of the SMP course. |
Finally, Friday arrived and for a brave few, me included, it was a 6am reveille and an optional climb to the top of Pen – y – Ghent (694m). This last one however was without kit and was a very brisk pace up the side of the mountain and whilst there were not too
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many opportunities to take photos, when we did reach the summit of Pen-y-Ghent, very sweaty and worn out, there was one final opportunity for a group photo.....
Sadly, Friday was also the day that we had to be back in camp for a de-gunge, debrief and our journey home.
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Overall, we had a thoroughly enjoyable course where old skills were revised, new techniques learnt and memories & fun experiences shared.
I whole heartedly recommend the Summer Mountain Proficiency course to anyone who has an interest in walking, looking at bettering themselves and have previously enjoyed D of E expeditions.
Cdt RSM Jordan Potter
E Company |
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