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A recollection from Maj (MAA) Maz Maslin RAPTC. “Of note, during a training day aimed at conquering a challenging couloir, I experienced a true test of decision- making and resilience. Despite enduring a grueling journey involving a one-hour walk, a two-hour ascent with skins, and two hours navigating with crampons and an ice axe in intense winds and harsh conditions, I observed exemplary leadership in action. SSgt (Ross) Penver demonstrated admirable judgement by wisely calling off the ascent just five meters from the top due to the high level of risk, despite the effort invested in reaching that point. Upon witnessing this decision, whilst in “the stretch zone” I drew upon the coping strategies learned from Adventurous Leadership and Resilience Training (ALeRT). In the absence of a secure anchor point, SSgt (Sam) D-W further exemplified leadership by offering a safety rope to aid in my descent while providing valuable confidence-boosting advice. This experience highlights how AT nurtures the development of effective leaders”.
SSgt Ross Penver leading the third team up to Hvannadalshnúkur Summit
All training was now complete and with a well-earned rest day, it was time to travel for the final push, summit day!
Hvannadalshnúkur is Iceland’s highest peak and sits at 2110m, it required an early start due to the 2000m of high gain and 12kms in distance to the top. Alarms were set for 0200hrs and a 2-hour hike with skis top flapped to start, a good sense of humour was needed. Skiing over crevasses on Europe’s largest glacier was one thing, the scenery was another, memorable and frankly breath-taking. All but 2 of the team reached the summit by 1200hrs for some chad phots and drone footage. A great degree of selfless-commitment was displayed by WO1 (RSM) Luke Kemp when having to extract another team member, just shy of the summit, completely sacrificing his own successful summit experience for the sake of another.
Approaching the summit
Whilst the views from the summit were next level, the biting Icelandic cold crept in and meant a descent in a total white out, navigating treacherous weather with less than 10m of vis all the way back to the start! This required character building navigation and patience, but thanks to the 3 Ski Mountaineer Instructors (SMI’s) Ross, Luke and Will, we all returned safely with newfound resilience and patience.
To give a little back to Iceland we all rolled our sleeves up with some pre- planned community engagement. This required manual labour to widen a mountain bike trail for the National Park. Armed with only metal bars and Iceland’s newest strongman (Maj Maz Maslin) we upgraded around 600-800 meters of trail in a few hours. There was something very rewarding and fulfilling about this task, free phys maybe!
Summit of the largest mountain in Iceland