Page 24 - 2016 AMA Spring

Introduction Course
Six days of challenge and adventure by a mixed team of four Senior Cadets and two Cadet Adult instructors. Arrived safe and well in Rjukan after a very long day travelling.
LOWER GORGE
My first step into ice climbing on steep ground today was awesome, it really took my climbing back to basics and made me focus on my footwork and personal movement skills during the climb. The climbing area today was in ‘Lower Gorge’ which is under the Vermork Bridge. The area is famous for ‘Heroes of Telemark’ and the daring commando raid on the hydroelectric plant in the Second World War.
The temperature today was a cool -10c at the start of the day which made for a brisk start, but nicely warmed to -8c as the day went on!! The gorge itself never gets any sunlight between October and March, so whilst we could see the sun shining on the hills, we never actually benefitted from feeling the heat, apart from the heat we generated from the work needed to ensure our axes and crampons would bite into the ice!!
After a short but demanding walk down the gorge we reached our first two climbs. The ice varied from bullet hard, into which a crampon point would barely penetrate, and soft snow ice which swallowed the whole axe pick. Our key lessons from the day included trying different clothing systems, our first taste of hot aches in our hands resulting from gripping our ice tools too tight and seeing how the crampons and picks best bite into the ice. We also learned not to look up when you hear the shout “ice” and how to eat frozen bananas during lunch.
The evening was spent refreshing our rope work skills so that the climbing flowed more smoothly and we had a presentation on winter mountain hazards so that we were armed with the knowledge to be self-sufficient in the very cold environment.
OZZIMOSIS
Day two in the big brother hostel! The initial plan was to head up the valley to Krokan which was quickly ditched when we discovered that it was Baltic with an air temp of -11c with a ferocious biting wind sending it even lower! A second plan was quickly hatched and we decided to jump back into the vehicles and descend down the valley to an area called Ozzimosis which was much more sheltered. The three main routes today were Skrueis WI3, Anakje WI3 and an unknown route at roughly WI2, where Mike did a perfect demonstration of how to re-fit a crampon whilst climbing!! The focus of the day was really about climbing on steeper ground and honing the skills learnt, particularly footwork and organising ropes etc. The view from the top of the climbs was awesome, being able to see back down the Rjukan valley.
Highlights of the day included belaying from a cave.
BOLGEN
This was our big multi-pitch day on two big water falls, and it did prove to be a true. adventure.
The more experienced team managed to get down by 4.30pm having climbed a popular and famous route called Bolgen (WI3), the cadet team’s descended in the dark using torchlight. This was a test of endurance for the cadets as they had to focus fully on
Ice Climbing
22 ARMY MOUNTAINEER
AMA Spring 2016 text.indd 22 01/07/2016 15:41