Page 73 - LBV 2017

INTER-COMPANY TRAINING & VISITS
Summer Mountain Foundation 1 Weekends
As summer unfolded across Snowdonia,
a group of Officer Cadets, based out of
Capel Curig Training Camp, embarked on a foundation mountaineering course in order to provide a basic skill set for operating across mountainous terrain. It comprised of an introduction to hill walking, navigation and wild camping. The curriculum was
delivered on two simultaneous
weekends, over the 5-7 and
the 12-14 May, and involved a
written test and an assessment of
practical skills outdoors.Across
these two weekends, the group
was led by experienced mountain
leaders and Cadets at CUOTC, JUOs Katherine Loades-Bannon and James Hutchinson, known as ‘LB’ and ‘Hutch’. Luckily, everyone’s sense of humour was as dry as the weather, and aside from some mild winds the Cadets were treated to a fine experience in the Welsh wilderness. On the first weekend, everyone managed to pass the written assessment and summit Snowdonia, which lies at 1085m above sea-level and is the highest peak in England and Wales.
Then came the second weekend. This was
altogether more difficult, as the group walked
to the tops of several hills with heights between 800m and 1000m. Soon came the time for the wild camp by a lake, which the contingent from CUOTC shared with two members of the public, and more lessons from the mountain leaders. The winds picked up, and as they did so one of
the tents was thrown across the land and straight into the lake.
It floated on the windswept lake and gradually drifted to shore. There was a pause as everyone tried to work out whether it
was their tent. It belonged to
the couple camping next to the Cadets, who had failed to peg their tent to the ground and one of them dived into the lake to
save their equipment. Fortunately, there were
no more dramas, and the weekend was seen through to completion. The hills and the learning curve were steep, and it gave the Cadets
the confidence to conduct themselves in the mountains and improve their skills.
OCdt Tom Melvin
Corpus Christi College,
University of Cambridge
B (Ladysmith) Company
Soon came the time for the wild camp by a lake...
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