Page 5 - 2012 AMA Summer

Foreword
Foreword by President
Looking back at the first 8 months of 2012, Army Mountaineer- ing has a great deal to celebrate and be proud of.
The British Services Antarctic Expedition 2012, which has for some of its members been a 2-3 year enterprise, returned safely in February, having achieved successfully its mountaineering and scientific objectives: over 20 peaks climbed, including 12 likely first ascents and a scientific programme of work which will inform research into climatic change for many years to come. Truly “in the Spirit of Scott”. The expedition represents not only a fantastic achievement for the 12 soldiers and AMA members on the expedi- tion but also a significant success for Army Mountaineering, which took the lead role in this quadrennial tri-service commitment.
Meanwhile in North Wales, the Festival of Army Climbing, including the Army Sport Climbing Championships, saw 90 Army climbers (and a few welcome friends) enjoying Welsh rock in perfect Spring conditions. Indoor sport and outdoor trad climbing; bouldering; coaching; some inspiring evening lectures and ‘lively’ social interac- tion contributed to a terrific event.
June saw the AMA AGM in less favourable Welsh weather and some important issues raised by the 60 or so AMA members who gathered at HMS Indefatigable. The need to put in place a ‘fit for purpose’ meets programme has been taken on by Tomo Thomp- son. The plan is good but of course it can only be executed with the committed help of volunteers to run specific meets: please get in touch with Tomo if you are willing to help. There was firm agree- ment on the need to continue to improve the website; a much more
realistic proposition now that MoD constraints have been relaxed. A new constitution was also approved subject to amendments being made on the nomination and election of committee members. We have a new committee to take these and other issues forward and a new Chairman, with Paul Edwards stepping up to take over from Cath Davis. As President, I would like to thank the last committee – noting that some club officers are serving on in the same or dif- ferent roles – which put a huge amount of personal time and effort into getting Army mountaineers into the hills and onto the crags. In particular I would like to thank and pay tribute to Cath Davies, our Chairman for the past 6 years. Cath’s contribution to the AMA com- mittee over 16 years has been immense. As Chairman she has led the Association into our 50th Anniversary, navigated through some difficult policy issues and championed the AMA at every turn. AMA members everywhere are deeply in her debt.
Looking forward: as we go to print Ex INDIAN TIGER is in its final training stages on JSAM while for 2013 the AMA’s flagship exercise will tackle Denali, the highest peak in North America. We will hold an AMA President’s Dinner in the autumn and look forward to a rich programme of meets through the year. Finally, our Army is going through a period of great change and we need to consider how we shape the AMA in order to meet our objectives in support of Army 2020. The committee needs your views and ideas so please respond to the General Secretary’s invitation (page) and help shape the future of the Association.
Winter is almost here. See you on the hills.
Preparation is everything and few of us need reminding of this. We are all familiar with the endless checks on weather, kit, route and the team whether going onto the hill, rock or gla-
cier. It is developed and honed through training and the incremen- tal increase in challenge. Effective preparation is a core skill which weighs the outcome in favour of success and provides options to deal with the unexpected. However, routinely, our human prepara- tion is limited to physical fitness whether finger and arm strength, cardio capacity or to enable quick acclimatisation. But how many of us consider mental preparation and do we need to? Modern
equipment increasingly offers better mobility, safety and protection and better information enables better defined plans. This in turn allows more finely judge risks to be taken. Do we need to men- tally rehearse our actions at belays and transition points in order to maintain vital momentum and do we need to envisage success not just in terms of route completion but at key points of difficulty and during the recovery factoring in weather changes and worse case scenarios? To many this may seem at odds with the moun- taineering ethos. But with margins finely judged do we not need to consider every weapon in our armoury?
Editorial
PARTICIPATION STATEMENT
The AMA recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 3
APPOINTMENTS