Page 43 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021 (Crest)

Full of excitement, enthusiasm, porridge oats and honey, the group threw themselves and their kit into the two vehicles and drove up to
the famous Glencoe Ski Centre, for what was the first day of winter mountaineering for most of the team. Ex HIGHLAND CADET was well under- way when the group and instructor began skid- ding down the frozen slopes honing the much needed “self-arrest” drill – an essential safety net against potentially nasty falls. This later led on to the group bagging the 1176m Stob Corrie peak finally getting used to the B3 boots, crampons and avoiding any mountain madness.
As the first day came to a close, the first peak gained and pints all drained, morale was set high for a new day on the summits. The following day contained more technical climbing focusing on approach routes, working on ridges and pace setting for leading a group on winter expeditions. The tone was now being set for the need to carefully calculate risk along with the strengths and weaknesses of the group you are working with in order to set the conditions for success when leading a mountain expedition in wintry conditions.
Later in the week with wind speeds and the tem- perature rising, the focus shifted away from gain- ing height and bagging Munroes towards the specific skills and drills required to safely traverse mountains in poor conditions. This took the form of key skills using ropes, carabiners, ice axes, and our bodies. We learnt the knots and tech- niques to safely lower someone down the hill- side. We later focused on the actions on drills for avalanche rescue using transceivers and snow probes in a simulated scenario to recover lost climbers from dangerous snow falls.
The week rounded off with a look towards expedi- tion planning and operating in remote areas of the Scottish Highlands. Here the planning was placed upon us to make the key decisions needed to be made in the mountains in order to have a truly quality mountain day. We made the decision to avoid a potentially dangerous scramble up a wet ridge due to melting snow and decided to climb up over Carn ban Mor and finally reaching Sgor Gaoith at a height of 1118m. The final effort was a final push to grab Carin Gorn to round off the week which was highly fulfilling and informative, developing our skills in winter mountaineering.
Exercise HIGHLAND CADET
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