Page 12 - AMA Summer 2024

ROCK AND WIRE ›
EXERCISE DELAGO COMICI 2023
Exeter University Officers’ Training Corps (EUOTC) has built somewhat of a reputation for exploiting adventurous training opportunities in the Italian Dolomites. Last year, climbing and Via Ferrata came
together for the 30 Officer Cadets brave enough to make the journey.
I think this must have been Exeter UOTC’s twelfth year of conducting adventure training in the Dolomites, for me my seventh year with EUOTC, and my ninth year in total, which amounts to 23 weeks in the Dolomites. This is all thanks to my old mate Garry Mason who back in 2015 as Second-in-Command of EUOTC kindly invited me along to assist as a summer mountaineering instructor. Now as the Unit Adventure Training Officer, I am pleased to say I am carrying on his legacy. Garry has since retired from regular service, is now a cadet adult volunteer with Dorset Army Cadet Force, and this year saw their first Dolomites adventure. With the assistance of EUOTC who provided chefs, instructors and Officer Cadet mentors, they had an amazing time and I guess it won’t be their last Dolomites trip.
After waving Dorset ACF off, the road party and main body of EUOTC arrived at Camping Olympia which lies 5km west of Cortina d Ampezzo. With the field kitchen already in place from the Dorset ACF exercise, all that remained to do was issue kit and erect personal tents.
The exercise is named Delago after the Delago Tower, the western most tower within the Vajolet towers which stands in Catinaccio group. Comici comes from the famous Italian climber Emilio Comici who made over 200 ascents in the Dolomites.
The expedition ran over 2 weeks with 4 days of travel. The aim was to deliver Rock Climbing Foundation (with multi-pitch proficiency) and Summer Mountain Foundation courses as distributed training to 30 Officer Cadets. Over the years the exercise has evolved, grown in size and moved on from hugging a blue flame stove self-catering to a full field kitchen with chefs Alex and Michael providing amazing food.
Climbing. Cinque Tori is a favoured climbing location within the Ampezzo valley with its many easy trade routes suited to teaching those new to the multi-pitch climbing before venturing on to the more challenging Falzarego Tower and Lagazuoi faces. Cortina also boasts one of the best climbing walls. Cortina 360 is located in Cortina d’ Ampezzo and was used to introduce students to sports climbing on one of the wet days. The instructors introduced themselves to the wall staff who accepted that they need no induction and that they were responsible for their group. After moving campsites to Canazie, and refining their technique on the indoor wall, as well as working on some sport lead climbing, the climbers set off on a 3-day, 2-night expedition to the world famous Vajolet Towers basing themselves at Rifugio Albert Gartle. The Vajolet Towers are on the bucket list for climbers the world over and a perfect culmination and highlight for the climbing group with all passing the multi-pitch proficiency.
Martin Corfield
The Vajolet Towers
Six Officer Cadets had the good fortune to spend their trip learning multi-pitch climbing on a mix of trad and sport routes. With a ratio of one instructor to two Officer Cadets, our rope skills and confidence developed quickly. Between mountain hut coffees to avoid the storms, our first few days were spent learning the basics of building belays, leading, seconding and abseiling.
These essential skills were put under pressure when the group headed out on their visit to the Vajolet Towers at the start of the second week. Here the climbs became more exposed and increasingly more a mental challenge, and so our rope skills had to be extra slick. A personal
The drop below went
on for hundreds of metres, down to
a cloud inversion layer that shone
in the morning light.
12 ‹ ARMY MOUNTAINEER
highlight has got to be climbing the arête on the Delago tower. The drop below went on for hundreds of metres, down to a cloud inversion layer that shone in the morning light. We even saw a Brocken spectre as the clouds came in below and I finished the last pitch, topping out onto the tower. This was a magnificent feeling and was shortly followed by two mega sixty metre abseils off the other side of the tower.
Whilst on our visit to the Vajolet Towers we stayed for two nights at the incredible Rifugio Re Alberto hut. The lovely people who worked here were kind, curious about our climbs and served the most delicious mountain dishes. Our half board dinner included Tyrolean dumplings (either spinach, beetroot, or spec), potatoes or polenta with some kind of meat for a main, and everyone’s favourite apple strudel for dessert. The hut was full of mountain guidebooks, maps and photography books which you were able to take out onto the decking to read in the