Page 35 - 2021 AMA Summer

Camp Kitchen
In a surprising bout of fine weather for North Wales in June 2021, four members from B and D Squadrons of the Kings
Royal Hussars successfully completed their Summer Mountaineering Foundation Course. The course, aimed at aspiring Mountain Leaders, looked to develop soldiers as leaders, build confidence in their navigation and provide experience so that at some point in the future they could lead groups safely in the mountains.
On the first day we sharpened our navigation skills by re-learning the basics of map reading and navigation as we trekked along routes near the majestic Tryfan, one of the many mountains that adorn Snowdonia. Our group benefited greatly from this and it was a good opportunity for us to share learning experiences and improve our confidence in the basics of map reading, route visualisation and timings, for those fans of Naismith and Tranter corrections. The rest of the week was spent building upon our foundation of navigational skills and adding new elements into the mix that would improve confidence in group leadership in a high mountain environment.
The group set their sights on climbing Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) via the quieter Snowdon Ranger path on the second day. Each member was given navigational legs to plot and lead the group to a navigation check point. The rest of the team then had to follow the route taken and position themselves on the map at the end of each leg. This provided invaluable experience in developing ‘map to ground’ appreci- ation and utilising more complex navi- gational techniques such as back-bear- ings and triangulation. The weather on this big mountain day was spectacular
and provided wonderful views, right up until the summit section was reached, whereby, cloud cover blocked most of them. Nevertheless, the group had conquered Snowdon and climbed to its 1085m lofty peak.
Day 3 involved a slightly more adventurous route that saw an ascent of Moel Siabod (872m). The weather was also consid- erably less nice than previous days with typical Welsh weather of poor visibility, low cloud, intermittent showers and gusts of wind in exposed areas. This change in weather really made us appreciate how navigation in poor weather is such an important aspect of mountain leadership. Being able to confidently navigate and lead a group on challenging ground in poor visibility, where a wrong turn could put you into a potentially dangerous and exposed position demonstrated the requirement for expert navigation skills for mountain leaders. This is easy to overlook when the weather is calm and sunny.
Day 4 was taken up mostly by the planning and preparation for our overnight expedition. We all prepared different route cards for the approach into the wild camp area and learnt about calorific requirements in food menu planning. Finally, we were shown the operation and benefits of gas stoves, solid fuel and liquid fuel cooking sets. After completing risk assessments based upon the approaching poor weather and camp location our team headed out towards the remote landscape in the Ogwen Valley.
Arriving at the bottom of the Carnedd Llewelyn, the group rotated the leader position with each person utilising all the skills they had learnt and practised that week. Looking at the map to gain a visual picture of the route, scanning for the safe line through complex terrain to avoid certain features like small rivers and to locate safe areas to cross streams. Safe and easy line choices were made to avoid paths with particularly loose rocks and sunken areas all whilst keeping the group together and maintaining locational awareness. We soon arrived at our overnight destination. With dark clouds looming and wind speeds starting to increase we set up our tents and a camp kitchen and begun preparing our evening meal of tin spam wraps and super noodles. A stormy night followed with fly
sheets flapping wildly and the sound of rain lashing in between the gusts of wind.
The morning finally arrived and with it dry but foggy weather. The wind had dropped and allowed us to eat breakfast and pack away the tents with some ease, taking care to leave no trace. We plotted our way back down the mountain, through the thick fog, using bearings, timings, catchment features and handrails. Each leg being confidently led using skills that had been honed throughout the week.
Overall, the 5-day distributed training package was extremely enjoyable and fun. The qualification of Summer Mountain Foundation awarded to us at the end of the course will allow us all to safely access more challenging routes in the mountains and have the confidence to lead groups and navigate with an enhanced skill set that will also provide value in our military role. The instructor provided a safe yet challenging and controlled environment for us to learn and improve our confidence in leadership and mountain craft. We felt we were able to learn through making mistakes, being able to analyse where we went wrong and how to rectify the process or add additional information so that we could improve and succeed. This learning environment together with the mountain leader skills gave us confidence and a feeling that we had become masters in tackling the mountain. But as Herman Buhl once remarked “Mountains Have a Way of Dealing with Overconfidence”.
If you are interested in gaining confidence in leadership, improving your map reading and mountain knowledge then the Summer Mountaineering Foundation course is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
A Night on Carnedd Llewelyn
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 35