Page 34 - 2015 AMA Autumn

CCAT SCOTLAND 2015
Rain and Midges did not stop play
The Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training (CCAT) moved its training operations to the Cairngorms for the last week in August. Unfortunately, Britain experienced an unusual combination of weather fronts that week, making the Central Highlands unremittingly wet. This resulted in the instructors spending the evenings scouring weather maps and coming up with cunning plans to escape the rain, using all their ingenuity and knowledge to ensure the best possible experience for the students.
Four groups of students, a mixture of Senior Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs) undertook Intermediate Rock Climbing, Scrambling and Ridge Walking, Sea Kayaking and Mountain Biking Foundation courses. Whilst escaping the rain meant long journeys in the vehicles, the students certainly saw a lot of Scotland, travelling to areas probably that very few Scots have visited.
For the rock climbers, the need to escape the rain was paramount and this meant trips north to the Moray Coast to the single pitch venues of Burghead and Cummingston and west to Binnein Shuas and Poll Dubh in Glen Nevis to complete multi pitch routes. The walk in to Binnein Shuas was one and a half hours each way, but worth it for a route the quality of Kubla Khan on the Fortress Wall, a two star multi pitch route in a spectacular position. Whilst the aim of the course is to produce competent seconds able to climb multi pitch routes, CCAT always encourages the students to develop their skill as far as possible. As the students were all competent climbers, the training focused on teaching them to lead climb. Building belays and placing protection was covered and by the end of the week, all the students had led traditional routes, placing their own protection and belaying their compatriots.
The mountaineers, all of whom had already completed their Summer Mountain Foundation (SMF), set out to tackle adventurous ridge routes. On the first day, they travelled north west to Stac Pollaidh, the long drive rewarded by a windy and therefore midge free ascent and excellent fish and chips in Ullapool on the way back! Then it was west to complete the West Ridge of Aonoch Mor, the walk in eased by using the uplift. Although cloud made the route finding difficult it was a tremendous Grade 2 scramble. Another foray west took them to Ben a’Chorain, where the west ridge provided
32 ARMY MOUNTAINEER