Page 25 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

enormous number of climbs for all abilities. It was a suitable spot for everyone in the group, from the complete novices to those looking to push their grades and find a real tough challenge; so much so that we ended up at Toix the following afternoon after being swamped by other groups at Echo Valley too. The amount of people at Echo Valley, though not ideal for getting in as many climbs as possible, highlighted again how fantas- tic the climbing is on the Costa Blanca.
The rest of the week took us to some pretty remote places including Alacali – a spot high on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley dotted with vineyards. Unfortunately, it was siesta time when we pulled in to a winery looking for exciting gifts for our loved ones, but there was still the oppor- tunity to buy some super-fresh oranges from a lovely lady just opposite, so not all was lost! Olta, high up in the mountains overlooking the entire town of Calpe, gave us our biggest challenges of the week. At 0900hrs the sun was already beaming down on us as we started our 30-min-
ute ascent to the crag, only to subsequently lose a rope to some pretty hairy rock-fall, which com- pletely sliced through the rope!
All in all, EX ROCA CADET was a fantastic week for all involved and it was able to run smoothly with a wealth of assistance from the RMAS G7 staff, the staff in the RAO, and also the Sand- hurst Trust for giving us that extra bit of funding to allow the trip to go ahead.
Exercise SCRAMBLING CADET
EX SCRAMBLING CADET was an Adven- turous Training expedition organised and attended by seven OCdts from the Interme-
diate Term of Commissioning Course 173. The Exercise took place in the Lake District, operating out of the towns of Ambleside and Keswick. The aim of this exercise was to provide competent mountaineers with experience in organising and running their own mountaineering expedition in a physically and mentally challenging environment.
The first two days were based in the town of Ambleside. The group had booked a convenient hostel overlooking the shores of Lake Winder-
mere. The first day’s walk required a short drive to Kentmere Reservoir, where we began a loop that took us up a ridge following the reservoir below.
On the second day we were able to begin our walk straight from our hostel. Climbing out of Ambleside we were slowly provided with an increasingly stunning view of Lake Winder- mere behind us. A quick change of route down a direct, steep path surprised us with a rather remote pub, which provided an ideal place to stop for lunch before we returned to Ambleside.
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