Page 41 - 2018 AMA Winter

We merely picked up smart nine and introduce the students to glacier
seater minibuses and drove
the length of Lake Geneva and on to Brig before turning up into the mountains to RV with the advance party at Camping Mischabel. The Introduction to Alpine Mountaineering adventure had begun!
Whilst CCAT delivers JSAT and NGB awards to adult instructors and senior cadets, it also runs courses to give log book experience and build confidence and experience too. This was one such expedition, the aim being to cover as many alpine experiences as possible, time and weather permitting.
After briefing and kit issue for the students the next morning, we set off back down and along the valley to Balme to do some single pitch climbing, as much to reassure the instructors who would be on the sharp end of the rope that the students could belay as to judge how well the students could climb! On the way back it was time to hit the supermarket for shopping as we were cooking for ourselves. Thank goodness CILOR was footing the bill, the combination of the weak pound and high standard of Swiss living made prices eye watering.
Next day it was off to Leukerbad for most students first taste of klettersteig, a huge route high in the mountains accessed by telepherique. Whilst that made the ascent easy, it meant the descent was steep and horrendous and seemed to go on forever. The students enjoyed the novelty of the experience and a tired but happy party returned to Saas Grund that evening.
On Wednesday we drove round to the Moiry glacier to carry out crampon work
travel and rope work and the following day we walked in to the Almegeller hut, just up the valley, a delightful route through forest and alpine meadows. The students were introduced to the etiquette of mountain hut living and the next day we split into two parties and tackled the AD traverse of the Drihornli ridge. It provides a varied and entertaining outing, requiring all the instructors’ skills to keep the students safe.
A well deserved rest day followed, partly forced by a poor weather forecast, which continued to the following day, precluding the planned mountain klettersteig and forcing us to try out a klettersteig at a lower location. Not having great expec- tations, we were pleasantly surprised by a brilliant route which followed a river course and waterfall and descended by traversing a path high up on a cliff known as the Gallerie, giving fantastic views across the valley.
On Monday, using uplift again, followed by an hour and a half walk in, we tackled two 14 pitch mountain rock climbs finishing on the summit of the Jagihorn. I climbed Alpendurst, 4C, with my student. We were blessed with perfect weather, great mountain views and a reasonable descent route. The next day was a big one, as due to the high costs, we were unable to afford another night in a hut. We left the camp site at 0400hrs, drove for 2 hours to the Moiry glacier, walked up to the hut, then to the foot of the route, a rock ridge leading to Peigne de la Lé. It is a PD route, but enables short roping, scrambling and a glacier descent with plenty crevasse crossing. It was a long day but the students enjoyed the experience and we all felt we had deserved the rest day that followed. On our last activity day we went rock climbing again, this time to a very high venue; the drive was probably more adventurous than the climbing!
Friday was admin, de kitting and a meal out at a local hotel, where students received their certificates and we all reflected on a fantastic alpine expedition. Whilst all the instructors were familiar with the area, having used the location before, for the students it was all a new experience. They had been introduced to all the normal alpine activities (we didn’t do wing flying, although we saw
one whilst on the Jagihorn route; I never realised how much noise they made!) and hopefully their horizons had been widened too.
Whist AT in the Army is aimed at developing physical and mental resilience in the individual in order to enhance operational effectiveness, in the Cadet Force it is all about the personal development of the individual. Accordingly, frequent review sessions reflecting on what had been achieved in terms of both hard and soft skills were held, always where possible linking achievements to transferable skills that could help the youngsters in other areas of their lives. As some of the senior cadets were about to move on to the challenges of university, this was par- ticularly applicable, talking about how we manage new experiences and environ- ments and cope with the challenges this poses.
Kev Edwards, the OC of CCAT, always has high aspirations for the adults and senior cadets who attend his courses. He believes that cadet AT should be challenging and progressive, enabling cadets to develop their skills and gain a sense of achievement from participating. As AT Adviser for the ACF, I share this aspiration and want to see adult instructors within the ACF instructing AT rather than as at present civilian instructors being hired in. To this end, I want to see AT on the cadet syllabus (I was amazed to find it wasn’t when I took up my post) so that it is taken seriously. The cadet charter talks all about the personal development of cadets and in my opinion, AT is easily one of the best vehicles to achieve this. Cadet Alps 2018 certainly demonstrated this to the full.
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