Page 77 - RADC Bulletin 2021

SPORT & AT
Joint Services Adventurous Training
Wing Cyprus – JSATW(C)
Single Pitch Rock Climbing Foundation
Capt S Fear
Situation
The JSATW(C) is located in the East Sovereign Base Area (ESBA) of the Republic of Cyprus, based out of Dhekalia Station. This centre can be accessed by service personnel back in the UK as well as in overseas locations. However, due to restrictions on travel, the centre was only available to island applicants.
After a couple of turbulent months in the Dental Centre settling the new resident infantry battalion, The 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, it was time for the team to get out of the DC to see more
of the country and to take on some new endeavours. Cpl Robinson booked onto the Foundation Parachuting course and I applied for the Single Pitch Rock Climbing Foundation course.
Aside from some time spent indoors at UK bouldering centres I had done very little climbing before. Bouldering requires no rope work or the use of any harnesses because
it is done at a low level with mats below to cushion your fall. I love exploring the hills
of Snowdonia and generally moving in the mountains, thus adding some rope work to my repertoire with the foundation course was the natural next step to safely accessing more challenging terrain.
As I gain experience, I hope to complete the Rock Climbing Supervisor (RCS) course (more to follow on this from Maj Konarzewski) and to combine this with the Mountain Leader Training (MLT)
qualification. In turn I can give back to the RADC to help organise and assist on a Core AT trip, such as the eagerly awaited Pyrenees trip which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Intent
We were briefed by the OC on the Monday morning and he touched on some important
themes of AT which resonated with me. The idea that we generally operate in our
comfort zone, rarely stepping out into the theoretical ‘stretch zone’ where we can push performance and adapt to new stimulus was a useful reminder to the benefit of AT. Beyond that is the panic zone, in which performance deteriorates and anxiety
rises. AT walks the fine line between the stretch zone and the panic zone and aims to teach us to become comfortable being uncomfortable.
The Course
Although I am based out of Episkopi it was useful to be accommodated at the training centre as this was sociable in the evenings
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