Arco, Northern Italy
“The instructors were very encouraging and supportive so I felt like I really improved my climbing. I also gained a lot of other skills from the exped as we were continually pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones. I also really enjoyed the location and the team work involved in ensuring everything went smoothly”.
Introduction
Ex Northern Heights 22 was an overseas Adventure Training (AT) exercise organised by Aberdeen and Tayforth Officers Training Regiment (ATOTR). The exercise tookplace in the Arco region of Northern Italy as a Type 3 Rock Climbing Expedition, conducted over 5 – 15 Sep 22. The event was open to all OCdts and staff across Aberdeen and Tayforth Officer Training Corps.
Aim
The aim of the exercise was to deliver foundation level training for personnel who were not qualified but also to provide continuation training for those already qualified at foundation level. Ex Northern Heights 22 formed part of a long-term development plan potentiallyculminating in a big-wall expedition in 2023. Ex Northern Heights 22 alsoaimed to provide opportunities to foster team work and encourage the development of leadership, physical fitness and emotional resilience.
Planning
Planning for the exercise began in May 22 to have the event in place in good time. On completion of the initial outline plan for the event the JSATFA process was started and the relevant clearances applied for. All unit personnel were eligible providing they were fit to attend. The initial planning figure was for 16 pax, 2 x RSF groups and four instructors.
Travel
The travel plan consisted of an advance party of 2 pax in the unit combi van taking all stores and personal baggage across by the Hull to Rotterdam ferry. The main body of ten officer cadets and three staff flew across on a civilian flight from Edinburgh to Venice. They then collected two seven-seater people carriers and drove the village of Comano Terme.
Accommodation
The accommodation for the event was booked through the military booking system and was located in four apartments in the town of Comano Terme. HRG utilised Booking.com to secure the accommodation which allowed the possibility of viewing the photos of the apartments prior to arrival. City tax was charged at the end of the exercise and was payable directly to the property. Although the property was comfortable and modern, the cooking facilities were limited and this caused some challenges for the team who were catering for the full group of fifteen individuals.
The accommodation was in the middle of a small town, which allowed supermarket shopping without having to drive. There were several restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream shops and bars within a short walk from the accommodation and this was welcomed after a hot day of rock climbing.
The accommodation had washing machines, private parking and free wi-fi, which all proved valuable in making life more comfortable and also allowed daily weather forecasts to be obtained.
Equipment
Due to a late application for loan pool stores, which was rejected by the desk officer, we were short of climbing equipment for the exercise. The Commanding Officer sanctioned £3000 which was to be spent on the purchase of climbing equipment in recognition of the shortage, but also to allow the formation of a climbing club within the unit.
Communications
Personal mobile phones were used where required during the event. There were some areas which provided issues with mobile signal, however most networks were covered in most of the remoter climbing locations.
Weather
The daily temperatures were around the high twenties. Climbing above the tree line proved quite challenging in the heat. The afternoons often brought thunder and lightning and the plans for day three of the single pitch foundation course had to be altered due to an electrical storm. The latter part of the expedition was more settled but remained on the warm side for climbing.
Climbing in the Arco Region
Comano Terme provided an excellent location with good climbing crags all within a 40 minute drive of the accommodation. There were numerous areas for single and multi-pitch climbing at all grades. Some more popular areas had quite polished rock. Access to the top of crags was generally difficult due to the nature of the rock and the popularity of sport climbing in the area. However the climbing area of La Cosina provided an area to demonstrate abseil set ups and to allow the placing and removal of traditional climbing equipment.
The upper crag of Croz de la Niere provided an opportunity to climb up on a top-rope and to abseil on a releasable system. This crag provided climbing in the rain due to being protected from the rain by a large roof.
The Sanbapolis (https://www.operauni.tn.it/palestradiroccia/) indoor climbing wall in Trento was utilised for the single pitch foundation (RSF) course. Sessions at the wall are restricted to three hours in duration, but was inexpensive, at only 8.80 Euro per person and free of charge for the instructors. The policy of the wall was only to allow self-locking belay devices. This ate into climbing time and had we been aware of this, the use of the unit Gri-Gris would have been taught prior to arriving at the wall. Gri-gris were available to hire at the wall.
10 exercise participants successfully completed the RSF course. One staff member was recalled back to the UK due to operational matters, so was unable to complete the course.
Following completion of the RSF course, all participants were able to experience at least one multi-pitch route. The climbing area of Placche di Baone provided easy angled slab climbs at grades suitable for an introduction to multi-pitch climbing and stacked abseil descents. The group were all involved in learning the systems involved in multi-pitch climbing and the responsibilities involved in being a ‘competent second’. The routes on this wall are all 3 or four pitches and were a good preparation for those selected for a more arduous multi-pitch route. The climbing area of Parete Del Limaro provided classic nine to eleven pitch routes, which all share the same start, traversing above a dam. This provided a challenge in relation to the time required to wait to begin climbing. This resulted in one of the three teams running out of time and having to climb during the hottest part of the day. The decision was to abandon the climb and due to the initial pitches being a traverse, the descent proved to be complicated.
Due to the lessons learnt from the climbing on Parete del Limaro, the decision was made to climb at an alternative multi-pitch venue for the remaining students who were not involved in the first group of students on the large multi-pitch routes at Parete del Limaro. On the last day of climbing we walked in to the 3 pitch slab routes on Placche Zabrete. Unfortunately, the rock on this wall was extremely polished and proved too difficult for the grade in the guide book. Again the decision was made to abandon this crag in favour of single pitch climbing at La Gola. This was a bit of a disappointing end to an otherwise successful climbing expedition.
Drone Usage
Officer Cadet Calum Smyth took a drone to some of the climbing areas and this provided some excellent footage of the climbing activities. The footage gave and excellent dimension to photos and video footage, which would not have been possible using ground based photos and videos using cameras or mobile phones.
Daily Log
Officer cadets were responsible for keeping a daily log of the climbing areas utilised.
6/9/22 Charlie D’Arcy
Crag: Roccia Dei Folletti Sector, Val Lamasone, Arco. Overview: Today was a good start to the week with warm, sunny weather and everyone ascending multiple routes. Crag was not ideal for a large group. Breakfast: Breakfast was 0800. The food was cereal which went down well, but there was a slight milk shortage. Travel to: We left for the climbing site at 0900 and the journey was roughly 15 minutes by car, followed by another 15 minutes on foot. The on foot section was quite steep towards the end, leading several people trying to hide their breathlessness. Site: The site was nicely shaded throughout the day, however there was no sizable flat space to put equipment or to congregate at a safe distance from the wall. The floor was stepped and the steepness of the terrain made it difficult to traverse where it was more congested. There were a small number of other climbing groups, but due to the large number of routes there were no contested territories. Lessons: The rest of the morning consisted of lessons in the form of demonstrations by the instructors, these were well received and everyone knew the basics of bottom-roping by lunchtime. Lunch: Lunch was made by two instructors who then met us at the crag at 1230h. The classic; half a tuna baguette and a piece of fruit. Climbing: We began climbing after lunch, splitting into groups to take on the three routes set up. In ascending order of difficulty they were; Sgranf (3a), Encof (5a+) and Morkies (5b). All routes were manageable on day 1 of climbing with only one person not ascending Morkies. Travel back: The trip back was straightforward, just being mindful of your footing on the steep parts of the walk back to the vehicles.
7/9/22 Anna Nicholson – CRAG BOOK: Section 97 CROZE DE LE NIERE (crag A)
Journeys to the crag: Car: 23 mins. Walk: 1 mins. Parking: easy to find following guide book, 3 parking areas, there is room for a large van. Initially we looked for crag c but due to poor mapping in the guide book it was difficult to find, so we chose crag A instead. The area was very well suited to teaching the group as there was plenty of seating which was good for lessons and having a food break slightly away from the crag. There was also a good amount of space for the group and equipment at the crag. Decent signal. 3. Green (5a): difficult section ~3m from top otherwise fairly smooth climb with good rest points & decent holds. 5. Calalcando L’Asino (4c): Smooth short climb with good holds. 1. La Riscossa del Codardo (5c): okay unit half way up, then there’s a very difficult, not too sure after that. 2. Via Della Domenica (5a): nice consistent climb with good holds and support from the corner wall.
8/9/22 Teddy Henderson – SanbàPolis indoor wall, Trento
In the morning we had two lecture discussions about power, climbing hazards and weather. As delegated by the ATG syllabus these were Summer Mountain Hazards and Weather-Foundation. The plan for the day was to go to an indoor wall called SanbàPolis in Trento. We departed at 1210, and arrived at 1300 so it was a 50 min drive. There were plenty of parking spaces which were free. We struggled to find the entrance to the building and it ended up being through the parking lot. When we arrived at the reception area everyone had to fill in a form which was in Italian. The staff were very helpful. The price was €8 each for three hours, we entered at 1330 and left at 1630. Non locking belay devices were not allowed which resulted in our instructors having to spend time teaching us how to use Gri-gris. This meant we didn’t get time to learn how to lead climb but we still enjoyed climbing indoors and also tried some bouldering. There were great facilities and showers, although we couldn’t see a cafe in the immediate vicinity. We noted that the centre was not too busy, there was good variation in climbing difficulty and the walls were high. Overall, everyone enjoyed the experience!
9/9/22 Daniel Nicol – Croz De Le Niere’
Timings: Accommodation to destination 0910 – 0925 (15 mins). Car park to wall: 5 minute walk up the hillside quite steep and had large steps to climb. Time spent at wall : 7 1/2 hours. Time back to transport: 4 minutes. Back to accommodation: 17.10 – 17.25. 15 minutes. Road access: Easy access however limited parking. As we arrived we began with some basic rope work (clove hitch & figure of 8) and we all had enough time to practise with them. We learned about fixed and adjusted holds and what scenarios we could use them in and we were able to see demonstrations later on in the day. Mechanical & non mechanical techniques were shown and demonstrated and others such as Cams and nuts etc. The crag we used today was ‘Croz De Le Niere’. We were there for climbing and abseiling throughout the day. There was enough room today for multiple groups of climbers however did begin to get quite crowded. Everyone was aware of space and allowed each other to pass without hindering climbers. The crag was classed as a 4C However, due to polished rocks the crag was very difficult to start off with and everyone was challenged and made us really think about our technique and the importance of our holds. Although polished we were still able to navigate our way up to the top of the wall sticking to the designated route. We used single pitched climbing to improvise our climbing skills and practised with 2 B layers and bottom roping
10/9/22 Alasdair Tod – Placche di Baone
0825 leave comano Terme. Arrive at 0900. 10-15min gentle walk to the crag. There is a tight road up to the crag suitable for cars but no access for combivans. Pitches 1-6 out of commission due to rock slide. Climbed: multi pitch – via Palo (3a), via bottoni Bianchi (3b), via D.B (3b). Single pitch – via c.g (3b) via 01/01/2000 (3b. Group 1 climbed a, 4 pitch ~100m route then performed a stack abseil from the top. Group 2 climbed 2 Single pitch climbs whilst workimg on technique. Very little shelter from the sun at the bottom and no shelter on the face. Route via 01/01/2000 has only one bolt between the base and the anchor. The two groups swapped over.
11/9/22 Calum Smyth – Placche di Baone
Route to the climbing wall was through very narrow streets making it almost impossible to get the combivan through without scrapping the sides. In total it took us around a hour to get there due to the small passage ways. We were able to get one vehicle up to the climbing wall car park but the route was very tight. From where we parked the other two vehicles we were able to walk out way up to the climbing wall taking roughly 10 minutes. At the carpark we discovered some of the multi pitches are not in use due to a rock slide. The climbing wall itself was a easy climb getting used to multi pitches (Via Paolo 3a-4a, Via Bottoni Biancbi 3a-3c, Via D.B 3b) and the way in which they work. We originally had 2 single pitches up but we realised Via 01/01/2000 only had one bolt therefore we stopped using it. We had a single pitch (Via C.G 3b) and the side to allow us to practice going up and down the wall, we discovered quickly you were able to walk up the rockface without hands and made it a challenge to try it. The single pitch turned into a speed race by the end see who could scramble up the fastest. The multi pitch allowed us to see the concept on how everything works as we go up the rockface, we did 3-4 pitches. This allowed us to understand how everything works so we know what to do next. The location itself is located where a lot of sun is therefore it got really hot during the day and the rockface was boiling. On the way back it was easier to navigate taking us roughly 30 minutes to get back to our accommodation.
12/9/22 James Mackman – Parete Del Limaro
25 min drive to the face.
5 pitches until we called it a day, this was due to it being an incredibly hot day, using going slowly but surely. First 2 pitches were traverse. It was a busy face with 2 of the 3 teams getting overtaken by other climbers at some point in the day.
James, Daniel and Joe (instructor) climbed moonbeams, good climb, pitch 5 particularly tough as was a 5c, pitch 6 looked very hard, but was not attempted, some anchor points have very little to stand on.
25 min drive back from the face.
13/9/22 Sam Griffiths – La Gola
As a result of yesterday’s multi-pitch climbs taking longer and being more difficult than first expected we decided to try the multi-pitch routes at Placche Zebrate instead. The drive there was only ~30 minutes but didn’t have any parking for the van as the car park had a max height limit. As a result of this the van had to be left a few hundred meters up the road from the car park.
The walk from the carpark to the crag itself was around 25 minutes on uneven ground including walking over large rocks. However, once at the base of the crag it soon became apparent that the routes were poorly marked and where we needed to be was at the far left of our current position. Navigating to the crag doesn’t prove too difficult for anyone wearing appropriate footwear but moving around once at the crag is extremely difficult, and in some places impossible. The whole area is covered in scree and at a 30% incline. We experienced great difficulty in getting to our chosen area and had people fall and slide multiple times. Even though it was less than 200m it took us over 35 minutes to get from the base of the crag to the far left corner and was extremely hard work. We were a group of six including instructors, and it is my personal opinion a group larger would face even greater difficulty.
The crag itself was extremely polished in the areas we attempted to use. In the areas where a stable grip was available, the distance between pegs was as large as 6 meters. It’s for these reasons that the decision was ultimately taken for us to abandon the crag and return to the carpark. A process which took in excess of 45 minutes when trying to navigate a scree slope downhill.
We then made the journey to another crag to do some single pitch climbs. The name of this crag was La Gola. Once again the van had to be ditched as the road was too narrow for it. The crags here were also quite polished, but we managed to get two climbs done. The area was very spacious and also had benches dotted around for people to use.
Conclusion
Ex Northern Heights 22 provided an excellent opportunity for officer cadets to participate in the RSF course and to experience multi-pitch rock climbing. The objective of the exercise was to provide a springboard for an ambitious big-wall expedition to Yosemite National Park, California in summer 2023.
The area selected for the exercise had been previously used for Ex Northern Boars Claw in 2019, which was also supported by the Ulysses Trust. Utilising a previously used area negated the need for a separate Recce and allowed a smooth operation, reducing time-wasting and potential risks. Occasionally, mobile phone coverage was poor, which could have caused potential issues following an incident that would require the emergency services. Check-ins with the whole group checking their own mobile phones usually solved the issue.
The accommodation proved to be appropriate, but also caused challenges in relation to cooking, due to having limited facilities and for having meetings with the whole group. However, it was comfortable, had free wi-fi, good showers, washing machines and was central to the climbing areas and supermarkets. Two of the apartments had large outdoor balconies, which allowed eating outside as a whole group when the weather allowed. Daily reviews were held utilising Roger Greenaway’s Facts, Feelings, Findings and Futures model, which promoted reflective thinking within the group.
The weather at the beginning was mixed, having warm temperatures, sunshine but also occasional storms.
All-in-all, the exercise was a success without incident (except a few scrapes from falls). It promoted an interest in rock climbing within the unit, but also fostered a teamworking spirit and promoted pro-social co-operative living. Several of the cadets still had a few years at university and those all expressed an interest in attending the Rock Climbing Supervisors course and attending the Yosemite expedition in 2023. The unit intends setting up a rock climbing club and in competing in sports climbing competitions.