On Saturday the 2nd of April, 30 Students, 6 instructors and 2 drivers set off from across the UK to Folkestone. Travelling form York, Leeds, Sheffield were the majority of the group, with additional team members coming from Manchester, Middle Wallop, and elsewhere.
On arrival at Folkestone, those who needed to complete a Military Swim Test did so, and then all met at St Martins Plain Camp, for Pizza and sleep, before a n early start the next day. Unfortunately, due to the Channel Tunnel crossing, Breakfast was limited, and the Haver-bag rations were available.
Due to the P&O issues seen in Early 2022, the HGVs carrying equipment were delayed in crossing, however the minibuses made good time and arrived at the overnight stop in Montelimar. The HGVs having to stop short and then carry on traveling on the Monday.
The main group however made it to the Gite which was to be our base of operations in the early afternoon of the Monday and set about completing the theory side of AT, meaning the rest of the week was focussed on the practical elements.
The Gite (Domaine de l’Astic) is a converted farmhouse, split into a number of flats and duplexes, giving all the students room to continue university studies if needed in the evening as well as having larger spaces to allow for us all to dine together and conduct the theory side of training. A fantastic location for this and many other types of AT.
The next 4 days was spent on 2 rivers, but over 4 decidedly different types of water, with day 1 taking the students from Vallon Pont d’Arc to the Pont d’Arc itself, a short trip of only 6 KM giving the instructors time to coach the students on technique and the students to feel the impact of mild moving water on the boats. The final part of this trip being a Grade II drop into the large pool above Pont d’Arc, showing a real progression through the day.
In the words of OCdt Dagnall-Wise “I had kayaked before, but I had never kayaked so hard in my life as I did that week. I was paddling upstream, trying to reach an eddy and despite the encouragement of my instructor I was unsure if I was actually progressing up the river. Working my arm muscles more than I ever had before, I was convinced that I would still end up capsized and drifting downstream. Yet after what was probably only a minute, but felt like hours of endurance, I finally broke into calm water. This was only the first morning of being on the river.”
Day 2 was the longest day of paddling, starting with the confidence boost of repeating the first section and then passing through the Pont D’Arc and entering the Ardeche Gorge proper. This was an endurance paddle, which is still raced as a marathon. 20 miles later the 30 students and 6 coaches exited the water in St. Martin D’Ardeche, tired but pleased. In the words of OCdt Garner “I really enjoyed getting to grips with kayaking and learning vital skills needed to kayak down the Ardeche river and in general, managing to kayak 20 miles down the Ardeche with numerous river rapids and obstacles in the way was a favourite memory of mine on the trip. Not only was it physically challenging but also mentally as well and I definitely think it pushed me out of my comfort zone.”
Day 3 was a shorter paddle, and a later start, after the epic long day on the Gorge d’Ardeche, but we continued the Ardeche, moving upstream to Les Defiles De Ruom, this is a well-known motorcycling route, but a less well known “Mini-Gorge” with a similar level of challenge to the main Gorge d’Ardeche but more concentrated, with less pauses between the rapids. Ocdt Dagnall-Wise again “We encouraged each other to keep going; to take risks, trusting in our capabilities and newly learned skills; and occasionally to rescue each other when those skills had not been implemented correctly!”
Day 4 was then conducted on the Chessezac – this is an unspoilt gem of a river, which feeds the main Ardeche, with a confluence just above Vallon Pont d’Arc – we didn’t go that far though! The Chessezac is only just starting to see the canoe tourism which the area is well known and popular for, and a short, very fast 6km run though near continuous grade II water completed in only a few hours allowed the groups to realise and experience the increased level of challenge they could now cope with. After a pause for lunch (which had again been provided by the Gite and was, again, exceptional), The students had the choice to take on the grade III Labyrinth Rapid – they had all passed the K2F or O2F by this point, and almost 2/3rds of those present took on this additional level of challenge. Only 2 boats capsized, and 3 swimmers, but all doing exactly the right actions, showed how far they had all come from day 1.
Overall – well here are the comments from 3 of the students:
OCdt Dagnall-Wise: “We formed closer bonds with our groups as It was a week that challenged every person involved in different ways. I have learned lessons that will serve me well in life, including that I’m more capable than I thought I was.
OCdt Garner: “The kayaking expedition was definitely a trip with many leaps and bounds as well as ups and downs. I made many friends and memories whilst on the trip and despite obtaining an injury on the expedition I still enjoyed every minute of it.”
OCdt Baldwin: “EX NORTHERN PADDLE 22 was a great experience and all the OCdts took away a lot of useful kayaking skills which can be transferable to other areas in life too such as self-discipline, control, keeping focused and staying motivated throughout. Also pushing everyone out of their comfort zone which is where confidence definitely started to grow in everyone.”
All that was left was the long drive home, and despite the ongoing issues at Calais, we all made it!
Having completed the expedition all 30 students gained either the O2F or K2F Qualification as well as the civilian British Canoeing Paddle-Power Discover award.
This expedition would not have been possible without the generous funding provided by the Ulysses Trust, which allowed the participants to gain this valuable experience and develop themselves in a challenging environment.
