The second of our prestigious Expedition Awards was presented by Lord Lieutenant for Warwickshire Tim Cox (pictured right) last week.
The Trust’s Expedition Awards highlight the very best in leadership, challenge, courage and planning. The latest awards were selected from the 95 cadet and reservist expeditions supported by The Ulysses Trust in 2022. Each recipient receives a certificate which is signed by our Chair, AVM Nick Kurth.
The winner of the Reservist Category was Exercise Dragon Maple 2022. This expedition was undertaken by 17 Reservists and 5 Regulars from 37 Signal Regiment who deployed to the Canadian Yukon in June 2022 to kayak Tagish Lake and trek the Slims River Valley.
The award was received on behalf of the unit by one of the expedition participants, Sgt Hathaway (pictured left).
The presentation took place on Thursday 8th June 2023 at the WM RFCA AGM at the Birmingham Council House. The event was organised by the West Midland Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association.
EXERCISE: DRAGON MAPLE 2022
37 Signal Regiment planned a bold and ambitious expedition in the Canadian Yukon, taking 22 soldiers to Kluane National Park, with one group spending five days trekking the Slims River Valley and ascending Sheep Mountain, while the other kayaked down Tagish Lake. The aim was to build confidence in the soldiers by teaching them a new skill in a challenging environment, including capsize drills on Tagish lake and being physically and mentally challenged hiking up Sheep Mountain. The expedition had unplanned benefits to the local community too, with some soldiers staying behind to bury a water supply pipe to prevent freezing and refurbish an accommodation hut. This adjustment was due to unexpected instructor student ratios and the expedition also had to alter the itinerary from its original objective of climbing Observation Mountain due to the abilities of the soldiers. Despite these last minute changes the expedition was able to achieve its aims of challenging the soldiers to push themselves physically and mentally, delivering qualifications to all who participated in summer mountaineering and canoeing; The expedition report can be found here; Dragon Maple 2022 | The Ulysses Trust
Details of other award winners from 2011 are available on our Expedition Awards page.
For further details please contact Paul Randall on M: 0774 141 2371 paul.randall@ulyssestrust.co.uk.
