During September 2023 the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), an army reservist unit in the City of London, took 22 soldiers and officers out to the Mont Blanc Massif, with the objective to summit Gran Paradiso, a 4,061m peak in the Aosta Valley, Italy. This expedition comprised a core component of their Alpine Mountaineering Foundation (AMF) course, a military qualification in Alpine mountaineering. Attaining sufficient numbers with the AMF qualification is critical to the regiment achieving its overall ambition: to be the first army unit to field a mixed gender team of reservists to summit Mount Everest.
This ambition is the brainchild of Major Simon Du Boulay (DB) who, with the support of numerous other dedicated colleagues in the HAC, has spent the last 3 years planning the various stages of this expedition. Consequent stages include taking a 16-person team to summit Himlung Himal in Nepal (7,126m), allowing a limited number of team members to summit Denali in Alaska (6,190m) and, finally, taking an 8-person team to the summit of Mount Everest in 2025 (with additional team members to complete Everest Base Camp). In order to qualify for selection on later expeditions, applicants will also have had to complete a series of other military mountaineering qualifications, including the Winter Mountain Foundation (WMF) and Summer Mountain Foundation (SMF) courses. With this stage now complete, resulting in 19 AMF qualifications for the regiment, there is now a pool of over 25 AMF holders within the HAC to choose from to take forward on future expeditions.
And so it was, under the nervous watch of Major Du Boulay, the HAC contingent descended upon the UCPA in Chamonix for a fortnight of scaling rock faces, traversing ridges, and summitting 4000m peaks. For a number of individuals on the team who had never worn a harness or crampons before, let alone tie a figure of eight, the next couple of weeks would prove to be an extreme learning curve. For others with a confessed fear of heights, the trip would be a considerable stretch of their comfort zones.
Having arrived, the first two days in Chamonix were spent on the crag face learning the basics of rock climbing, including tying into a harness, belaying, single-pitch climbing, multi-pitch climbing and abseiling.
This was followed by a crash course in glaciers and ice walking in the Mer de Glace, where the team undertook various tasks, practicing skills such as climbing up vertical ice faces using only crampons and ice axes, as well as traversing up, down and across steep ice faces. In addition to the time spent out on the terrain, mornings and evenings were spent covering the myriad of topics required for the AMF, including understanding mountain terrain, weather systems, mountain-specific concerns (e.g. rock fall), first aid, and risk mitigation.
With the basics complete, the cohort was then divided up into smaller 6-person rope teams. These teams were of mixed abilities, each containing individuals from across the breadth of the regiment. Under their own steam, and with the supervision of the world-class military and civilian instructors provided, each team was instructed to tick off the various requirements for their AMF qualification, such as working in rope teams, creating natural belays out of the terrain, bouldering and fixing ice screws.
It was during this time that each of the teams were afforded the opportunity to stay in the nearby mountain huts, such as Refuge Torino (3,375m) above Courmayeur, where teams could summit the Grande Flambeau (3,559m). It provided an excellent opportunity for the teams to practice their glacial walking and rock-climbing skills, whilst getting a taste for working at high altitude. For a few unfortunate individuals, it was also used as an excuse to practice falling into and getting out of a crevasse.
The teams also took their turn staying at Refuge Chabod (2,710m), a mountain hut in the Aosta Valley, Italy, located a 2-hour drive away from Chamonix. For each of the teams this was used as a base prior to the summit of Gran Paradiso itself (4,061m), and of which involved a 4am start and a long 8hour climb to the top. Whilst this climb involved wide open, deep glaciers, and long trudge up through thick snow, it was nevertheless considered by many to be the highlight of the trip.
On the final few days, the teams climbed around the Aiguille du Midi, a particularly steep ridge-walk and rock-climbing exercise that put to the test the skills and team-working abilities developed over the last fortnight. Against the sublime backdrop of Chamonix and the Mont Blanc Massif, the excursion proved an excellent testimony to just how far the HAC contingent had come in building their alpine mountaineering skills and working at altitude.
Overall, the trip was a resounding success, with a number of newly qualified AMF-holders returning to the regiment, each standing a couple of inches taller and with a much better capacity for dealing with vertical drops. The work has not stopped however, as the regiment seeks to maintain momentum and continue building on the success. A number of rock climbing and alpine mountaineering interest groups have been established, with the ambition to spread interest throughout the regiment and provide opportunities for individuals to continue practicing their skills. Several individuals have also booked themselves onto courses to continue developing their mountaineering skills in anticipation for when they return to the mountains, such as bouldering and cross-country skiing. As for the later expeditions to Himlung Himal, Denali and Everest, DB and his team are deep into the planning stages of these, with team selection to be announced shortly.
As we move into 2024, and as testament to the terrific success of the Chamonix Expedition, opportunities are now plentiful at the HAC for those who want to try their hand at mountaineering.
