On 5th January 2023, East Midlands UOTC (EMUOTC), along with colleagues from Birmingham OTC, regular and reserve soldiers set out to the Scottish Highlands to complete their Winter Mountaineering Foundation Course.
For many, this was the first time in the Scottish mountains, especially in winter, and the week started with learning new skills – how to use the safety equipment such as crampons and ice axes, as well as learning about each other as a team. They also learnt about ice axe arrests, built snow holes, and practised avalanche rescues. They completed an overnight hiking expedition, staying the night in a bothy (a mountain refuge hut), using their new night-navigation skills.
LEARNING LIFE SKILLS
Expedition planning experience provided more lessons learnt – two groups planned to summit the highest peak in the UK, Ben Nevis (1,345m) from different directions, in full winter conditions.
One route succeeded where the other was found to be too dangerous due to the avalanche risk. Learning life skills such as risk assessment, judgement and resourcefulness is something borne out of such experience. Another group walked up a’ Bhlair peak, in whiteout conditions!
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
All participants grew in confidence and resilience, learning new skills and putting them all into practice in a real environment. While some of the days were arduous and long, the experience was extremely rewarding, conquering some tough routes and conditions. The sense of achievement was huge.
One of the four groups managed to get one final peak, Beinn a’ Chaorainn (1,083m), which involved climbing a ridge, using ice axes and crampons. “On either side of the ridge was a steep rocky drop. On day 1 of the course this would have freaked us all out but by day 5 we had the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle the ridge!”
Weather and avalanche reports were a key part of the training as they enabled us to plan ahead, pack the correct kit and select the safest routes. Towards the end of the week, many students had a go at presenting the weather brief for the whole group, which showed how much the students had learnt from the knowledgeable instructors.
BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND RESILIENCE
The winter mountaineering foundation course has given us a fantastic introduction to the winter environment, conditions and skills required. We may not have had great views, but the resilience and determination we developed in these conditions are qualities we will carry for life. Many are us are now looking to gain Quality Mountain Days to start the journey on the Mountain Leader training pathway.
The above is an edited version of the report written by OCdts Rickard and Russell from EMUOTC.