Expedition Reports

Kandertal Valley, The Bernese Alps, Switzerland For our 3rd annual visit to the Alps with the 1034 (Surbiton) Squadron Air Training Corps, we chose to go to Kandersteg in the Bernese Alps. This was a little different to the last two years, being a German speaking part of Switzerland, camping only at 1200 metres, being […]

A Crafty’s Perspective On the evening of Thursday 05 July 2012, a number of Territorial Army soldiers from 103 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) met at Hilsea, Portsmouth, with the summary from the Administration Instructions still echoing in the back of their mind: “This expedition will prove to be a challenging but hugely

Wednesday 11th July 2012 saw a group of Sea Cadets, both young people and adults, depart the UK for a two week adventure to Western Australia. The aim was to complete the expedition section of their Duke of Edinburgh award – “Gold” (4 days & 3 nights) or “Silver” (3 days & 2 nights). Both

The Youth Development Charity and expedition organisation British Exploring Society runs yearly expeditions to a range of wilderness environments, from jungle to extreme arctic, which are open to 16-25 year olds. The expeditions have a strong scientific element, as young explorers take a proactive role in research of the wilderness by gathering data and taking

With over a year’s worth of waiting, fundraising and general preparation the 20th July finally arrived. I, along with the rest of my fire left Heathrow airport and travelled via Madrid to Iquitos, Peru. Even though we knew the climate and conditions would be extreme, nothing could have prepared us for the tropical warmth, mosquitoes

In July 2012 after many months of fundraising, kit preparation and excitement, I met with around 50 other explorers to take part in a British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) expedition to Northern Norway. During the first few days of the expedition we learnt how to live in an expedition environment, learning many new skills which

In July 2012, six members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) took part in the second ever international sailing exercise organised by the Corps. The exercise, which received support funding from the Ulysses Trust, was led by an experienced Yachtmaster from the London Scottish Regiment. The crew made the most of their six days

EX GOZO SPLASH saw 19 students of Cambridge University Air Sqn deploy from RAF Wyton to the Island of Gozo, Malta. The aim of the expedition was to deliver British Sub-Aqua club training and qualifications to all students from novice to Advanced Diver. The event was held over 2 weeks with 10 students attending each

With only 8 weeks planning, the day had arrived for a small detachment of divers from 591 Independent Field Squadron RE to deploy to Gibraltar on Ex Finn SapperSoaker 12. The opportunity to deploy arose because 2 Rifles had to cancel their Exped as Op commitments, including support to the Olympics, meant they unable to

The Reserve Forces and Cadets Association for Yorkshire and The Humber organises a bi-annual expedition to the Himalayas for the cadet forces of all three Services. The expeditions are sponsored and supported by the Yorkshire Cadet Trust, in particular for fund raising. In 2012, the expedition was a repeat of the expedition of 2008, a

Viking Challenge proved to be a fantastic training opportunity for all cadets attending. Despite the long 43-hour journey, we threw ourselves straight into the water on the day we arrived. The first four days were spent advancing white-water kayak techniques based out of Troll Aktiv Centre in the Setesdal valley. We can now all competently

On the 1st of July 2012 eight intrepid Air Cadets from Kent Wing, supported by two members of Adult Staff boarded the aircraft to take them on an experience of a lifetime – Exercise Venture Alaska 2012 had begun. The expedition was the latest in a series of ventures worldwide aimed at providing senior air

The Hautes-Alpes region of the Southern French Alps is a paradise and perfect playground for canoeing and kayaking enthusiasts of all levels of ability. Influenced by the warmer Mediterranean climate, an incredible backdrop of mountain scenery and a huge variety of white-water rivers that can be run from May-September it is no wonder that it

In June this year 48 soldiers from 72 Engineer Regiment (V) headed off to the Lake District to conduct our annual adventure training exercise. Coniston was chosen as the base as it provided easy access to some of the best areas for the activities we had planned which included Walking, Canoeing, Mountain Biking and a

A group from 105 Regiment RA (V) took part in Ex KANANASKIS FINN – a ten day exercise in the Canadian Rockies. The aim was to deliver a basic mountaineering package and a foundation level open canoeing course to individuals who had never taken part in these before. The training was designed to be physically

This year’s two-week annual training camp took place in June 2012 and was the first year in which Liverpool UOTC and Manchester and Salford UOTC joined forces. They sent almost 200 officer cadets from the North West to RAF St Mawgan, near Newquay, Cornwall, where they spent the first week ‘in greens’, carrying out pre-deployment

A Sqn RWxY spent 3 days in Gibraltar in June 2012, with the aim of conducting adventurous training activities as well as competing in the Gibraltar Rock Run, a grueling 4 mile run from sea level to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. Flying from Luton Airport, we arrived to find our accommodation at

Day 1 Calenzana (275m) to Refuge d’Ortu di Piobbu (1520m) and Refuge Bonifatu The first day of the GR20 can be a shock to the system; leaving Calenzana, with your world on back, in weather that you should really enjoy whilst sitting with a cocktail at the side the pool, with the added question mark