Expedition Reports

On the 8th of September 2011, the departure lounge of Luton airport played host to a medley of excited officer cadets, competent crew sailors and a selection of weathered and rather tolerant day skippers; their Officer Training Corps affiliations betrayed by the abundance of black grip bags and that peculiar but unmistakable manner that is […]

Ex Dragon Taffy Eagle was a weekend’s Adventure Training in Capel Curig, where the soldiers and students of the Territorial Army Unit C Company (The 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment) got the choice to partake in activities such as Mountain Biking, Kayaking or Rock Climbing. Members also took part in White Water Rafting as a

Expedition Ventura Dragon Izzard II took place in August 2011 with 25 participants. An Advance Party of four travelled out to Spain overland by minibus with equipment, and set up a base camp in the small town of Espot in north Catalonia. This is just outside the Aigues Tortes National Park, (Aigues Tortes meaning twisted

The CCAT IAM Course was based from a campsite in Saas Grund, Switzerland during the period 21-28 Aug 11. The high mountain range that lies between the Rhone and Aosta valleys, known as the Pennine Alps (Valais or Wallis), contains the greatest concentration of 4000metre peaks. The range includes some of the most famous peaks

Our summer camp did not get off to a very good start with regards to the weather: as we crossed the border to Scotland the rain started. This continued for the rest of the day with severe weather warnings on the roads. Monday morning the weather was fine and the cadets went off in their

After months of planning a group of twenty two Air Cadets from the Gwendraeth Valley in South Wales have recently returned from an extremely successful two week overseas adventurous training camp in the British colony of Gibraltar. The key activity during the camp was the open water Professional Association of Diving Instructors Course (PADI). The

Alpine Endeavour was a three week Alpine mountaineering expedition, tackling peaks in Switzerland and Italy. On the first two days we travelled to Saas Grund in Switzerland. From our vantage point in the campsite we could see what laid ahead. The fourth and fifth days were spent on the Hohsaas glacier; for some of the

Cadets from South East Scotland Wing and West Scotland Wing travelled to Norway, as part of the 70th Anniversary of the Air Training Corps. The goal of the expedition was for cadets to complete their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition. On Tuesday 2 April cadets met at 870 (Dreghorn) Sqn before departing on Wednesday

Pyrenees – An Easy Week, by Emma Reynolds and Megan Calcutt The first day was spent travelling. We reached our campsite late that night, and quickly learnt that we would have to get used to sleeping on slopes and rocks! The Pyrenees greeted us that night with our first storm, and we started the next

This summer Oxford University OTC, together with financial assistance from The Ulysses Trust mounted a rock climbing and trekking expedition to the Dolomites in Northern Italy. It was the first major expedition that Junior Under Officer (JUO) James Coates had organised, and he did this during his final year at Oxford University. The expedition consisted

After a brief introduction to snow chains we departed Bury St Edmonds TAC ahead of schedule (A TA thing). We made good time on our travels despite the constant downpour of rain and arrived safely at the Euro Tunnel crossing 3 hours later. We had a few rest stops whilst travelling through Europe mainly to

Introduction In late 2010 the Ulysses Trust (UT) decided to sponsor and completely fund a challenging, overseas expedition; the aim being to develop enthusiasm for such activities in the participants, with the aspiration that they might undertake to run similar events, themselves, in the future. Given that the participants, chosen from all the UK Reserve

Sailing ‘Alba Venturer’ into Victoria Harbour in Greenock at the end of their voyage, using nothing more than canvas and wind, highlighted the skill and confidence of the trainee crew who only a week earlier had set out as novices on this year’s annual HQAC / Ocean Youth Trust Scotland – Offshore Sail Training Expedition.

On the 28th of August, 11 members of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde Air Squadron participated in an adventure training and force development week in Germany. It proved to be a superb forum for enhancing leadership, teamwork, and personal development. The expedition flew from Edinburgh to Munich, before utilising a combination of trains to

14 Army Cadets from Greater Manchester and Lancashire Army Cadet Forces took part in RATTLESNAKE VENTURER in the South West USA between 31 August and 19 September 2011. It was supported by Adult instructors from GMACF, the Regular Army and the Territorial Army. Flying from the UK to Las Vegas via Gatwick, the exercise had

The 8th of August 2011 saw 8 Cadets and 5 Staff from 228 (Bromley) and 2511 (Longfield) Squadrons head off to Helsinki in Finland to undertake Exercise Samiaa Challenge. The Samiaa lakes area in Eastern Finland are a massive complex of lakes and islands which run for hundreds of square miles and contain over 14,000

AN ADRIATIC ADVENTURE The Michaelmas term at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire started with a sea odyssey for twelve intrepid travellers from the CCF. Their trip was a culmination of many months of training and preparation, and long sessions in the school pool upside down in a kayak! Expedition Adriatic Adventurer was a Gold Assessment and

Northern Emulous was a multi activity expedition, conducted in the Ardeche region of Southern France, for thirty six Officer Cadets, six instructors and six administrative staff. The aim of the exercise was to increase the skills of those undertaking the exercise, in order to build self confidence, team work, develop physical robustness in an area