Expedition Reports

In early April, 12 officers and soldiers from across the Regt converged on Bexleyheath ready for an adventure. Bags packed, things inevitably forgotten, but keen to get started on the long journey to Kathmandu, via Doha. Once there, the team staggered out of the airport into a completely different world. There was a veritable mob […]

From 9th- 16th April 2011, 9 students accompanied by 3 staff members from Selly Oak Trust School, Birmingham, a secondary school for students with moderate learning difficulties, took part in a sailing expedition along the south coast of the UK. The Cadets, all members of the Combined Cadet Force (Royal Navy) at Selly Oak Trust

Canford has been running cross-country skiing expeditions for some fourteen years now with a number of cadets each year benefiting from the experience of a week’s cross-country skiing, snow holing, camping and ice-climbing, whilst experiencing the delights of the famous Norwegian ski touring huts. This year, once again, helped with some generous support from the

During the Easter holidays, a team of 8 staff and cadets, travelled to the Hardangervidda mountain range in Southern Norway, where we were to carry out an arduous cross-country skiing expedition. The aim of the venture was to introduce a novice group of cadets to cross-country skiing and carry out a ski tour expedition in

Sunday 10th April 2011, Sgt Philip Houseman and Officer Cadets Matthew Waterston, William Bowkett, Lewis Hart, David Keay and Charles Woods-Stride set out from Oxford on Exercise Blue Innsbruck. The following afternoon we arrived in the small Austrian village of Greiss. There we joined Captain Tania Noakes who would be leading the expedition. Kit was

This year, the Regimental skiing trip was a little unusual. Normally we head south, and ski downhill, in Austria. However we decided to head north and ski up-hill in Scotland. After an early start and a long drive, with rising excitement as we started spotting patches of snow on the mountains either side, we arrived

Legend has it that the ashes of St James the apostle lie in the magnificent cathedral in the heart of Santiago de Compostela in North West Spain. After Jesus’ crucifixion the eleven (Judas hanged himself) left Jerusalem to spread the gospel. James sailed to modern day Spain and preached to pagan Galicians in the North

Phoenix Cockney Slide was a Distributed Training (DT) Level 3 overseas exercise for beginners to advanced skiers, taking place over the period 1st – 9th April 2011. It was based in Tignes, South France. The intent was to take seven inexperienced skiers (Officers and soldiers), and provide them with the instruction in order to gain

High winds, high plateaus, high water and high adventure are the nature of Northern Jacobite Venturer (Ex NJV). Our now annual Scottish exploit is in it’s 4th year and hopes to reach maturity on our next visit. This is a multi activity week designed to give cadets from Giggleswick School the opportunity to produce a

25 hours on a coach, students suffering from travel sickness and a broken air conditioning unit resulting in the coach reaching a roasting 33 degrees during the journey. This is how 40 Officer Cadets (OCdts) from Liverpool University Officers’ Training Corps (LUOTC) were welcomed into the French Alps ski resort of Tignes. The expedition, Northern

Operation Grouse and Operation Gunnerside were conducted by British trained, hand picked members of the Norwegian SOE. These 11 ‘Heroes of Telemark’ survived in the wilderness of the Hardanga Vidda plateau in Norway for months on end, before successfully mounting two sabotage operations, which severely handicapped the Nazi’s in the race to build the Atomic

"39 cadets … 5 adult instructors … destination Salzburger Sportwelt …" After 30 hours by road and sea, we reached our destination of Küchl, a typically pretty Austrian village surrounded by the stunning Tennengebirge Mountains. Some anxious glances were exchanged at the absence of snow, but our hosts at the Hotel Mühlthaler, soon put our

The eagerly anticipated day of departure, 6 Mar 11, started bright and early at London’s Gatwick airport. All of the ship’s crew, except the skipper who, as Exped project officer, had flown ahead to oversee a week of yacht maintenance, boarded for the 8 hr 45 min Virgin Atlantic flight to St. Lucia. The crew

NORTHERN CHALLENGE 2 was a 150 (Yorkshire) Transport Regiment RLC (V) ski expedition to Ruhpolding, Germany at the beginning of February 2011. Led by a TA Captain with the support of a regular SSgt, the expedition looked deceptively simple to organise on initial inspection. It was only when the icy slopes of the funding applications,

In February 2011, Sea Cadets & Royal Marine Cadets and staff from London and Southern Area joined together to take part in the annual Exercise Alpine Adventure. They travelled by coach to Bavaria in Southern Germany, staying in the town of Bad Hindelang. Once in Bavaria, the cadets undertook a six-day training package; three days

Following the 24 hour journey by mini bus the 4 Yorks team arrived in Sonthofen in the Allgäu region of Germany, ready to attempt the Basic Ski Proficiency Alpine qualification. What was left of the arrival day consisted of signing out the necessary equipment and settling into the accommodation. The exercise was planned and conducted

30 members of 39th Signal Regiment (Volunteers) completed a seven day skiing exercise in Zell-am-Zee in Austria in February 2011. Exercise Lynx Glacier allowed TA soldiers of all different levels to learn and in some cases improve their skiing skills in a demanding and challenging environment. For five soldiers it was their first ever attempt

The aim to the expeditions was to introduce Alpine Ski Touring and pisted skiing to Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAV’s) from the ACF, CCF and ATC, further develop those who have previous experience and provide an opportunity for CFAV’s to gain an instructor qualification or revalidate existing qualifications. This expedition was solely dedicated