Expedition Reports

An Icelandic proverb: If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute! After a couple of hours’ kip on the floor of Stansted Airport and an uneventful flight to Keflavik, five cadets and three staff from Queen Ethelburga’s College CCF set up their first camp in Reykjavik at the start of a two-week walking expedition. […]

Between August 3rd and August 12th, Sheffield UOTC took 16 intrepid Officer Cadets to Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the midst of the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. The purpose of this expedition was to introduce the group to the climbing methods of via ferratta, where one climbs up the side of a mountain using a variety of

Every Leader knows that an expedition never entirely unfolds according to the plan and that the inevitable curved ball or two is to be expected. Co-ordinating two expeditions travelling to France on the same day with a multitude of pick up points collecting eighteen canoeists and ten mountaineers on route to Dover not unsurprisingly did

The weather and views were stunning, and the long walk provided an excellent opportunity to acclimate ourselves to our ice gear and to practice the principles that would keep us safe while journeying across ice and crevasses for the duration of the trip. The gradual ascent became quite steep as we neared the 3300m col

On the 6th August 2010 eleven cadets and two staff joined the Ocean Youth Trust (OYT) Scotland challenge vessel ‘Alba Endeavour’ for the start of an exciting adventure which would take them across the North Sea into the Fjords of Norway and back through stormy conditions to Edinburgh. Often the question is asked ‘What are

On the 2-8th August Bristol University Officers Training Corp was fortunate to send twelve Officer Cadets yacht sailing in the Solent area on the south coast. The weather was excellent and the Solent was full to bursting with crafts of all types hoping to enjoy the festival of Cowes week. Sailing during the week was

Cockney Oceanic was a Sailing Expedition with the ULOTC on a Nicholson 55 that took place in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, France, Bay of Biscay, Spain and Portugal from 27 August to 24 September 2010. Divided into two legs, it saw 22 participants in total; 4 Skippers and 18 crew members sail from Gosport

Monday 2nd August Crew collected foul weather clothing – oillies and willies, and further safety briefings were conducted. In the afternoon we practiced coming-alongside drills in the marina and set off into the Solent for some sail training, practising man-overboard drills and tacking the boat. Sailed down the Solent to a mooring buoy at Yarmouth

In September 2010 256 Field hospital (volunteers) deployed a group of seven on an expedition of the Mont Blanc mountain range, a famous long distance trek at altitude. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe (4807m), the mountain range has 400 summits, more than 40 glaciers, and crosses into three countries (France, Italy and

In September 2010, four adult staff and a 19 year old cadet of the Air Training Corps, all experienced and strong walkers, embarked on a 14 day trek through Upper Dolpa, Nepal; a very remote, sparsely populated, poor, culturally Tibetan Himalayan region; the route included three passes above 5000 metres. The `strenuous` graded trek was

On the 15th July, after almost a year of fundraising, physical training and equipment buying, I departed Heathrow airport and swapped my life in civilization for 5 weeks in Oscar II Land, at 78 degrees North in Svalbard. The expedition was split up into three phases, the first being a training and preparation week, which

(TIGER) SHRIVENHAM TAURUS BETHESDA was an 8 day multi-activity expedition to Snowdonia for members of the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS). Adventurous Training is a big part of what DTUS delivers as it provides an ideal vehicle to maintain interest in Service life and to develop leadership and physical attributes. 20 members of DTUS went

Twenty-three personnel from Bristol UOTC took part in Freedom Tiger, following “Le Chemin de La Liberte” or the Freedom Trail, through the Pyrenees. The convoy, consisting of two combivans and a minibus, left Bristol to catch the Portsmouth to Caen ferry, followed by a very long drive to St Girons in the South of France.

On 9th July seventeen cadets, two school staff and two regular soldiers – Dins and Glyn, left Heathrow for Belize, via a stopover in Houston. On arrival in Houston a quick stop by the hotel and then off to see a baseball game – a very overrated experience. The following morning a quick flight and

Following months of planning, training and fund raising, the time had finally come to begin the final phase of this expedition. During the build up to the expedition cadets had raised sponsorship through bag-packing, a 24 hour sponsored swim and approaching local businesses to seek donations. The cadets themselves took ownership for fund raising, thereby

The Expedition started with 4 cadets and 2 staff being driven early in the morning to Gatwick airport en route for Geneva. A delayed flight led to a small panic with trains and buses but eventually the group arrived at the campsite at Bonatchiesse high up in the Val de Bagnes in the Valais region

Introduction On 25 July 2010, 59 cadets from the three services, accompanied by 10 adult staff, a doctor and a Media Ops man, set out for Lesotho on a major adventurous training exercise as part of the Cadet 150 celebrations, returning home on 18 August. The expedition provided a challenging and life-enriching opportunity for Cadets

Cockney Blue Calypso was a Scuba Diving expedition with the ULOTC that took place in Gozo from 11 – 22 July 2010. It consisted of 29 students and 5 instructors. We were divided into two groups for the duration of the expedition; the novices, who would be undertaking the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) Ocean Diver