Between the 17th and the 25th February 2017, 45 cadets and 12 Adults from Northumbria ACF travelled to Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps to undertake a week of Alpine Skiing. The Exercise was designed to give the group which consisted of mainly Novice skiers the opportunity to learn to ski or for those with …
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Ex DHAULAGIRI ALPINE DRAGON was the training event conducted in Saas Fee, Switzerland during the period of 11-26 Jul 15 for members of the British Services Dhaulagiri Medical Research Expedition. Dhaulagiri is the 7th highest mountain in the world and the expedition will involve a 24 person mountaineering squad with numerous trekking teams. The aim …
Dhaulagiri Alpine Dragon 2015 – 103 Regt RA Read More »
The Tour de Mont Blanc is one of the most popular long-distance walking routes in the world, traversing through France, Switzerland and Italy as it circumnavigates the immense Mont Blanc massif, the highest mountain in Europe. The full distance is usually walked in 10 days; due to work and time constraints we had decided from …
It is now a month since the final team from Exercise Alpine Arc arrived at the shores of the Mediterranean; successfully completing the final kilometres of an extraordinary ski-journey through the European Alps. A journey which began in Puchberg am Schneeberg in Austria before winding its way through 1100kms of snow-locked mountains; accumulating almost 80 …
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A “Very Polite” Walk in the Alps – Reservists on the Tour du Mont Blanc. By Sapper Kimberly Gee and Sapper Kofi Steele (Reservists with 75 Engineer Regiment, currently studying at Manchester Metropolitan University) When presented with the opportunity to attend Ex Northern Ypres Paccard, trekking the Northern half of the Tour du Mont Blanc, …
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12 cadets and staff from 461 (Chichester) and 2530 (Uckfield) Sqn’s ATC have just returned from a 12 expedition to Switzerland, made possible from a year’s hard fund raising and planning, including lots of generous donations notably the Ulysses Trust and RAF Charitable Trust. The group took the decision to travel by train rather than …
Ex Swiss Adventure 2014 – 2530 (Uckfield) Sqn & 461 (Chichester) Sqn ATC Read More »
An expedition has 3 components: Plan, Do, Recover…Fantasise, Criticise, Romanticise!. “We’ve climbed Mt Kenya…what next?”. That was the challenge posed by the Commanding Officer on our return from Kenya in 2013. The European Alps were closer and Mt Blanc the highest in western Europe at 4808m was a perfect ideal. The long and laborious process …
Ex Northern Alpenglow 2014 – Glasgow & Strathclyde UOTC Read More »
Exercise Ibex EMU was a mountaineering expedition that ran for 19 days from the 14th July – 1st August. It took place in Saas Grund, Switzerland and Chamonix, France. The main effort of the expedition was to summit Mont Blanc. Our unit had attempted to do this previously but had failed due to poor weather …
Ex Ibex EMU (Dragon) 2014 – East Midlands UOTC Read More »
For our 5th annual visit to the Alps with the 1034 (Surbiton) Squadron Air Training Corps, we again chose to go to Arolla in the Vallenois Alps. This is a well known, although remote high mountain centre with the campsite at 1970 metres above sea level. Camping Petit Praz claims to be the highest campsite …
Alps 2014 – 1034 (Surbiton) Squadron Air Training Corps Read More »
Last year, Captain Tania Noakes, The Oxford University Officer Training Corps Adventure Training Officer and IFMGA British Mountain Guide, approached several Officer Cadets with the idea of competing in the Patrouilles des Glaciers. The race is a demanding and challenging ski-mountaineering competition for three-member rope parties run by the Swiss Military. The course, which runs …
Exercise Blue Patrouilles des Glaciers 2014 – Oxford UOTC Read More »
Challenging, isolating and inspiring, ski touring offers a unique way of exploring the mountains. Such exploration was one of the main aims of Oxford UOTC’s Exercise Blue Tour, a seven-day ski tour through the Italian Adamello and Ortler Alps. The group of eight Officer Cadets met in Oxford on 27th March 2014 and, having been …
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