On the 25th of August a group of keen cadets travelled to Wales for an adventurous training activity week. Corporal Cross, Jenkins and Lance Corporal Silvera met Staff Sergeant Wickes at RRS HQ at 1000hrs excited for the week ahead. We embarked on our journey stopping 2hrs into the drive to have lunch and a break. We arrived at the Army Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training (CCAT) in Capul Curig, North Wales at 1630hrs where we were welcomed to our accommodations. We then had a brief to discuss the plans for the week, divide into 5 groups of Army Cadets from across the country and learn about the activities that were planned. The activities consisted of kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, rock climbing, and mountaineering. We then had the rest of the afternoon off to get to know the other Army cadets on camp. Lights out was 2200hrs when we all went to bed excited for the activities in the days ahead. 

We started the day with a good breakfast and a bit of free time to organise our kit for the day and prepare for our morning briefing at 0830hrs. After our morning briefing, we collected our lunch, and my group headed to the stores to collect all the equipment we needed for a day of rock climbing. After being given our equipment, we got on the bus and travelled to a slate rock-climbing sight where we climbed up to a safe flat area that we used as a base for us to have lunch and hang out when we weren’t climbing. We then set up the first to walls, one easier wall to warm up and a slightly harder wall for those who wanted a challenge. Before we started to climb, we were given a demonstration of how to safely tie knots and clip into the wall, we were then shown an example of how to climb the wall and how to b-lay and keep the climber safe. After all the safety briefings we were off.

I climbed the easier wall first as a warmup then the harder one to give myself a challenge. I successfully got to the top of both wall before we had a break for lunch. After lunch we moved to a different area and found another safe place to leave our bags. We set up another two wall and we spent the rest of the day exploring all the different ways we could climb the walls. We finished off the day with the most difficult climb of the day, where we had to climb upside down for a bit. After a good day of climbing, we got back on the minibus and went back to camp, where we returned the kit, we had borrowed and had a well needed shower. We spent the rest of the evening spending time with other groups listening to music and playing card games until lights out when we all went to bed excited for the next day’s activities. 

Written by Corporal Cross

One of the days the cadets had the chance to do some mountain biking training. They had a long trek up the track to the top of the hill where they rested and ate their lunches and prepared for the fast descent down the track. There were many exciting jumps and gaps that the cadets had to go over to get down. Once at the bottom the cadets had some time to go around the pump track doing large jumps and drop ins before packing up and heading back to camp to freshen up before dinner. 

Another day the cadets had the chance to do kayaking on the lake. They practiced man overboard drills and how to empty and save a kayak when someone fell into the water. The cadets learnt the proper techniques of paddling to prevent them from falling over or spinning mindlessly and continued to paddle until lunchtime. They had a rest and ate their lunch before joining the canoeing group out on the water to play some different games against each other before heading back to camp. 

Written by Corporal Jenkins

We took a half an hour drive down to the serene lake of in Caernarfon. We spent the first half of the day learning different paddling strokes and how to navigate the water. Although some of us went spinning and a few boats capsized by lunch we had all got the hang of it. After lunch is when the fun really began we played games including capturing each other’s ducks and  pirates of the Caribbean. We finally learnt how to save each other when the canoe capsized which we all had a go at. To end the brilliant day we merged with the kayaking group and dived and jumped off the jetty(with a sneaky push from the instructors here or there). Despite Wales living up to its standard of being the wettest place in the UK, we had a great time.

We had an exhilarating day walking in Holyhead. After driving out of the rain for an hour we finally arrived at Holyhead-South Stack; it was absolutely stunning. We walked around in the morning each taking it in turns to navigate using bearings, the map and our general surroundings. We walked along the cost line for the majority of the morning and hiked up to a summit. From there we enjoyed our lunch and took in the beautiful views of the port in Wales and even Liverpool. Then we had a talk about the history of maps and the points where they would be drawn from we went into the lookout points that would’ve been utilised to sight the Germans in WW1 and WW2. After that it was time to go we finished our walk had a quick stop off at the café and headed back to camp.

Written by Lance Corporal Silvera