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Trekking, 'Northern Jacobite Venturer', Cairngorms, Apr 2011, ID 1036

Giggleswick School CCF

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 tangible outcome to the adventure training elements of their cadet experience. Expeditioning in March and April in such wild areas of Scotland certainly exceeds the requirements of the DofE Awards but is made achievable by exploiting the additional leadership and determination that comes from non DofE training in the cadets such as leading close target recces or organising teams of junior cadets during summer camps. In addition, Giggleswick’s location in the Yorkshire Dales means that most students will have been over Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent, not to mention their day to day exposure to weather gives them a greater exposure to inclement conditions than most.

Cadets enter the ex NJV programme aged 15 as direct entrants to the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award and in their first year complete a Summer Mountain Proficiency (SMP) based course, subsequently remotely supervised and assessed in the summer. In year two cadets return aged 16 to use a Winter Mountain Proficiency (WMP) platform which allows them to return in April the following year to complete their Gold DofE Assessment in the wildest areas of Scotland. On successful completion of the Gold expedition, cadets are invited back to move up a level and try some graded routes and true Scottish mountaineering, guided by practicing MIC’s and fuelled by their own previous experience. In addition, cadets working towards their professional standard 4* kayak qualification can gain valuable log book experience with conditions that other UK areas struggle to provide.

Second only to logistics are the challenges imposed by the weather. We have had 14" of snow and whiteouts at the valley floors, and days of blazing sunshine where one was overdressed in shorts. This year was no different with winds at times exceeding 70mph, plenty of snow but too warm to snow hole and the Great Slab in Corrie an Lochain avalanched while we were there. Rivers in spate with icy meltwater provided a truly emotional experience for some whilst "no impact camping" with the need to carry out everything you take in (and produce) was the challenge for others. Jack was particularly anxious about attending the SMP week having assumed that the high level military anecdotes recited at home from an SAS father were the norm. However, once pressed into the expedition he quickly found that comforts could be found and he now looks forward to returning for the Gold training.

Two of the girls completing the remotely assessed Gold expedition both suffered heel blisters bigger than the patches available in the blister kits. Olivia had gained her blisters by the end of the first morning whilst no-one knew about Nicole’s; her view was that she was going to finish the expedition. The blisters weren’t life threatening, so why say anything. I can only imagine the discomfort with wet, cold and soft feet following the numerous stream crossings. There are two impressive parts to this story. The first is that both girls successfully completed the four days and over 65 miles without complaint. The second is that their group continued to work together and support one another, despite a slightly slower pace, independently of any adult support. Keith Dickinson (MIC and Assessor) felt that this was possibly the strongest group he had seen in 25 years of assessing at this level and that their success was due to high standards of progressive training and cohesive teamwork. They "epitomised the ethos of the DofE Award".

To run all of these activities concurrently with cadet and adult males and females requires flexible accommodation unavailable through the military system and we are very grateful to the Ulysses Trust for awarding a grant that allowed us to pay for rooms at the local youth hostel. It also requires the full contribution that being a cadet brings. Physical ability, leadership and the desire to succeed are all intangible elements of the cadet experience that in some way can be illustrated to a future employer by having a qualification such as the DofE Award. Without a curriculum vitae that stands out form the crowd a cadet may not get to an interview. It is only when in front of the interviewer that their soft skills and confidence often place cadets head and shoulders above the rest.

We tried to diversify our expeditions by introducing canoeing last year but the severity of the weather made this quite unsuccessful. We hope next year to use the experience of Chip Rafferty to trial a mountain bike expedition at Gold level.

My hope is that at some point in the future this progressive training programme will generate a group of students who would wish to journey into more even more adventure. Greenland crossings or alpine ascents seem an achievable aspiration for the most able cadets whilst it is recognised that the challenge to merely wild camp for two nights is of equal demand for many.

  • 3 cadets successfully completed elements of their 4* kayak
  • 10 cadets completed a WMP platform for Gold DofE training
  • 8 cadets successfully completed an SMP platform in preparation for their Silver Assessment
  • 8 cadets successfully completed their Gold DofE expedition
  • 3 adults successfully gained update and best practice training working with MICs.
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Northern Jacobite Venturer/The end of the rainbow at Fords of Avon Northern Jacobite Venturer/Crossing the Feshie Northern Jacobite Venturer/Cdt Sgt Ben Shepherd enjoying the route after breakfast