Rock Climbing/Trekking, 'Odyssey', Pyrenees, Aug 2011, ID 1097

Tri-service

Introduction

In late 2010 the Ulysses Trust (UT) decided to sponsor and completely fund a challenging, overseas expedition; the aim being to develop enthusiasm for such activities in the participants, with the aspiration that they might undertake to run similar events, themselves, in the future. Given that the participants, chosen from all the UK Reserve Forces might be relatively inexperienced, it was decided that, on this occasion, an 8-day exped in Europe would be conducted.

The expedition would be to cross the Pyrenees, following a WW2 escape route called Le Chemin de la Liberte, a distance of 74 kms from France into Spain, this would be followed by a day’s climbing, then a day’s canyoning. The expedition would take place from 7 to 14 Aug 11. The final group was to be of 12 participants from across the UK Reserve Forces, with the break-down being: 4 x RNR/RMR, 6 x TA and 2 x RAuxAF personnel.

The Expedition

The Trek.The 4-day trek over the Chemin de le Liberte went very much according to plan. Unfortunately, one individual needed be taken off the route, at a planned point, after 1½ days due to fatigue and an Achilles Tendon problem; he was driven to a local town by the safety drive and thence by train to Luchon where he would meet up with the group 2 days later. The weather was kind and the whole trek was conducted in shorts and t-shirts, with the major hazards being the anticipated fatigue, de-hydration and the effects of the sun at medium altitude. Unfortunately, the mini-bus driver was in the wrong location for the pick-up which meant an extra trek of 8kms to find him; luckily, he was in the ‘obvious’ wrong place and only 2 hours were wasted in this process.

Rock Climbing.This proved to be an excellent event, conducted on good-quality rock just outside Luchon. An early start was necessary to both avoid the heat and to secure the best pitches on the rock; this allowed some spare time in the afternoon for swimming at a local outdoor pool, at individual cost.

Canyoning.The most that can be achieved in the UK is called Ghyll Scrambling, and this really was a quantum leap up from that! The group drove back into Spain, to Miraval, in the Aragon region, and had a day consisting of a mixture of climbing, scrambling and swimming, with the opportunity of some challenging jumps into deep pools. The event took 6 hours through beautiful and challenging terrain and was an experience not matched easily anywhere else in Europe.

Summary

It was difficult to involve many of the team in the planning process, partly because so much had to be done before the final team could be selected; in this respect, an earlier lead time and the involvement a couple of ‘guaranteed attenders’ might have helped.

In the final analysis, the expedition was a huge success. It afforded 10 part-time Reservists the opportunity to participate in quality trekking, rock-climbing and canyoning in 2 European countries at virtually no cost to themselves and very little cost to their units. The individuals who took part were all totally enthusiastic about the whole event and participated to the full. All declared that they had enjoyed the experience hugely and 2 mentioned that they would now like to become involved in the planning for Military AT in the future. So, Ex ODYSSEY 2011 achieved its aims and objectives, and this demanding AT should have a positive impact on the retention in Service of those who took part, and of those who hear about it afterwards.

J P White, Sqn Ldr, OC 2620 Sqn RAuxAF Regt

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