The expedition took place in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps during July 2013. We were blessed with good weather and light winds meaning we had a most productive time mountaineering in the region.
6 cadets from the school's contingent took part with an instructor per pair meaning we could tackle some of the lofty summits to be found in this remote and vast arena of mountains. The expedition was a result of several weekends preparing in Wales as well as a remarkable week in Scotland the previous Easter.
The group had a couple of acclimatisation and training days from their valley base of Fiesch before packing and moving to the first of 4 huts they would visit overlooking the Konkordia Platz after a trek up the Aletsch Glacier. 2 nights were spent in the Konkordia Hut before the move was made to the Finsteraarhorn Hut which again gave the team time to acclimatise. There were three rope teams in all, and during the travel to teh Finsteraarhorn Hut, the weather met was not as forecasted; after a quick appreciation, one team made for the Gross Grunhorn via the normal route with a bit of time pressure to get over the col and get access to the initial set of summit snow slopes. After an airy scramble and summiting, a 4 pitch abseil (focussing and a bit scary) was undertaken to the glacier that would lead back to the hut where the rest of the team eagerly were waiting.
During the next few days the team summited the Finsteraarhorn, Agassizhorn, Grunneghorn and the Monch. A hard few days with early starts, glacier travel, a mix of snow plods and airy ridges to Alpine tops. A rest day still included 15kms of movement and 1000m of height gain to another hut! Throughout all of this the rope teams demonstrated that the time spent training in Wales and Scotland was time very well spent as fluid ropework and knowledge gained allowed the teams to move quickly and efficiently.
The true benefit of this type of venture and how the cadets benefit was demonstrated in the final few days when the cadets became organic parts of the rope rather than ‘just being tied to an instructor’ and actively worked the rope and looked ahead so that the teams started overtaking guided groups. This was further demonstrated during the descent of the Ewigschneefeld and Aletsch glaciers when the teams flew solo.
It was a joy to watch team pea (girls in their pea green softshells) and team farmer (guess their backgrounds) sort the ropes out - autonomously flaking it out, putting on harnesses, tying in and taking coils whilst chatting and generally not really concentrating on what they were doing as it was so ingrained now. When it was time to move, they checked each other and discussed the distance they were apart for glacier travel and the like. All we had to do was sit and watch to make sure all was in order.
This expedition exceeded expectations and the benefit that the cadets received from it is immeasurable. They move around the school site with a very confident air and seem more confident in their bearing. Which is what AT is all about. A great journey which started on the Snowdon Horseshoe and finished 3kms above Grindelwald on the summit of the Monch.
