From the 14th February to 22nd February 2014, Writhlington School Combined Cadet Force undertook an expedition to the Tirol region of Austria. The aim of the expedition was to introduce alpine skiing to novice cadets and to develop the skills of those with previous experience. All cadets were assessed on the Snowsport Scotland Snowlife Award scheme.

We travelled by coach from Somerset to St Johann in Tirol on 14th February 2014. Travelling through the channel tunnel avoided hours of delays caused by storms over the English Channel so we arrived in St Johann by midday on Saturday. Once settled in the beautiful accommodation at Pension Lacknerhof, the cadets promptly moved to the ski hire shop to collect equipment.

Alpine skiing lessons started promptly at 0900 hrs on Sunday morning. While the conditions were not ideal (rain and slushy snow), our cadets showed stoic determination and all made massive progress throughout their first day.

We engaged in a variety of cultural evening activities. This included a visit to the medieval town of Kitzbühel, where cadets took in some of the local history and visited the upmarket shops and cafés. One of the highlights of these activities was watching the local ice hockey team, EK-Die Zeller Eisbären, unfortunately lose a league match on a nail biting penalty shootout.

St Johann is in very close proximity to several other ski resorts, which allowed us to move to a higher altitude for one of the skiing days. The weather conditions at Steinplatte were marvelous and the cadets were able to hone their newly acquired skiing skills on wide, well groomed pistes. As the week progressed, snow and visibility conditions in St Johann improved, which made for a far more enjoyable time on the piste. By the end of 6 days skiing, all cadets were able to ski confidently and safely on red runs. Furthermore, all cadets were signed off on the Snowsport Scotland Snowlife Award scheme at a level of 5-star or higher.

Following the expedition, all members of the trip filled in a questionnaire to aid our planning of future expeditions. Here are some of the cadets’ quotes to summarise their experience:

“The week was amazing and an experience that I will never forget.” Cdt Sjt C. Holmes

“Loved every second, cannot wait to go again in the future!” Cdt Cpl J. White

“An amazing week full of things to do. The best cadet trip I've been on.” Cdt L/Cpl K. Webb

This expedition would not have been possible without the generous support of the Ulysses Trust.