Canoe Expedition to Sweden

Major Drinkall and Mr Bayley are running a Canoeing Expedition to Sweden 19^th – 30^th August 2008.  The trip is open to anyone in Years 11, 12 or 13.  Only 4 places left.

Caving

The College are offering caving in the Brecon Beacons with a qualified and experienced guide.  Two afternoon sessions available, 5 pupils per session.  Wednesday 23^rd January and Wednesday 30^th January.  10 places available.

Building on the amazing success of the Summer Alpine Mountaineering Trip to the French Alps, Lt Bayley kindly agreed to take a minibus full of College Cadets to Halton Training Camp, Lancaster during the Michaelmas ½ term holiday. In response to such, the Cadet Centre for Adventure Training (CCAT) agreed to run extra outdoor pursuit courses to accommodate our group. 

On Sunday 21^st October Lt Bayley drove to Lancaster with 10 eager Cadets, ready to face an exciting and challenging week of outdoor pursuits. For the record, the cadets that attended the Open Canoe Foundation Course were Roz Beveridge, Sian Bliss, Gruff Jones, Dylan De Wit, Edward Jones-Davies and Max Pawley. The Basic Rock Climbing Course was attended by Shaun ‘the other gappy’ and Rhys Wilcox. Caitlin ‘the gappy’ attended the Kayak Foundation Course and Tom Bevan-Jones attended the Summer Mountain Proficiency Course run by Lt Bayley.

                       



 The magnificent Lt Bayley enjoys a well earned break.

An excellent time was had by all, the weather was kind and all the D of E Gold Candidates that attended the Canoe Course are now looking forward to taking on the challenges of the Swedish rivers!

Thanks go to Lt Bayley for running the week, to the Cadets for working so hard and to Dai Butler for bringing them all back to College. Let’s now hope that this event will be a regular fixture on the College Calendar.

Rhys Wilcox enjoying the great Lake District weather.

Llandovery College Summer Alpine Expedition 2007

On a sunny afternoon in August 2007 ten pupils from Llandovery College gave up 12 days of their precious holidays to embark on the College’s inaugural Alpine Mountaineering Expedition. The group were accompanied by 2 instructors who shared the driving, food sampling, carrying of the odd extra rucksack, music advice (long journey) and when time permitted - a little mountaineering instruction. All participants were members of the Austrian Alpine Club, College Combined Cadet Force and College Climbing Club.

The Team Photo – taken by passer by!

(Back row: Caitlin Ryan and Ferdia Earle. 3^rd Row: Nicole Davies, Amy Harris-Jones and Tom Bevan-Jones. 2^nd Row: James Barrett, Katie Jennings, Rhys Wilcox, Roz Beveridge and Adam Bishop. Front row: Maj Drinkall and Mr Bayley.

The aim of the expedition was to develop character, initiative and leadership whilst introducing the pupils to Alpine mountaineering. The expedition commenced in earnest upon arrival in Chamonix, France some 20 hours after leaving College! The first afternoon in France involved the delegation of the various tasks including the purchase of provisions, camp building, sorting out climbing gear, writing of route cards, organising hut accommodation and finally the cooking of supper – all completed by the college pupils. Whilst they made themselves busy, our intrepid instructors checked out the first routes, start points etc and purchased extra maps and technical equipment.

On day 3 (start of activities) the expedition divided into 2 groups who were to spend the following 6 days alternating between climbing days with the Head of Outdoor Pursuits Maj David Drinkall and trekking days with Biology Teacher, House Master and all round good egg Mr Tim Bayley. During this phase pupils gained experience and skills in navigation, map reading (unfamiliar French things!), route card interpretation, using guide-books, camp-craft, rock climbing and rope techniques, all in an unfamiliar and challenging mountain environment. Even the experienced instructors found the occasional challenge with a ‘via ferrata’ route that took 3 times longer than advised, mountains that all looked quite similar and a campsite that was almost impossible to find! Phase 1 ended with a much needed days R & R, allowing the pupils to buy souvenirs and to prepare their expedition rucksacks.

Katie Jennings (age 13) roped-up on Via Ferrata – photo Caitlin Ryan

By day 9, the pupils and instructors were ready for the next phase of the trip, a 3 day hut to hut alpine trek. Pupils washed, breakfasts eaten, packed lunches made, the Valley Campsite struck and the minibus packed all by 9am! The minibus was pre-placed in Vallorcine and the intrepid adventurers made their way to Plaine Joux by utilising the excellent public transport system. Approximately 4 hours and a heated discussion with a French bus driver after leaving Vallorcine by train the Llandovery heroes arrived by bus in Plaine Joux. The weather was especially hot and still for the 4 hour ascent to the Refuge du Col d’Anterne, a hard start to a challenging 3 days. Day 2 of the trek saw weather conditions deteriorate, with rain of biblical proportions, seeing footpaths turn into rivers and electrical storms dominate the ridge-lines. By 1900hrs both teams had arrived safely (if a little wet) at their respective huts and were soon to enjoy their last French supper of the Expedition. During the last night almost ½ metre of snow fell, adding yet another exciting and challenging element to the expedition. By lunchtime on the 3^rd day both groups were re-united with the minibus, tired, safe, full of stories and quite sad to be commencing the return journey to Wales.

“Which way is up?”

Tom Bevan-Jones, Roz Beveridge, Adam Bishop and Tim Bayley discuss!

Although very wet, the return minibus journey to Llandovery was uneventful. Arriving at 0500hrs the post expedition administration was completed before our tired pupils were ‘released’ to expectant parents.

The expedition was an unmitigated success, with all the aims being achieved and many of the pupils enjoying first experiences which helped develop their confidence, initiative and leadership skills. None of the pupils had previously been to the French Alps nor had any of them completed a ‘via ferrata’ route. Some other new experiences included multi-pitch rock climbing, travelling in cable cars, completing a 3 day hut to hut expedition, spending almost 2 weeks away from home, not to mention cooking for 12 hungry adventurers on a pathetic 2 ring camping stove!

Alpine Flora – Photo by Ferdia Earle

The members of the Expedition would like to thank the Parents Association, 160 (W) Bde (The Army!) and the Ulysses Trust for their generous support. In addition, as Expedition Leader I would like to thank all members of the expedition for their hard work, enthusiasm, good company and humour, without which the expedition would not have been such good fun, nor so absolutely rewarding. Aim accomplished, well done.

Maj David Drinkall September 2007