The cadets who attended the Symonds Yat previously had experience of wet conditions, so the rain on the bus journey didn’t offer any encouragement as to improvement. Despite the rain, when we arrived and had made our way down to our 30 ft cliff, spirits where raised when the dry conditions gave a good preview to the days climbing. While Warrant Officer Lowe and Pilot Officer Rowan where setting up their ropes, the cadets gained the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of a truly beautiful environment.

All of the Cadets with the exception of Nash have climbed at Symonds Yat before, and everyone was keen to climb for the first time on a dry surface to see what the conditions would do to the difficulty in getting to the top.

Cadet Kingham was up first and made a good start, despite his poor choice in footwear. Having made it to the top with a good climb he made his way down and had set the standard for everyone to follow. Next it was my turn and I was a lot more comfortable in the dry conditions, which gave me more choice as to where to put my feet. I remembered to climb with my feet and not with my arms and at the top I had a chance to enjoy the view behind me before making my way back down.

Hastings showed a lot of talent with his climbing throughout the day and seemed to make his way to the top in the blink of an eye. It was more of a run up the cliff and try and grab things on the way for Willis aka Hulk. But his technique did also seem to benefit his climbing and again made his way to the top in good time.

O’Brien, like me, went for the more controlled approach, but again emphasised the quality of climbing that everyone produced throughout the day. Not forgetting the girls Skinner and Nash who both put a lot of effort in and made some very successful climbs to the top throughout the day.

As the day went on everyone made use of the amount of time that we had, there was a lot of chances to get up and down the rock before the end of the day, which was very beneficial to give experience to everyone who attended. Each time I climbed I noticed that it was never the same; the different occasions brought new challenges that increased the sense of achievement having reached the top.

Everyone also got the chance to Belay, which is the person who is secures the rope at the bottom. This gave the opportunity for Mr. Rowan to go to the top to run an abseil. A couple of cadets also had the opportunity to try some climbing shoes and where surprised at the amount of difference it made.

One of the main benefits for the day was how the quality of everyone’s knowledge of climbing and climbing ability improved. This intern left everyone keen to try some more challenging rock, bring on the next climb!

Thank you to all who attended and a particular mention to the staff effort in running a brilliant event.

Sgt Dunwell