In July a team of 21 cadets and 8 staff from Derbyshire within Trent Wing, Royal Air Force Air Cadets, headed out to the Dolomites Region of Italy.
After a year of planning and UK-based training, the team assembled at Manchester Airport to fly out to Venice Marco Polo Airport. After the team landed, they collected the hire vehicles and drove for 2 hours to the Marmolada Campsite, where they would be based for the next week.
The team were amazed by the vast but rugged beauty of the region, with views from the campsite overlooking the Marmolada Glacier and surrounding peaks that would be the route for the expedition phase. They spent the first day acclimatising, allowing time to pack and shop for the expedition, as well as to adapt to the change in altitude (1600m) before pushing to nearly 2500m on the expedition.
The motivation for this expedition was to link a number of significant sites from the World War 1 conflict between Austria and Italy into a 4-day hike. The cadets used this as a qualifying expedition for their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
The start point was beside the Forte de Fitra Sas Museum, beginning the walk around Lago Valporola and under the towering cliffs of Ete Pale de Gerua to reach the Bivuoac at the col beneath Pico Setsas. With well-marked paths, the team faced challenges involving scrambles and walking across rockfall. From there, the team followed the Seleghe ridge line before forking left to avoid going onto the col to the east of Col di Lana. The summit was marked by memorials, a church and a rifugio along with the most amazing views. Before descending, there was a steep, winding path into the forest to reach the finish point in Livinallongo, which proved a significant challenge.
On day 2, the team took a steady climb, first through the forest and then through an open alpine meadow of Val de Davedin to reach the pass at El Jof (2200m). This took the team past the remains of numerous outposts as they tracked the movements of the Austrian troops, with views across to the Marmolada Glacier, home to the infamous Ice Fortress. The teams took a scenic descent to the main road before climbing to reach the handrail of the southern edge of the picturesque Lago Fedaia.
As the week drew to an end, day 4 was an early start, but a much less demanding route through the gorges of the Pettorina River to meet the Sottoguna River, then to Alleghe —a relief after three hard days of mountain walking.
Saturday morning saw the team go to the viewpoint on top of Monte Rosse (3250m) and were lucky enough to get views through broken clouds of the surrounding peaks before heading to the museum.
The team were able to explore the museum and walk onto the rock outcrops that housed the quarters, ammo stores, view posts, and artillery positions. The museum told the Cadets that many died from exposure to the conditions rather than enemy fire, but the site was considered a strategic stronghold to be held at any cost.
Following the guide’s suggestion, the team got up at 6am to visit via ferrata, heading up to Passo Fortzala to meet at 0730. Following the kit issue and briefing, the team walked for 30 minutes to the start point of the Feratta Alpina, one of the original via ferrata routes put in by the Italian Army Mountain Troops to flank the Austrian forces, where several Italian lives were lost while installing these routes by hand in freezing conditions. The start of the climbing route was marked by the ruins of a World War 1 field hospital, with lots of information boards which were then later translated to say ‘they are looking to rebuild bits for the “history of the conflict to be known”.’
The via feratta itself was classed as a moderate climb and took between 3-4 hours, for which the guides had the teams tied by rope for extra security. The route was fun, “squeaky” in places, some great but safe exposure and incredible views throughout. The route back was a knee jarring descent down a zig-zagging path.
The trip was possible due to the generosity of sponsors from a number of funders: the Ulysses Trust, RAF Charitable Trust, HQ Trent Wing, Air Cadet Charity, The Masons and East Midlands RFCA. Without the support, the Cadets wouldn’t have had the experience of a lifetime and are now entirely motivated to complete their Gold DofE Award as soon as possible.
Warrant Officer Lockwood 331 (Chesterfield) Squadron said: “I’ve been doing DofE a long time but to give the cadets an opportunity like this is amazing and I hope they use it to get an opportunity to talk to whoever is their principle guest at their Gold Award Presentation when they get there.”
Travelling to India on the Army Cadet International Exchange
