Capel Curig (Snowdonia), North Wales.

We arrived by minibus, after passing countless picturesque dwellings with their icon slate roofs and impressively dynamic green surroundings en route, to find the accommodation we were to call our home for the week ahead. I was surely lost for words but after a warm welcome and evening meal from the centre's staff I felt that both 'basic' and 'rustic' were accurate terminology. Upon adopting these descriptions, and the time to set-up camp, I noticed instead of the initial repugnance that we all began with, a more positive and robust standpoint to the week ahead took prominence.

Since nearly the entire unit was able to enjoy this adventurous training week our merry band was put into groups. Fortunately, however, during the week various happenings enabled us to mix things up, which allowed us some fresh air and a change of scenery.

We attended our first weather and activities brief, which although it rained everyday to varying intensities was vital in order to wear, bring or even borrow from the centre the appropriate gear for the day. It had been suggested by centre staff that at the far end of the car park you might find a better signal for you phone, I thought this was a wind-up straight away but several people thought it was worth an attempt much to my amusement. We were all agreed, even at this early stage, that a few trees ought to sacrifice their branches in order to facilitate some phone masts here and there.

The group I was with for the first day of activities enjoyed a trip to a climbing centre called 'Indefatigable' (since the weather during the night previous would not let novices enjoy outside attempts initially). Happily the climbing centre also had the facility of 'bouldering' which after the initial instruction allowed the individuals to fit more attempts in. Throughout the week we exposed several Spider Men, however for fear of any extra duties they must remain anonymous.

Mountain biking was a favourite of our instructor.....Aahhh! The activity was prepared by the collection of helmets and safety glasses, certainly enough to ring my alarm bells (I'm more of a commuting cycler perhaps). Not only did the band uncover the knowledge of Spider Men but also fearsome and rather alarming stuntmen and women within its ranks - Cpl Tony Fuller's E.T. re-enactment did not quite come off! As I fear it was not intentional, not forgetting to mention SSgt Mark Bond likely cynicism of the idea of a simple bike ride took out a bike without brakes!!! Luckily the week saw no impaling, merely a few members making this activity tougher by designing their own courses.

We also took to the water (lake and river variety, not torrential rain!)....firstly in canoes but later for a swim?! I had the great fortune of grounding myself and the instructor on a rock in our attempts to free ourselves from being capsized. We then all enjoyed a game with a tennis ball using both the skills learnt in the morning and sheer will, followed by a hasty exit from the water to a lovely cafe at the Plas y Brenin complex. We had window seats overlooking the Pont Balla where we had been and observed the Gurkha's (who were on a week long foundation course in kayaking) with explanations and amusing commentary from our instructor. Another group being dissatisfied of conventional canoeing/kayaking (for various reasons) thought that 4 people in a 2 person canoe towing 3 kayaks might turn out to be easier. Avoiding many close calls with both balance, ballast and paddles the canoe arrived at the rendezvous and LCpl Matt Snell tipped us up and we all took a refreshing dip after tackling an oncoming tide.

It would be a crime if you visited Snowdonia without a trip up one of the truly splendid mountains and favourable weather conditions allowed for every group to experience this. The group I started with and was lucky enough to finish with tackled the Ygarn, a modest looking mountain. It all started rather civilly with smatterings of geek talk along the way. We were shown such things as the Mountain Ash (Rogan Berry), a grass that was used for wicks, a moss that was used as a field dressing to highlight a few. To my personal horror it all got rather steep, then instead of enjoying the glorious views I found myself unable to glance away from my feet! We also came across the men that maintained and actually made the paths on these routes - very impressive work indeed! With encouragement from SSgt Doug Costello I got to the summit where upon arrival we sat down to dine with the gusts of wind we had been briefed on during the morning detail (I have never grasped a sandwich with such resolve). We were then baffled by a couple of men who in one day were attacking 11 mountains. We met them on their 5th summit despite looking as if they had only undertaken one flight of stairs and wished them well as they ran off.

Thursday evening came and with the close of the activities for the day we prepared for what was surely one of my highlights - The social gathering for the end of what was somewhat of an exhausting week. The whole week's administration, preparation and social owe a special thanks to Sgt Martin Hutchinson, in particular, and he was acknowledged both rightly and properly with a nice bottle from the Bandmaster. He promptly shared it out straight away which in turn led to several tables ordering rather suspect sake, rice wine of a poor quality (Having worked as a chef in a Chinese restaurant kitchen I recognised that it was the same rice wine we used for cooking... rather their livers than mine!) After the meal and speeches the party then decided to take some air in order to find a bar to finish the evening off properly. The evening was also graced with the presence of two ex-members of the band, Scott Lloyd and Mike Finch. They were welcomed most heartily and in turn they lead a very vigorous party atmosphere as they circulated the tables.

The final day saw the band divide into two groups; one for abseiling and the other for 'high ropes' (advertised as a 'tree top adventure'- a very high obstacle course!) Both activities were not for the faint hearted and really ended the trip as it began with our objective to remain at the upper limits of our comfort zones. It was pointed out by the centre staff and Bandmaster that we had all entered the spirit of the week and realised the purpose for the training. Our thanks to all the Centre's staff and also the drivers who took us there, completed the week with us, and brought us home speedily and safely.