Staff and cadets from 487 Sqn took to the hills of Bethesda, North Wales, for a weekend of adventure training on Friday 14 th December.

After an evening of travelling and a visit to the chip shop on the Friday evening, the cadets, fed and briefed, headed for their sleeping bags, ready for an early morning the next day.

An early start on Saturday lead us to the hills of Bethesda, learning navigation, map reading and hill walking skills. We were also treated to an impromptu fly past of an RAF Sea King helicopter. Saturday ended with a visit to The Beacon climbing centre in Caernarfon (www.beaconclimbing.com), where the cadets tested their climbing and belaying skills. Much laughter, picture taking, falling off and trouser-ripping ensued!

Yes, another early start on the Sunday morning took us to Plas Y Brenin, ( www.pyb.co.uk ), The National Mountain Centre, where we started the day with another short walk into the frosty Bryn Engan hills, from which we were able to see Snowdon's three peaks and Llyn Mymbyr . After a short break for lunch, we made our way over to the dry ski slopes for 3 hours of ski-instruction and put it all into practise with varying degrees of success.

Overall, a tiring and successful weekend was had by all, a fitting last weekend away to a fun packed year for 487 Sqn. The Sqn plans to return to Bethesda next year for more adventure training and activities.

Commanding officer, Flt Lt O'Neil, summed up the weekend: “The cadets and staff have all enjoyed this weekend thoroughly. We have been able to combine learning and instruction with fun activities, which enabled us achieve maximum benefit from the weekend. The cadet's behaviour over the whole weekend was exemplary, and it all went without a hitch.”

Sgt S Cotton 487 Squadron
05 Jan 08