confident and skilled at handling the sleds. For many, it was the best experience on the trip and something I don’t think anyone will forget. DAY 4 The Sunday saw more of the glorious weather we had been lucky enough to experience, with clear blue skies making for wonderful views of the Swedish tundra as we walked to a stunning frozen lake some five kilometres from our cabin. Having built a fire on the edge of the lake, we proceeded to cut holes into the ice, which was about three feet thick, and tried our hands at ice fishing. Sadly, nobody caught anything, but we weren’t expecting to, given the time of year. That evening we saw the beginning of the survival phase, in which we had to be completely self-reliant and were restricted to the use of whatever we had with us in our packs. For the first of our three nights out we erected and slept in a tepee and despite the fire in the middle – which needed constant attention throughout the night – it was colder than many expected, and we were instructed to keep anything we didn’t want to freeze, including boots, in our sleeping bags. DAY 5 After a breakfast of more ration packs, we set off to our next site, many moving on cross-country skis, where we were instructed in the building of a shelter. This had to be big enough to sleep all sixteen members of the group, and so the task took all of the day. Some boys were constantly chopping the essential firewood we used for cooking and others were involved with constant water melting and purification. We all thoroughly enjoyed the day with its many challenges and sights that included
DAY 6 Three of us were lucky enough to visit a Swedish school some distance away over the course of the morning to talk about life in the UK. This added an interesting cultural dimension to the trip. On returning to the group, they participated in the digging of snow holes, although all the snow had to be piled up and compacted prior to excavation. Since it was the last night of the survival phase, we built an enormous fire burning all the excess wood we had, before sleeping in holes of four. From the frozen walls and ceiling to the lone candle for lighting and to indicate oxygen supply, it was an incredible night and we almost didn’t want to miss it through sleep. the Colonel chopping down several trees with an axe. That night continued with the watch rota, which was also in place to avoid hypothermia.
DAY 7 We emerged surprisingly warm from our holes into the cold light to head back to the hut, where the day was spent recovering from the survival phase. We were told that normally at least one adult returns from the survival phase with hypothermia, but we suffered no such casualties – Shackleton would be proud. DAY 8 A sad farewell on the Thursday saw us head back to the UK, leaving us all with many memories and skills we are sure will never leave us. We speak on behalf of all of the Cadets when we say we had an amazing trip thanks to the fantastic staff and teachers, Mr Swalwell, Mr Rutter and Dr O’Neill. We would thoroughly recommend it to anyone considering such a trip.
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