Italy Camp 2003

During the summer break the Troop undertook its most ambitious overseas camp to date with a week long visit to the Aosta Valley in NW Italy. Our "hosts" were "Acorn Adventure" - a company specialising in outdoor activities - which is based in the small town of Villeneuve, on the banks of the Dora Baltea river.

Below are our reports which were uploaded to the website daily, together with a few photos of the activities (click on each picture for a larger image).

Saturday July 26th

After a delayed start this morning due to one oversleeper (Terry!) we have made it on time to Dover to get the 8.30pm ferry as planned. Only one scout suffered travel sickness.  It was great to be able to get off the bus and stretch our legs and get some fresh air. We are all looking forward to getting to Italy.

Sunday July 27th

We arrived at camp a couple of hours earlier than planned after managing to bag space on an earlier cross-channel ferry. Still, it meant a journey time of approximately 32 hours all together so you can imagine the state we were in when we got here. Having said that, the journey itself was not as bad, I think, as everyone had possibly imagined and we were lucky in only a couple of Scouts were travel sick, and those episodes were, fortunately, brief.

We were greeted by the Acorn Adventure staff and brought to our campsite late on Sunday morning. The weather was good and the temperature in the high 20's, the drive in across the France-Italy border gave us some magnificent views of the Alps and Mont Blanc itself, which we shall be visiting (and ascending!) on Wednesday. Villeneuve is a small-ish town nestling along the banks of the milky green Dora Baltea river and we were able to see other groups doing their white-water-rafting.

After a fine buffet lunch of tuna & egg mayonnaise, salads, cous-cous and humous we went for a two hour hike up to a local castle high on a hill, built to defend the valley from, amongst other things, Gauls and (alternately during the second world war) Germans and Americans both! Executive reward for our efforts (it was rather hot and sweaty) was a visit to the local ice-cream parlour - the only establishment open this Sunday afternoon.

Looking south into the Aosta Valley - our campsite is in the right-hand middle ground.

The later afternoon brought an incredible thunderstorm which lasted for about two hours (it's still going on now) but everyone has taken it in their stride and are all fine. Torrential rain turned the campsite into a lake (shades of Linlithgow all over again!) but it has now subsided. Dinner tonight was lasagne with all the trimmings and we're now away to take part in our planned evening activity.

Volleyball was a popular evening activity within the camp site.

Tomorrow sees us in the mountains for the first time with gorge walking, "squeezing" (negotiating large boulders apparently!) and climbing at "Conga" (the valley, not the dance).

Monday July 28th

Yesterday's thunderstorm died away in the night and we woke to clear, sunny skies and rising temperatures. After breakfast we collected our kit for a day in the hills and along the gorges. The Troop split into 4 sections (2 Explorer sections and 2 Scouts), each tackling a separate activity. After an hour's coach drive we arrived in the small, pretty resort village of Cogne and hiked up even further into the hills (our base camp at Villeneuve is at an altitude higher than Ben Nevis).

The climbers had to attempt three different climbs up a cliff face approximately 130 feet high, using three different kind of rope anchoring techniques. They then had to descend using abseiling methods although the instructors controlled the rate of descent. Most of the lads managed to complete a couple of the climbs at least as time was pressing through the day. Needless to say the views from the top were spectacular and hopefully some of the photos you'll see when we get back will show how well the lads did to get up this steep, flat, rock face.

       Three climbing pitches in the Cogne Valley.

"Squeezing" is an activity new to the Troop and involves finding your way through tunnels and passages caused by hundreds and thousands of large (and huge) boulders falling down the mountain. A few people remarked on the novelty of observing a 50-ton boulder from the "wrong" side (i.e. underneath!). Some of the passages were tortuous in the extreme but most of the guys (even Ally!) managed to wiggle through eventually.

One of the Scouts "squeezes" out of the interlocking passageways.

After the sweating and grunting of the squeezes and the climbing it was very pleasant, after a late packed lunch, to move to the (relative) cool of the river valley for our gorge-scrambling. This involved making our way upstream through a spectacular gorge, cut back into a pale grey, and, in some places, beautifully olive green, outcrops of marble. Clad in 3/4 length wet suits, canoe-type kagools and bouyancy aid jackets (and helmets of course), everyone was variously plunged from hot, sticky river banks to cold, fast flowing meltwaters with plenty of waterfalls, plunge pools and torrents. It was unbelievably refreshing!

We didn't finish the activities until after 6pm and just finished dinner at 8. Tonight's activity is a challenge to design and build a piece of equipment to prevent an egg from breaking after being thrown off one of the nearby buildings. I'll let you know who won tomorrow.

If the rest of the week is anything like as successful and enjoyable as today, then we're all going to have a great camp!

Tuesday July 29th

Good evening once again folks. Today's been another absolute scorcher so it was a relief that we were down on the water again. Everyone's been very conscientious about applying their sunscreen so there's been no problems regarding any sunburn. This time we visited a lake where the canoeing, kayaking and raft-building events take place. We split into three groups, each group tackling a different type of boat.

The canoes held two people and, after some instruction into paddle styles and methods, we spent much of the session learning confidence techniques; like one person standing up in the canoe followed by the other, then finally both occupants at the same time. The real experts were even able to stand on the very ends of the canoes (rather than on the bottom of the inside) and jump up and down and still keep their balance. Needless to say, many of us fell far short of "expert" status but, given the air temperature, were only to pleased to be able to fall in anyway.

Canoeing at the "Oxygene" centre near Villeneuve.

The kayaks, though more maneuverable, tested everyone's balancing skills even further, particularly those of us who's centre of gravity is somewhat higher, shall we say, than the others. In fact Bob, our coach driver, was so unstable he became the first person on record to actually capsize a kayak while sitting in it still on the land!

Kayaking.

Raft building involved constructing a raft comprising poles, ropes and four plastic drums only. It was made even more tricky due to you only being able to obtain the necessary pieces providing you could answer a series of questions correctly. Efforts varied from the impressively robust and stable to the, frankly, suicidal. Still, all the voyagers returned safe and sound, if a little wetter than normal. At least the lads' marine architectural skills have improved.

Raft-building.

Finally, we spent the closing part of the day leaping into the lake by bouncing off the hull of an upturned canoe using a variety of different dives and gyrations which would have had any Olympic diving judge reaching for their rule book. Mike and Ally entered the water (the word "dive" would be attaching far too much grace and style to the process) together and the level of the lake visibly rose. Keith, Bob and Terry went for the "triple whammy" which had the two Acorn instructors sat at each end describing perfect arcs into the air and subsequently, the water.

So, another activity-packed day with great weather and conditions and hopefully we'll get more of the same. Tomorrow gives us the chance to catch our breath as we spend the day firstly going up the Mont Blanc cable car and onto the Mont Blanc glacier itself, then an afternoon's expedition into Aosta where the lads will be able to wander around and do some souvenir shopping. It will also give us a chance to gird our loins in preparation for the white-water rafting on Thursday.

Wednesday July 30th

Today was, to paraphrase the commentators, "a day of two halves". Ups and downs, highs and lows. The highs and lows were this morning when we ascended the dizzy heights of Mont Blanc (or Monte Bianco as I suppose we should strictly call it in Italy) and experienced the lowest temperatures of the trip so far. The cable car ride took place in three stages with progressively smaller gondolas and the whole ascent took about 30-45 minutes. Ears popped again and again as we went to the top station at over 3500m. Temperatures dropped to a chilly 4 degrees Celsius. Those of us that packed jumpers and fleeces were certainly glad of them but of course there were the few immune bodies amongst us who had the heavily clad ice-climbers agog with shorts and short sleeved shirts. Needless to say, the views were superb.

After a group photo on the viewing platform (the only photo which will have all the trips participants actually in it) most of the lads went inside to look around the small Mt. Blanc museum and, perhaps unsurprisingly, to the souvenir shop (drive over 1200 miles to Italy and rise to over 3500m for the benefit of buying a small plastic toy... sigh). About a dozen hardy souls descended via a steel walkway and staircase onto the actual glacier itself and spent a few minutes in more intimate contact with the mountain. Puffing and panting with the reduced oxygen in the air, we rapidly returned in time to catch the cable car back down the mountain before lunch. At the bottom we met with a small group of Scouts visiting the area from Naples.

"Team Photo" at the top cable-car station on Mont Blanc.

On the Mont Blanc glacier.

Meeting the "locals" - a small party of Scouts from Naples.

In the afternoon we drove down the valley to the town of Aosta. The altitude was, of course, a lot lower, but the temperature had risen to a minimum of 37 degrees Celsius in the shade and probably 5-10 degrees higher in the sun. The lads were allowed to go their own way in small groups for a couple of hours to do some sightseeing and shopping so some of you will the getting some holiday presents next week.

Thursay July 31st

All the lads seem to be definitely "in the zone" as regards the activities and everyone says they are having a good time. Almost everyone is in bed and asleep before 11.00pm (almost unknown for Scout camps!) which, I think, says something about how much the boys are getting out of this trip.

Today was the trip's "main feature" with two sessions of white-water rafting on the Dora Baltea river. To the sound of battling banjos and guitars and ominous shapes flitting about the woods (ask anyone who knows about movies if this reference is unclear). We dragged the boats down to the river and, with not a slight amount of trepidation, took to the waters. Within a couple of minutes however, most of our worries proved unnecessary and we were comfortably paddling downstream. The troop was split into crews of about 7 or 8 with one Acorn staff member and one of the "Rafting Adventure" company's staff in each boat.

The morning's session was fairly easy going with several rapid sections separated by fairly long, slow moving intervals. However, it gave us a good feel for the way the boats behaved and, how much we have to learn about crewing a boat as a team! After lunch, we moved on to a more exciting part of the river and were soon merrily bobbing along, feeling expert at our new found skills. Several people got a dunking, but these were all voluntary rather than accidental, and it gave those who wanted to a chance to try swimming in a fast moving, cold-water alpine river.

     White-water rafting on the Dora Baltea river.

After we returned to the camp, the Leaders plus several more adults, took the opportunity to go an a more advanced section of the river for over 18's only - a grade 4-5 in rafting terminology if that means anything to anyone? This time, duckings were more involuntary and the ride a good deal more "energetic". Hopefully our aches and pains will subside before the hill climbing tomorrow.

We're now off to a bit of 10-pin bowling in Aosta and, because this is beginning just about now... that's all folks.

At the Aosta bowling alley.

Friday August 1st

Today was our last full day of activities for this summer camp and we made the most of another scorching hot day with a trip into the mountains near the town of Pont. Up and up the twisting and winding road (well done to Bob the driver for negotiating some extremely tricky bends) we went, deep into the Grand Paradiso National Park. With our base at the head of the valley we were surrounded on three sides by the spectacular, snow covered peaks of the Grand Paradiso range. This was to be our setting for our hill walking and abseiling sessions.

The troop was once more split into groups with half the troop setting off for a long yomp further up the valley up to even higher levels where they were in sight of the main glacier front. It was reasonably tough hike with the heat and high altitude not helping matters but the lads managed it very well. Following the path of a glacier meltwater stream, we were able to take in some of the scenic attractions of this area of NW Italy. At least the downhill walk back was easier!

Meanwhile everyone got a chance through the day to try the abseiling course over a 25-30 metre high, almost sheer rock section. Now this may not sound very much when it is said like this, but that is well over 100 feet high and, from the top, appears a very, very long way down. As you can imagine, this took some of the lads longer than others to negotiate the decent and a (very) few of the Scouts decided they would "give this one a miss". Nevertheless the vast majority that did attempt the task reached the bottom, a couple in the company of one of the Acorn staff who guided them down the rock face "in tandem". For the record, the longest decent took about 21 minutes but we're not going to say who that was to spare his blushes! (although, in a strange way he has actually attracted quite a lot of "street cred" among the lads for this achievement). Oh, allright, give up some major, rope-dangling respect for... Alan McGregor!!!

     Abseiling in the Grand Paradiso range.

Tomorrow we're doing activities in and around the camp site as we are scheduled to depart at 8pm. These will consist of high-ropes next door to the camp itself and probably another walk into Villeneuve for last minute shopping requirements. The high-ropes course is a network of rope ladders, skywalks and death-slides built into the trees surrounding the west side of the camp.

Incidentally, the winner of last night's bowling tournament was - Robert Watt with 125 points!!!

Saturday August 2nd

Today has been occupied with activities in and around the camp site, as we are due to set off for home at 8 o'clock this evening. A couple of the leaders, together with our intrepid coach driver Bob, decided to have a go at the exhilarating sport of hydro-speeding. This is basically a form of body-board surfing in fast flowing rivers. The wet suits are particularly thick (these alpine rivers are VERY cold) and it is a struggle getting into them. Hence the cooling hose pipe bath once you're buttoned up!

     Hydro-speeding on the Dora Baltea at Villeneuve - the hose bath is necessary for cooling off in the heat.

The lads however, (hydro-speeding is restricted to those of 18 years or older) negotiated the "high ropes" course next to the camp site, and also went into Villeneuve for some last minute shopping for supplies for the journey, and to get rid of those annoying Euros and Cents.

Most of the later afternoon and evening was spent getting everyone's gear together, packing up the coach and tidying up the campsite. Not to mention saying goodbye to our new Acorn friends and the chance for another group photo.

The Troop saying farewell to the Acorn staff.

Sunday August 3rd

The journey is running ahead of schedule, arrived at Dover at 9.30am so hopefully could make it home later on tonight.

At last, a chance for some sleep.

Just passed the Border at 19.30hrs - Now back into Scotland. 

The bus arrived back in Oldmeldrum just before half past midnight on Sun night/ Monday Morning

Everyone arrived home safely including the two hitch-hikers picked up enroute!