18 May 2010

Eight students from within the Army, including Lieutenant Eamonn Lowe, gathered for a challenging and rewarding week of rock climbing at some of New Zealand’s premier and rock climbing destinations—Wanaka, Queenstown, Castle Hill and the Mt Cook area recently. Here LT Lowe explains the highs and the lows of what turned out to be an engrossing week.

“Our course included a mix of ranks and trades, a civilian employee and, surprisingly, two students trying to overcome their fears of heights!

There was a degree of apprehension as we arrived at the Army Adventurous Training Centre (AATC) as we all thought about the challenges that lay ahead for the week. The apprehension was reinforced by our instructors Mr. Paul “Stevo” Stevens and Staff Sergeant Carl “Arab” Ahradsen as they introduced us to the course objectives that included controlling our behaviour and decision making under stress, and then applying the principals of the psychology of peak performance to control our behaviour. Stevo emphasized that we would all be taken out of our comfort zone and significantly challenged to achieve the course objectives, despite previous experience or our perceived confidence.

After driving from Burnham to Wanaka, we moved into our accommodation at the Wanaka Leave Centre and prepared for the climbing to follow. Our first day of climbing was in the West Matukituki Valley at one of Wanaka’s popular beginner areas called The Bakehouse. The location lived up to its name as the rock wall baked in the sun on a cloudless day. Those of us new to rock climbing were taught the skills involved in lead climbing on fixed protection. This is when the climber is tied into the rope and drags it up the wall as they climb with their belayer at the bottom. The climber protects themselves from falling to the ground by clipping the rope into bolts drilled into the rock as they climb. Generally most people are familiar with climbing on a Top Rope where the climber is tied into a rope that goes through an anchor at the top of the climb and back down to the belayer on the ground. Therefore top roping significantly reduces the distance a climber could fall compared to lead climbing. With this in mind the idea of falling while lead climbing resulted in the course question of the week – “You want us to do what?”

Adding to our new found fear of falling between bolts, along with a general fear of heights, we reluctantly took to our first climbs. The question of “You want us to do what?” echoed again as Stevo and Arab pointed out what we would be climbing—almost vertical rock with holds just big enough for fingertips and toes. During the first day our confidence gradually increased as we all experienced falls reassuring us that the rope, bolts, and our belayer all work and the worst we would suffer was the odd bruised elbow or knee and a little grazing from hitting the wall.

The next two days of climbing allowed us to experience different climbing areas around Wanaka and Queenstown with one highlight being an afternoon at Wye Creek. Wye Creek is on the western face of the Remarkable Ranges and is fantastic climbing with a backdrop of Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown in the distance. The climbing was different to our previous experience in Wanaka, as the location is exposed on the side of a mountain range and the climbs were up to thirty metres high.

We would all be challenged over these two days as Stevo and Arab consistently found higher climbs, more difficult climbs, or different climbing techniques depending on how we progressed. These challenges were debriefed each night as we applied our experiences to the course objectives. We then developed strategies to deal with the stress of these challenges, allowing us to improve our climbing. For me these strategies are now engrained in my mind for work application after the course.

Personally my week was rewarding in more ways than one. I originally asked to do the course because of an active interest in climbing outside of work; therefore I was hoping to enjoy a week of climbing in some great locations and improve my climbing with instruction from the highly experienced instructors. Although I achieved my original goals, I was surprised that the development and application of the learning objectives was one of the course highlights for me. It was my first exposure to the Army Leadership Framework and it was without a doubt the most rewarding leadership training I have had. The way I reacted to different situations on the course directly paralleled reactions I have had in challenging situations in the Army both in New Zealand and on operations. I now have a better understanding of how I react to stress, how it affects my thought processes, and most importantly what strategies and techniques I can apply to better manage my behavior if I am “feeling the heat”.

We were given a final opportunity as we traveled back to Burnham from Wanaka for a final challenge. Again the question of the week was asked— “You want us to do what?” as Stevo and Arab explained that we would stop at Sebastopol Bluffs overlooking Mt Cook village to complete a multi pitch climb. This involved climbing three pitches of approximately thirty metres each and clipping into an anchor of two bolts drilled into the wall at the top of each pitch as we climbed and belayed between pitches. The exposure was overwhelming, with a sheer drop of ninety metres below us and being dwarfed by the Southern Alps overlooking Mt Cook Village. This was yet another challenging step up from our earlier climbing during the week and was a fantastic way to finish the week.

Having now reflected on my experience throughout the course, I believe it was one of the most beneficial training activities I have had. The instructors found ways to challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone despite my previous climbing experience, allowing me to apply the course objectives the same way as the other students who were completely new to climbing. If anyone has the opportunity to attend a similar course I highly recommend it. Being outside in an unfamiliar environment provides a unique learning environment that challenges people in an obviously different way to what is normally experienced in our daily lives. The training then provides the opportunity to develop skills to manage the experience and apply this back to our day to day job. Based on my short experience with the Army, I believe anyone in a leadership position will benefit from a similar learning experience to what I had on this course.

Photos: Paul Stevens

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