SWAT comes to EckOLand

Creag Mhic 3

It was fantastic to see 24 Juniors, including EckO juniors Iris, Ruari, Ayden, Finlay and Owen, 9 adults, 8 coaches and 2 excellent helpers attend the training at Creag Mhic Chailein. The theme of contour visualisation continued, starting with a contour only map walk to the assembly area which offered stunning views and because of the light breeze there were no midges! The terrain was difficult to travel across in places, particularly if you had short legs. Route choice, map contact and 'looking up' were really important during the exercises.

After a safety briefing the team made their way to the assembly area where they broke out into group exercises which involved choosing either single star legs, loops or contour only with no north line exercises. It is amazing to see the progression of the SWAT juniors and watch their confidence growing as they work on their orienteering skills. This session was great preparation for the afternoon event. The group of adult 'coachees' looked as if they were having tremendous fun zooming around the hillside - hope they didn't exhaust themselves prior to their event.

Many thanks to all the coaches, helpers and Roger and Will for collecting the controls...

...but most of all, huge praise to all the juniors and adults for working so hard and partaking fully during the training session.