On Saturday 19th January, 12 candidates arrived at The Rescue Post for a challenging day on the hill in the hope of gaining a place on this year's CVSRT Trainee Programme.

The weather forecast was very grim with a covering of snow on higher ground and low cloud cover, poor visibility and occasional rain making conditions underfoot difficult at times, but perfect for testing the candidate’s navigation and hill skills. The day started with a personal hill kit check to make sure they were all suitably equipped for a full day on the hill. Following this was a quick ascent to Erringdon Moor, above Mytholmroyd to warm everyone up.

The candidates were split into small groups under the supervision of several team members and away they went onto the moors to demonstrate their skills. All groups met up at lunchtime and were treated to a hot brew and some well deserved pies and cakes, before swapping groups and heading onto the moors again for the afternoon. The afternoon passed and by 5pm all groups met up for a rest. By this point of the day, everyone had a sense of camaraderie developing as they got to know each other.

As night fell, the groups headed out again into darkness to assess night navigation skills. This was cut short to assist with an ‘exercise callout’ - the evacuation of an injured walker on Blake Moor. The candidates were instructed to make their way as quickly and safely as possible to the location, where several CVSRT members were waiting with the casualty and a stretcher for the candidates to carry off the hill.

Once back at The Rescue Post, the candidates washed the vehicles and repacked and checked any kit used before having a well-earned brew and more cake! A final debrief and the opportunity to reflect on how they felt their assessment went, before candidates were free to go home for a much needed hot bath and a warm up. By the end of the day, everyone had covered approximately 20km and 530m of ascent in very challenging weather conditions.

Many thanks to everyone who applied to join CVSRT this year and also attended the hill assessment. It was a tough day for some but the applicants were excellent, making the final selection very difficult. However, after much deliberation, seven people were selected from the 12 who started the assessment and will progress onto our training programme, due to start in February.

Please note: Our recruitment application form remains open but be advised that your submission will be held on file until we decide to recruit again (date to be confirmed).
http://www.cvsrt.org.uk/the-team/join-us