Perse students complete Gold DofE Qualifying expedition in Italy
Over May half term, 36 students completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying expedition in the Aosta Valley, Italy. The teams spent four days walking in the mountains, navigating the valley trails, all whilst being self-sufficient, as they carried all the food and equipment they needed.
During their route, the pupils were able to experience the culture of the Aosta Valley through seeing the traditional architecture, hearing the local dialect, and learning about the history of the area from the local guides who supported them on their journey. The students worked closely within their teams to complete their expedition aims and to support one another whilst walking in a challenging environment.
On the first night, the teams were greeted with a typical alpine storm which provided some interesting weather; however, throughout the rest of the trip, the conditions were excellent, with warmth and sunshine.
The expedition created lasting memories for those involved. Student Amelie shares her experience of the adventure below:
The DofE Gold Expedition in the Aosta Valley was an awesome adventure. Starting out by being dropped off a little way from our hotel, we began to find our rhythm together in each of our individual teams, which were going to become close-knit over the next few days. There is probably no greater bonding experience than debating which Firepot meal is the best while sitting together after a long day of hiking.
Throughout the trip, we saw some incredible views, from Monte Rosa to a marmot running past our tents, to Aryan headbutting his tent. Our first campsite was definitely special for many of us, as it was our first time wild camping, and it is hard to think of a better way to fall asleep than to the sound of a mountain stream no more than two metres away from your tent (though it was drowned out by an unexpected hailstorm for a while).
Despite the hail, the second day greeted us with spectacular weather and views, as we had a day with more descent compared with the day before. This gave teams more time for their projects, which included researching local churches, recreating famous sporting moments, and doing yoga poses, to name a few. As the second night was spent at a campsite, many people enjoyed a cold shower after a hot day.
The third day featured a long walk through several small villages and meadows before ending with a particularly tricky uphill section, which rewarded us with stunning views at our wild camp for the night. Though it wasn’t the highest we were to go, the next day began with a good few hundred metres of elevation, bringing us to the highest point of the trek so far at 2,670m. There, we chatted with our fabulous local guides, who supported us throughout the trip, answering any and all questions we had (even the silly ones).
We then enjoyed the remainder of our day with steady downhill traversing along the side of the valley all the way down to Champoluc, where we celebrated with much-needed showers and even more needed pizza and gelato.
