The Bursars, Russ and Slattergator travelled up early Thursday in the Russ bus we left just before 5am!  The early start gave us an enjoyable afternoon walking up Skiddaw and then we found a little man with ice creams on the way down. Later in the day we met up with the other Torneo that contained the Nepal team plus Hannah, Besty and Chris Laws.

That evening due to a slight hiccup in the accommodation we had fish and chips for dinner, we then got to Great Tower where due to the hiccup we were to spend the night on the floor in the ecology room (luckily they had new mattresses for us to sleep on). Before we splet though Ollie (Event Director) and the other drivers did spend some time planning the next day whilst the Nepal team and Bursars explored the site – for many of us our first trip Great Tower.

Besty, Hannah and Chris Laws made a good choice by opting to sleep out overnight, rather than sleeping in a room with 20 other people. Everyone else arrived late that night – we did all switch to HSX time (1hr forward to make the most of the daylight hours).

Day Two

Breakfast was at 7:30 – two brioche (different shapes) and a cereal bar as there was no where to cook. We then split down into three groups – Multi pitch, Walking & Nepal team.  The multi pitch team went to the Langdale Valley and climbed up near Stickle Tarn, for some it was our first multi pitch, so we mainly concentrating on gear placements.  The walking group met the three over nighters (apparently Chris still snores) and did a 12km walk up Hellvelyn.  For theNepalteam this was their first group activity to Bowfell.

That night we moved into Windermere lodge where after dinner in preparation for his ML Assessment Steve Knaggs gave a talk on flora and fauna.  Educating us on everything from symbiotic relationships to Parmelia Saxatilis.

Day Three

The Nepal team plus a few others went single pitch climbing, for some their first experience of real rock. Three Bursars plus Dave went for some more multi pitch – because of Steve’s talk we were able to identify the moss we were trying to climb over. Steve and Mike had an epic day’s scrambling. Alan, Besty, Chris Laws and Rich Batstone did a section of the Bob Graham Round. This left a few of the others to summit Scafell Pike. That evening we had roast dinner – it was good.

In the evening we socialised with other network members – getting to bed at an unreasonable hour.

Day Four

TheNepalteam went for another walk to the old man of Coniston.  Stu demonstrated how well waterproof trousers foam if you forget to rinse them and it rains. He must be congratulated on actually wearing them as opposed to getting soaked with your trousers nice and dry in your bag.

Ian, Jeremy and Rich Brimelow went mountain biking.

The climbing group did the piece of classic rock “Little Chamonix”. If the wind blows and your gear falls out it suggests more work is needed on placements.

Joe did a talk about rope work for his ML and how important the over hand knot is, brilliant laugh practicing different types of abseils inside.

Day Five

The journey home – started unreasonably early, 6am in fact.

By Rosemary..

Anyway, we travelled up on Friday night. 10 of us left from our various bases and we met at the Scout Hut in Ystradgynlais, where Richard Brimelow (event director) greeted us with Hot Cross buns… Yum!! Before myself & Chris Laws (Atacama veterans ) gave the most amazing and educational lecture ever on nutrition. With the group all feeling very informed & educated we got our heads down for some sleep, which evaded some of us as we were battling with ‘first night camp excitement’.

On Saturday we split into two groups which were being lead by Steve Knaggs & Chris Slater as they are working towards their Mountain leader qualification. We agreed to rendezvous that evening at Llyn Y Fan Fach about 10km north of the town where we started for our overnight camp.

We set out carefully navigating our way through the town and across the road, which seemed to take for ever, before finally hitting some hills.. We then completed navigating legs, whilst also picking up some of the Black Mountains famous Air Craft crash sites…

Now either this was luck or perfect linked groups, but both teams arrived at the overnight camp at exactly the same time. It was at this point and we had been thinking it for a while, that we realised how blooming cold it was. So we wrapped up as warm as we could and put our tents up and had dinner. Luckily for us, there was a rescue hut there, so we did get to sit inside. when I say inside, it had walls, a roof & some benches.. Luxury in this instance.. Dinner was light weight obligatory Cous Cous, veg & Chorizo…

As some of the group headed to bed, Adrian, Steve, Chris & myself headed out for some night nav practice and with 100% success rate we headed back to our tents for a very very very cold night sleep… My 1 season sleeping bag, thermal top, jacket & gillet struggled to keep the cold at bay even whilst i was being sandwiched by Chris & Steve..

The next morning, we had breakfast (muesli cereal bombs) and headed back to the hut. Whilst walking back, we did get to enjoy the snow that started and then laid after we had left…

A great weekend with some great hill walking & wild camping… Thanks to Richard Brimelow for organising and thanks to all who came along..

Firstly, I want to link you to one of the other runners post race thoughts… What a write up and he says it all pretty well.. Navigate here http://www.4deserts.com/blogs/comptetior_blog_new.php?pid=OTQy&blog=21 and read Ian’s second blog entitled ‘Till the next time…’

Who won the Prize Pot & Sponsorship update!!! Oh, the excitement… Well, thanks to all of you we managed to raise a whopping £6190.34 inc gift aid for Cancer Research UK… A massive thank you goes out to everyone of you.. And now, on to the prize pot winner or winners….

Well, we always said that the winner would be the person who picked the time slot for when the team didn’t finish and due to the unfortunate events of Chris being quite ill, the team didn’t finish Stage 5. So the winner of the entire prize pot is Ian Furlong. Well done Ian. However, we also felt that as two of us did finish, the person who bought the time slot at 41hrs, 47mins, 42 seconds which was where Rich and I finished also deserved a prize.. So, we managed to get a laptop donated to us by Geek Squad UK www.geeksquad.co.uk so we’d also like to congratulate Andy Wilkinson on his prize..

Two questions left…

Would we do it again? I can’t talk for the other two, but I would (and I’m pretty sure they would)…

Do I recommend it to you? Yes!!!

Anyway, after 1100hrs UK time, we’re taking no more entries into the prize pot, however you can continue to donate to Cancer Research UK…

Also follow our race blogs at www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing look for Chris Laws or teamHSX to read the blog..

The team also saw the finish line today as the race which starts 0800 Sunday morning finishes in the town square..

Also this afternoon, Emily has left the boys to join the other volunteers for her volunteer training, which starts tomorrow…

All in all, we’re all having a splendid time…

It makes for interesting reading..

Distance of Each Stage
The approximate distances of each stage are detailed below.  There are checkpoints approximately every 10 kilometers / 6 miles along the course where volunteers and a medical doctor are stationed to give you water and support.  Each checkpoint also has a tent providing shade.
 
Stage 1 – 35.2 km / 21.9 miles
Stage 2 – 41.8 km / 26.0 miles
Stage 3 – 40.0 km / 24.9 miles
Stage 4 – 42.8 km / 26.6 miles
Stage 5 – 73.6 km / 45.7 miles
Stage 6 – 16.0 km / 9.9 miles

 
Terrain
The terrain is varied.  You can expect salt flats, sand dunes, loose rock and dirt, grassy plains, canyons and hard-packed dirt tracks.  There are also a few water crossings throughout the week.
 
Altitude
The course starts at its highest altitude.  Camp 1 is just over 3,000 meters / 10,000 feet.  Each Stage takes competitors to a lower level, with the week finishing in San Pedro de Atacama at 2,443 meters / 7,780 feet.
 
Climate
The climate of the Atacama Desert is hot and dry.  Course temperatures can reach higher than 40°C / 104°F (with lows of 5°C / 41°F at night).

Good luck to us…..

This link takes you to the main article :-

http://www.itv.com/meridian-west/ultimate-chile-challenge61727/

and this link is the small snippet on the lunch time bulletin :-

http://www.itv.com/meridian-west/afternoon-news39133/

Also, this evening we broke the £1,ooo mark for our Cancer research fundraising.. please help us get to £6,690… Thanks..

Divya, even said they are keen to join us on our Malaga training session and are even talking about joining us in Chile for the race….

teamHSX on Atacama then went on to complete a 25km training run along Bournemouth & Poole beaches and back…

Today was also great as we recieved our new team kit….. It felt great.. Thanks Russ and Simon Furlong for helping us with this..

Don’t forget now, with only about six weeks left until we fly out, it would be great if you bought a time slot and sponsored us… Go to the Atacama pages to find out more…. www.hsx.org.uk/Atacama