Every February half term HSX head of to Scotland for a winter skills week and this year is no exception…. We’ve had this great photo sent down for us all to enjoy what they are…. Just a bit jealous as I right this in Southampton… đ
This year for our January Training Weekend saw us visit Dartmoor for the first time in a while for our ML focused weekend. The rain had been coming down hard all week, so expectation weren’t high for a sunny weekend in Devon.
23 of us travelled down (13 Nepal Expedition Team Members, 3 Ferny Crofts Bursars & 7 HSX Members) to be based out of the Tavistock Scout Hut which like all Scout huts seemed to come out of the same mould (picture a scout hut, it looked like that).
Saturday morning after an epic breakfast and a Mountain Rescue lecturette from Richard Batstone the Nepal team headed out for an overnighter starting from Two Bridges very close to Dartmoor Prison, which looks very oppressive from the outside. They were heading North for a few kilometres before camping out overnight.
The Bursars went on some Micro Navigation Skills Training with Dave, Rich Brimelow & Chris Laws. The rest of us headed up to Okehampton camp to take in the scenic North Moor.
Sunday we swapped over and met the Nepal team from their very wet overnight camp, luckily only one tent got flooded throughout the night, unluckily it was the leaders tent!!! Bad Luck chaps…
All in all a good weekend, thanks to Steve Knaggs for organising..
HSX Expedition to Tanzania, where a community project was completed as well as a summiting Kilimanjaro and a visit to Zanzibar.
HSX Christmas weekend â 21st to 23rd December 2012
Friday
The weekend started with 10 members of the Nepal team packing bags for Tesco customers in Marchwood. It was busy and hard work, but well worth it as we raised over ÂŁ500 for the Nepal trip.
Things started to quieten down around 6:30 so we took the decision to head to Ferny Crofts where Alan and Tom had prepared a delicious chilli con carne for us. Chris Laws and Rich turned up just in time for dinner, having been out in the pouring rain setting out the control points for Saturdayâs adventure race.
After dinner we counted the bag packing money, and there was lots of time to catch up with everyone.
Saturday
The HSX members who hadnât arrived on the Friday night arrived around 9.30ish ready for the traditional annual adventure race. Keeping up with tradition â the rain continued to pour! Fortified by Alan and Richâs bacon butties, the Nepal team joined up with the other HSX members and we gathered our teams in the Lodge.
At 9.50 the maps and punch cards were given out to each team then the teams had 10 minutes to plan a route and be ready at the cattle grid at the entrance of ferny crofts.
The race started at 10:00 by the cattle grid. The aim was to get around the course as quickly as possible, punching the card at each point. The flags were really hidden carefully, and surprisingly difficult to find considering they are bright orange! There were two categories Veterans for those harden adventure racers and the Newbies, designed for those of us who had never entered a race before: The results where as follows;
Veterans
| 1st | Alex | Kedge |
| 2nd | Ian | Tom R |
| 3rd | Alan | Tom P |
Newbies
| 1st | Sam | Steve |
| 2nd | Louis | Andy |
| 3rd | Clare | Josh |
In the afternoon the Nepal team cooked Christmas dinner for 35 people. The starters were deep fried prawns with salad, Pate and salad and Mexican soup with a roll. Main course was a choice of Turkey or Pork with vegetables, roast potatoes and all the trimmings. This was followed by chocolate mousse, a variety of cheesecakes and Christmas pudding. Not many of us had cooked on mass before so everyone doing a little bit towards each meal got the job done. When deciding if the meat was cooked Josh said âitâs still frozenâ which was impossible because it had just come out of a very hot ovenâŠ..he thought the label on the meat bag was ice- this made us all laugh!!!
Then after dinner there was a quiz kindly set by Alex and Kedge, which was in turn followed by a few games. The games included: âthe card board boxâ game, âtable boulderingâ game and lastly –Â âlift someone off the floor whilst they are lying on their backâ game.
   
Sunday
The Nepal team got up for a 7.30 PT session in which they all had to hold onto a pioneering pole whilst running and doing other challenges, including crossing a bog! This helped team work because we all had to communicate with each other to do each challenge. After commando crawling up a hill we were all caked in mud.
This was followed by the HSX Christmas forum during which new people were elected for each position e.g. chairman and event directors. For some of us it was our first time sitting in on the forum so it was really useful to find out about how HSX is run, and what happens behind the scenes to make the fantastic expeditions happen. It looks like there are some amazing trips planned for the future so watch this space!
The weekend was rounded off with the Nepal team doing a presentation for their parents, informing them of what they have achieved so far this year.
Thanks to everyone for a fantastic weekend â Happy New Year,
Clare
So it was that time of year again for HSX to visit North Wales and the beautiful landscapes of Snowdonia, leaving at the standard time of 1800 (on the dot! very uncommon for a HSX trip) from Hampshire and heading for the Cornel Scout Centre near Trefriw; half an hourâs drive from Betws-y-Coed.
Arriving weary after the six-hour drive, the group went to bed with anticipation for a good weekendâs worth of climbing and walking to satisfy the appetite. The next morning after a spot of brekkie, two groups were formed; the climbing contingent headed up by Dave, and the Nepal lot that were to take on Mount Snowdon via the Watkins Path during the morning, with a few Quality Shopping Hours later on. Both teams headed to the same place to begin the day, with the Nepal team splitting down the middle and meeting up for lunch later on. At this point it is worth mentioning that the team I was in, although ascending the steeper route to the summit, actually managed to make it before the other team and so can claim victory! After a quick photo opportunity on the summit (not wanting to spend too long there due to the vast crowds brought there by the steam train and the attraction of a warm visitorâs centre!) we had lunch and watched the clouds lift to expose the summit (which only a few months earlier saw Sir Chris Bonington emotionally carry the Olympic Flame to the summit during the torch relay on an amazing cloudless day). After saying farewell we descended the mountain with a sense of achievement; Snowdon being the first mountain for some members of the group and the first taste of dizzy euphoria that you experience when summiting mountains. It is hoped that all the members of Nepal 2013 will get to experience this on a grander scale when summiting Island Peak next year, which gave me this greatest feeling back in 2007 at the age of 16.
   
   
 After reaching the car park again, the time was now to wait for the climbers to arrive back, which took too long, so the group (minus Rosemary and Rich) went to Betws-y-Coed for some shopping and a cup of tea. This was a slight mistake, since Rich had the lodge key, which we of course didnât realise until we couldnât open the door, so had a long wait outside until they arrived. We then had a very pleasant evening meal of caribbean chicken with rice very exotic and were given a presentation by the Nepal 2013 team on the effects of altitude on the body and what they might expect when going to the Himalayas.
The next morning, Nepal 2013 left on foot from Cornel with the aim of taking in the Summit of Crimpau, where awesome views of Snowdon, Tryfan and the Carneddau could be seen, topped off by excellent weather and equally excellent company. The group then stopped for a while to learn about the flora and fauna of Snowdonia, micro-nav and rope-work before heading back to Cornel lodge (âcough coughâ on time… âcoughâ) and prepared for the journey back to Hampshire in our new team attire, tired but content.
Thanks…
Ollie Robinson..