by Ian | Dec 18, 2017 | News
Hi everyone. It’s been a few days since our last update, so we thought we’d let you know what we’ve been up too!
Friday 15th Dec
Today the team had a later start than normal; with the aim to climb Cerro Paine – a hill immediately behind our campsite we an equally impressive look out towards the Towers. Given we were unlucky with our attempts to see the towards the team headed out into the rain positive that the clouds would clear.
The route was shorter than the day before, but was straight up with few steams for water or flat sections, after the first 10 minutes. Not perturbed we pushed on to the Linga Forests and slowly made our way up the slippery, muddy tracks, arriving at the tree line after about an hour and a half.
Here we entered the more open scree slopes that lead to the summit. Helpfully at this point it stoped raining… and started snowing! Not put off the team carried on to the summit and enjoyed a quick bite to eat, before our guides Nico and Paulo made us to a sun dance, to help improve the forecast for the next few days!
That evening we descend on the refugio, spreading our all our damp kit and playing cards for a few hours.
Saturday 16th Dec
Today was our first day walking with our big expedition packs, with the aim of walking from the park entrance to Camp Francis – approximately 17km.
Today was the first day we woke up to sunny skies, so we were all positive that our sun dance had worked! Breaking camp we loaded our bags with enough supplies for the remaining 5 days on the trail.
The walking was over easier, flatter terrain today making going slightly easier, even though we were weighted down by the extra weight of all our kit.
The view kept changing along the way, with each new hill bringing a different view and new, even bluer lake! Along the way we saw loads of wildlife – including at one point six condors circling overhead!
The afternoon saw the weather become a bit more unsettled, with waterproofs being taken off then immediately put back on before a bags were placed back on backs – such is the way in Patagonia!
Finally reaching Francis after a lovely walk along the shores of Lake Nordenskjold! Francis was a bit unconventional, with the team pitching tents on wooden platforms, above the wooded forest.
Sunday 17th Dec
Today we were headed into the French Valley, however with the promise of strong winds and heavy rain in the afternoon we decided to make an early start to make the most of any possible views.
After 30 minutes of walking we made it as far as Campo Italiano ahead of the majority of the crowds. This campsite marks the start of the valley proper and the team slowly started to wind there way up through more Linga Forests. After an hour we reach the first view point in the valley and were instantly battered by the roaring wind!
Not put off by this we carried on up the valley, reaching the Britanico view point by 11:35. The views here were amazing and weather looked to be holding out so we spent over an hour here taking photos and enjoying the view!
The afternoon saw us arrive back before the rain and majority of other campers, so felling slightly smug with ourselves we headed for early showers (only to be greeted with freezing glacial waters – hot water goes on at 6!)
Monday 18th Dec
Today we had a nice short day – only 10km until Refugio Paine Grande – so we were treated to a bit of a lay in… bliss! After a quick breakfast, we packed up camp for the second time and retraced our steps to Campo Italiano.
From here we crossed the worlds most rickety bridge across the a river – strictly one persons at a time! We were now entering the part of the National Park which was badly effected by wild fires in 2010 – all started by one trekker trying to burn their used loo roll! The trails around here are much more open and expose to the wind, surrounded either side by the trunks of burnt trees.
We stopped for lunch just above Largo Skottsberg, enjoying amazing views towards to The Horns and Paine Grande. Our vantage point gave us good views of the wind rushing across the lake, whipping the surface into a frenzy.
From here it was only another 45 minutes until the campsite, so we had our tents up by 15:30. Refugio Paine Grande has a lovely cafe/bar so we’ve spent the afternoon playing cards and looking at views towards “The Horns”. Rich and Chris decided “treat” their feet, by going paddling in waters of Largo Pehoe – which if anyone is interested – is absolutely freezing!!!!
We’ve got two more days left on the Trek, before we head back to Punta Arenas on Thursday for the next phase of the expedition.
by Ian | Dec 15, 2017 | News
Just a quick update today (limited WiFi on the in National Park!).
Arrived in the Torres Del Paine National Park yesterday after a 6 coach ride from Punta Arenas (featuring a quick stop off en-route at Puerto Natales!). The views on the the way over were out of this world and the picture just don’t do them justice. We stopped off at loads of view points and could have easily filled our memories cards with photos, the clouds and views seem to change every few seconds!
We’ve had our Russ and Jeremy moment, spotting lots of wildlife, including Andean Deers, herds of Guanaco, loads of birds and eagles and even a couple of low flying Condors!!!! Just holding out for an elusive Puma…
Today we hiked to Mirador Base Las Torres view point. It was a 20km day, with about 1,000m of ascent – taking about 8.5 hours in total (so we’re all fairly tired tonight!). At the top of this world famous view point we were greeted by… a complete white out and blizzard – so much for spotting some of the world famous climbs!
Tomorrow we’re off to hike another local hill to see if we can get a better view of the Towers (fingers crossed!) before setting off on the next leg of the W-Trek on Saturday.
Stay tuned to the blog – we’ll hopefully have another update further along the Trek!
Adios Amigos!
by Ian | Dec 13, 2017 | News
After a refreshing nights sleep and a hearty Chilean breakfast the team were ready to hit the town. As we stepped out onto the streets, we were hit by a wall of bliss heat. The 30°C heat was a welcome change from dreary cold of England. The first stop of the day was el Museo National de Bellas Artes in downtown Santiago. The cool building was a welcome respite from the now searing heat of the day. The museum had a wide range of art from the 1700s to conceptual art. We set out to find a spot for lunch and fell across a hidden gem of a neighbourhood, Bellavista. There was street art round every corner, strange locals and crazy talks palm trees.
For lunch we were persuaded into a lovely restaurant by Ricky Richardo, to refuel before an expedition up Cerro San Cristobal. They say only mad dogs and English men go out in the mid-day sun, and it turns out they were right! Despite the searing heat, the team made it to the top and were greeted with views from the top that were stunning. After photo taking and postcard buying we treated ourselves to an ice-cream and began our descent. At the bottom Tilda ignored her mother’s advice to buy shorts and purchased some trousers.
We wondered back to the hotel and relaxed before going back out to find dinner. We ended up at a small Peruvian restaurant. Dan demonstrated a glimpse of intelligence by naming some flags. After our meal we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed to prepare us for a 3:20 am wake up.
The next day we boarded our flight to Punta Arenas. The flight held spectacular view of the Andes and our first glimpse of Patagonia. We met our guide, Nicholas, off the plane and went to a small beach to stretch our legs and kill some time before we could go to our house. It was lovely to have our own space and we spent the rest of the day chilling and had a lovely lunch of Chilean empandas. Later in the day we meet up with Monserratt, who is our Scout contact in Punta Arenas, before cooking our own dinner of paella. We headed to bed early after a relaxed day.
We were up and out by 9 for our tour of Punta Arenas. Nicho is so knowledgeable and it was very interesting. We visited Punta Arenas’ ski resort, view points of the colourful city, the town square, cemetery and then headed to a restaurant for lunch. Most of us experience the fantastic local sea food cuisine. The afternoon was spent buying all our food for the expedition and we bought an ridiculously heavy amount which we hauled back to the house. We totalled 4 and a half expedition bags of food (including 10kg of dried fruits and nuts), but Nicholas was insistent that we’d need it all!
*This only represent 5 of our 8 days of food!
We are heading to Torres del Paine tomorrow so we will catch you up on all our adventures in 10 days.
by Ian | Dec 10, 2017 | Patagonia 2017
After the best part of 24 hours of traveling the Patagonia team made its way to Santiago. The trip out couldn’t have gone smoother, with a short layover in São Paulo providing a much needed chance to stretch their legs.
Meeting our taxi driver at arrivals, we soon had our duffle bags precariously balanced on the roof of the minivan, and headed into the city, passing a few well known sights on the way in. 
Upon arriving at the hotel, the team quickly changed out of their uniform, donning flip flops, shorts and cameras, before heading out to explore the gardens of Cerro Santa Lucia. The park is criss crossed with footpath which seem to lead to nowhere and stair cases which just stop. Persevering the team made it to the top of the hill, team be greeted with their first proper views of the Andes!
We popped out for an early (by Chilean standards) dinner and are just about ready to hit the sack. Busy day planned tomorrow exploring the City!
P.S. we tried to upload more pictures for you, but the app didn’t seem to like it. Will try again in a couple of days!
by Ian | Nov 19, 2017 | Expeditions, Patagonia 2017
We are in the final stages of our training and with only 18 days to go until we jet off half way around the world we thought we would update you about what we have been up to over the past few months.
September
During the summer holidays we had a bit of a break from the regular training weekends, but with the expedition fast approaching there was no rest of the wicked, with plenty of organising for the September fundraising event. Each participant was tasked with sourcing raffle prizes, finding table games and creating a quiz to rival Alan and Jamie’s Christmas Quiz Extravaganza. Descending on Abbey Hall in Netley in mid-September the team hosted a really successful Chili and Quiz Night that was well attended by friends and family of the team, as well as members of HSX. It was a really enjoyable evening and the team managed to raise funds towards the expedition as well.
Aside from this in September the team also had a training weekend in the New Forest. It was a developmental weekend that pushed and challenged the whole team. It was a really tough weekend, but really helped the team bond together as a unit and improved our team working and communication skills, as well as being stuffed full of memories that we won’t forget in a hurry!
October – North Wales
Our October weekend saw the team brave the worst of the elements in North Wales. On the Saturday we awoke to the full force of Storm Brian. Undeterred by the 60mph guests the team bravely headed out into the mountains to make the most of the day, despite being hit square on in the face by a barrage of horizontal rain and gale force winds!
The walk started off pleasant enough with squally showers, but within 30 minutes we were all soaked to the skin. Regardless, we started our ascent up Crimpiau, after all these are conditions that we could easily face in Patagonia. After what seemed like an eternity we stumbled onto the peak, but as soon as we emerged onto the summit we were blasted by even stronger wind and rain, so we beat a hasty retreat to a more sheltered spot.
After grabbing a quick drink and a bite to eat (it really wasn’t a day for hanging around) we skirted around the side of Craig Wen, still in the pouring rain. The rest of the walk was a blur of wind and rain, with the final walk along the A5 feeling more like we were following the course of a raging river than a scenic A-road, but eventually made it back to the bunkhouse.
Little did we know that while we were out in the hills, our tents had been taken a battering by Storm Brian, to the point they were completely flattened and deemed useless! We popped into the bunkhouse, to find the rest of HSX sat round with a brew, after they’d helpfully sorted out all our kit, so after a quick cup of tea and a set of dry clothes we headed to the backup location, the “other” bunkhouse at Garth’s Farm, in the neighbouring valley. This bunkhouse, unlike Garth’s primary bunkhouse had no electricity, no heating and no running water, but at least it was out of the wind and rain!
Sunday was a more relaxed walk in the Ogwen Valley, with the team practicing navigation and leading the group. The whole team benefited from the experience and improved our knowledge of how to deal with the wet and the cold in the mountains; skills that will be vital in Patagonia.
November – Packing Weekend
Our final training weekend was a packing and First Aid weekend. This was an opportunity for the team to pack their bags ready for the expedition, and check they all had enough, or in some cases not too much, kit. Each member of the team had been given a weight limit of 15kg, and reducing four weeks’ worth of kit down to this is quite a challenge.
The afternoon was spent sorting out the group kit, checking tents had enough pegs, poles weren’t too bent from the October weekend and no-one had returned a dirty pan-set to stores! Once we were happy that we had everything sorted for the expedition, the team were set the task of planning one of their days in Santiago. Revelling in the chance to have ownership of this, they soon set about planning, surrounding themselves in guidebooks and surfing the internet.
Sunday saw the team joined by Clare, a First Aid trainer who had agreed to help run an expedition specific First Aid course for the team. The team soon set about practicing how to preform CPR, set a patient into the recover position, as well as recognise the signs of hyper/hypothermia and treat a sprained ankle.
The course culminated with the team taking part in a First Aid scenario, in which Ellis has sustain a compound fracture to her leg and Chris was going into shock. Thanks to some great prosthetic make-up (there really was a lot of blood!) and some superb acting, the team were really put on the spot and had to call upon all they’d learned to deal with this scenario.
Training complete there really is nothing left to do to get prepared for the expedition. Next stop Santiago!!!!
