by Ian | Oct 27, 2015 | Cambodia 2016
With most HSX members packing their bags for the October weekend the week before, some of the Cambodia Leaders and HSX members didn’t get back into the UK until the early hours of the Friday morning from their trip to Kalymnos. With a few hours’ sleep, (thankfully other members of HSX were driving) on Friday evening we set off to North Wales, collecting people from the Tesco in Winnal, Winchester and Eastleigh Train Station.
The drive seemed to last a long time, with people fighting back their tiredness with excitement for the weekend ahead. The unknown for some people who had never been to the mountains! With the traditional stop of at McDonalds for a ‘dirty burger’, we reached our accommodation at Cornel Scout Centre by 01:00 on the Saturday morning. All of our excitement on the drive up now seemed to have fizzled out as we finally crawled into our sleeping bags for a night of broken sleep thanks to those infamous first night camp nerves.
Getting up at 07:00 for breakfast we discussed the plans for the day and left the centre at around 08:30. The Cambodia team went to tackle Tryfan; via the North face scramble, proving slightly challenging to me and other members, who had never been on a roped scramble or exposed rocky steps, but we reached the summit with no issues. On the way down, the participants tested their mountain navigation skill to get the group back to the car, using slightly unorthodox routes on occasion and with varying degrees of success.
The rest of the team completed the Snowdon Horseshoe, and were lucky enough to get some breaks in the clouds to take advantage of the views and see just how exposed the ridge of Crib Goch is.
On the second day, Cambodia Deputy Leader Liam, took us to Willy’s crag where we got our first taste of outdoor climbing on real rock! We did a couple of top rope climbs each and got a master class in setting up different systems up for groups from Liam.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of HSX did multi pitch climbing on Little Tryfan, looking at placing gear, leading two clients and improvised rescues before meeting up at 13:00 and heading back to Hampshire.
I found the weekend challenging and exciting, whilst also experiencing outdoor climbing for the first time and realising I need to improve my mountain navigational skills…. significantly. It’s safe to say, I’m super excited and keen for the rest of our training!
HSX Cambodia Team
by Ian | Oct 27, 2015 | Antarctica 2018
Over the weekend Ollie and Chris took part in The Original Mountain Marathon (The OMM) a 2-day mountain event, combining endurance, navigation and mountain survival skills:
This year’s event was held in the Tweedmuir Hills in the Scottish Borders, and began with a torrential downpour, ensuring we were soaked from the start. To ensure that no team has an unfair advantage over fellow competitors, route maps are handed out on the start line, with each team being given a minute to plan their route to the first checkpoint. Competing in the C-Class this year, we had to visit a mix of compulsory checkpoints, before being given free rein to choose a series of optional points to really test our route planning skills. For much of Saturday the terrain under foot was terrible, consisting of shin deep heather, peat hags and ankle deep bogs; none of which are conducive with running!
After covering around 34km, and with darkness rapidly descending, we still had two checkpoints to find. We certainly hadn’t intended to be out for this long, but were happy to find them relatively easily before sprinting into the overnight camp. We were surprised at the number of head torches still out on the hills after-dark and thought that maybe we hadn’t done so bad after all! Having spent well over 10 hours out in the hills, we found ourselves sitting 39th out of 44 finishers; it was a good morale boost to know that 31 teams had already retired. At the overnight camp we soon discovered why two men really shouldn’t share a one-man tent (especially when one of them is over 6ft5!), however, enjoyed being warm and dry and sharing a ‘wee dram’ before bed.
06:00 seemed to roll around far too quickly, even with the extra hour gained from the clock change, and we were woken up in traditional OMM style – with a rendition of “Scotland the Brave” on the bagpipes! Having secured an early start time we were packed up and on the start line by 07:44. Mercifully, day 2 had been slightly shortened by the race organisers; in recognition that day 1 was much longer than it should have been due to land access issues. Starting with stiff legs, the organisers naturally eased us into the course by placing the first checkpoint of the day 250m uphill! We soon warmed up and found ourselves traipsing over an all too familiar mix of heather, peat and bog; just what our battered legs wanted! But before we knew it, we were visiting the penultimate checkpoint, meeting the first proper track of the weekend (thank God for engineering!) and were finally able to move quicker than a slow trudge! On our decent from Glenheurie Rig, we passed Chris Laws and Richard Batstone, who were also representing Team HSX, and successfully crossed the finish line at a jog after a 7 hour day.
One of the key points we took away from the weekend was the importance of accurate navigation. Rather than worrying about pace, good navigation can allow much more time and ground to be made up. For us, this meant we managed to find all of the checkpoints straightaway, whilst lots of other teams, having initially overtaken us, spent ages trying to find the markers and losing significant amounts of time (on day 1 we were 20 minutes out from checkpoint three when we passed one team still looking for the marker – a mistake which was likely to cost them around 30-40 minutes!).
Overall we came 35th out of 39 finishers in C-Class, with a further 5 teams dropping out on day 2. We were both particularly proud of this result, considering that half the field retired. Although enjoyment of the OMM is always retrospective, for now it’s time to rest up and get ready for the Welsh 3,000’s this weekend… No rest for the wicked!
Please follow our progress here or via Facebook or Twitter!
by Ian | Sep 12, 2015 | Cambodia 2016
Training Begins
We have just had a very successful start to our training, with an action packed weekend at Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre; The home of Hampshire Scouting. The weekend was a great opportunity to bond with the team and marked the start of our journey to Cambodia with activities focused around developing skills that would be used on expedition, particularly bush craft and survival activities.
Saturday morning was kicked off with an activity I’m sure all Scouts have done before – Pioneerin
g! The first challenge was to build a bridge from one side of the lake to the other and safely get the whole team across and back again. After much debate, the team came up with the idea of building loads of A frames and strapping them all together to span the distances. This was going well with the team making slow progress, apparently A frames are heavy and awkward to move when your stood on a three inch pole over a deep, dirty, cold lake. But we did make it to the other side with only a few shoes getting wet.
I’m sure you can guess what happened next…. In short the bridge worked going across the lake because all the A frames were tensioned and leaning out so when you try to go back across they all lose tension and fall over. Luckily a member of the Leader team is study Engineering and for saw this problem…. Or maybe not!
The rest of Saturday was spent doing bush craft activities; fire lighting, knife craft & backwoods cooking and discussing the next 18months of training and what to expect. At 19:30 chicken, lamb, vegetables and potatoes were all served which had been prepared outdoors and slowly cooking throughout the afternoon. Potatoes being a personal favourite! With a warm dinner inside them, participants were set off fo
r a night hike route where challenges would be set at three checkpoints along the way. Challenges including pacing and navigation points, a problem solving task and a team building task all designed to access knowledge and team dynamics so the remaining training weekends can be pitched at the correct level. We promised we wouldn’t mention one team getting lost and stumbling back over a 1hour late…. With everyone officially worn out, we headed out into the forest, climbed into our hammocks and enjoyed the night out under the stars. Which again, a member of the leader team didn’t fall out of….. Cough, Cough, Dave…..
At 07:45 Sunday morning the team were woken up and put through their paces with a physical training session to start increasing fitness to prepare for trekking and mountain climbing. The run was led by Matt with help from HSX members Jamie and Alan and consisted of running, leap frogs, Spartan crawling, press ups, sit ups, fireman lifts and a team challenge around the Ferny Crofts Adventure Course. This was followed by the traditional sunny BBQ with other members of HSX, the County team and participant’s parents and acted as the perfect opportunity
to bond and speak to members about their experiences in HSX.
Our next training weekend, will see the team head to North Wales in October. We still have spaces for participants so if you would like to know more you can find an information pack here or apply to become a participant.
HSX Cambodia Leader Team.
by Ian | Jun 12, 2015 | Cambodia 2016
The HSX Cambodia Expedition will spend a total of four weeks in country undertaking three main tasks; a community project, an adventurous trek and culture touring. We have highlighted our favourite places we will be visiting below.
Siem Reap
“Siem Reap is a fast-growing city with plenty of new hotels, restaurants and 
nightclubs. But chances are, you’re here not because of the city itself, but for what’s nearby: amazingly well-preserved ancient temples” Trip Advisor
This is exactly what we will be doing in Siem Reap; home to the famous Angkor Temples we shall be fully immersing ourselves in the local culture and way of life. It will not be until the end of our trip that we visit this area, but the old saying is best till last… Whilst within the city the participants will have the chance to explore and get to know more about the local people through our links with the Cambodia Scouts. We will be undertaking the local ‘temple challenge’ which adds an element of adventure and competition to visiting the temples.
Phnom Pehn
“Cambodia’s capital can be an assault on the senses. Markets exude pungent 
scents; and all the while the sounds of life, of commerce, of survival, reverberate through the streets. But this is all part of the attraction” Lonely Planet
Our first stop in Cambodia is Phnom Pehn and this seems fitting given its title as capital of Cambodia. During our first initial days in country the team will have the chance to explore the city with the leaders and get their first taste of travel and expedition life. We will be visiting the Royal Palace and National Museum which we believe is vital for our participants to learn and be knowledgeable about during the trip.
Cardamom Mountains
The Cardamom Mountain range appears in the South West of Cambodia and borders of Thailand with the highest peak being Phnom Aural and standing at 1,813 metres high. The largely inaccessible range formed one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge, driven out by Vietnamese forces during the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Tourism is relatively new to the Cardamom Mountains which is great for us as it provides the expedition team with a chance to see a real wilderness and how it compares to some of the UK’s mountain ranges but also some rare wildlife. This region will be home to us for six days as we undertake our trek.
Sihanoukville
Surrounded by white-sand beaches and undeveloped tropical islands, Sihanoukville is one of Cambodia’s most sought after destinations. Named in honour of the then head-of-state, Sihanoukville was hacked out of the jungle in the late 1950s to create Cambodia’s first and only deep-water port. To the team it will be our Christmas venue! Spending some much needed time after the trek relaxing and having some down time. The team will have the opportunity to go swimming, snorkelling and tuck into the not so traditional fresh fish cooked on an open BBQ for Christmas dinner.
Cambodia will offer everyone on the expedition a chance to indulge themselves in local culture, visit rare and beautiful locations, generating memories that will last a lifetime. For your chance to be involved and become a participant click here: http://goo.gl/forms/8OV6pVz2Ku
by Ian | May 19, 2015 | Cambodia 2016
January
The first training weekend of 2016 will be spent in the snowy Brecon Beacons refreshing the navigational skills learnt in 2015. We will be joining other HSX members on this trip, so again it’s a good opportunity to talk to older members about their journeys and expeditions. Other focuses of this trip will be camp craft, team building, communication and developing fitness. Although Cambodia will not be snowy, managing yourself in the cold conditions will put you in a good position for managing the heat in county.
March
Arguably one of the best training trips is our visit to the Lake District over the Easter weekend. During this trip the team will be staying at Great Tower Scout Activity Centre and will have the opportunity to take part in a range of activities; Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Walking, Abseiling & many more. The main focus on this trip is refining navigational skills and team building with rock climbing as the vehicle. During the evenings of this trip older members of HSX will be running workshops about a range of outdoor topics from flora and fauna to qualifications. These will provide the expedition participants with another great opportunity to learn some more about the outdoors and pathways into working in the environment.
June
Our June weekend is a purpose fundraising weekend. The team will be participating in the Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre Open Day, where we will be running a BBQ and other fundraising activities. This weekend will be the perfect opportunity for members to refine their presentation skills as they speak to various members of the public and advertise the expedition.
September
After some hard fundraising over the summer the September weekend will be spent working on survival skills and climbing. We will be spending the weekend rock climbing on the cliffs of Swanage and wild camping out over night. Drawing on their past experiences from training, participants of the expedition will be planning this weekend; everything from transport to food and climbing equipment. This is the first step in developing a participant into a future leader.
October
This weekend will see the team gain their first outdoor qualification. We will be undertaking a 16hour Rescue & Emergency Care (REC) Level 2 First Aid qualification run by a local provider. The weekend will be based out of Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre, and will be specific to our in country schedule making sure everyone is prepared for any incidents that could come up during the expedition.
December
On the weekend of our departure we will be holding a final weekend; this will be a opportunity to finalise any packing and ensure the team are fully prepared and briefed on the next few days of travel and expectations in Cambodia. We will be joined by the heads of Hampshire Scouting and there will be a final parent’s presentation by the team outlining procedures for when the team are in country and answering any remaining questions.
To keep up to date with expedition developments check out our social media or to request a information pack click here: http://goo.gl/forms/8OV6pVz2Ku
Facebook: /HampshireScoutExpeditions
Twitter: @HSXOfficial
Youtube: /HSXOnline
