by Ian | Jan 25, 2016 | Antarctica 2018, Belize 2011/12
“Don’t forget the basics!” reminded our ski instructor Ludo, as we peered tentatively over the edge of the steep icy black run Clocher de macle.
Rewind the clock back four days and we were being rudely awoken by the piercing sound of our early morning alarm call. “Why on earth did we book onto the 05:30 flight!?” exclaimed Dave, “it’s not even 02:00 yet!” replied Chris as we began to stir from our all too short sleep. “Well, look at it this way, at least we’ll be on the slopes by lunchtime!” chirped Adrian, trying to extenuate the positives of being on one of the first flights of the day.
It’s surprising how a short hop from Gatwick can take you to the best alpine skiing in mainland Europe. Even better, was the stunning sunrise above the blanket of cloud covering France on the way and the relative ease with which we got booked into to our apartment in the Les Bergers area of l’Alpe d’huez (after a chaotic game of shotgun to secure the best bed, that is). Shortly after arriving, we were getting kitted up, picking up our lift passes, and hitting the slopes. The aim of the week was to practice what we had learnt on our visits to the Snozone in Milton Keynes and sure up our technique; pretty easy when your bed is 50 metres from snow!
For Ollie, Joe and Matt, each morning began with ski tuition with instructor Ludo. Ludo was a veteran ski and snowboard instructor in winter, sailing instructor in summer and the coolest Frenchman you’ll ever hope to meet, with a penchant for the ladies. With over 20 years’ experience, the team knew he’d be perfect in helping to develop their skills on skis. Ludo kept hammering home the “the first basic” of skiing, however, little did they realise this was to be the first of seven “first basics” introduced over the week! The individual aims of the three guys (and Besty from HSX by whom they were accompanied) were to graduate from the basic snowplough turns, to a more complex parallel turn. In the meantime, Chris, Dave and Adrian, all competent downhill skiers, spent the time exploring and pushing themselves hard on red and black runs.
We were treated to uninterrupted blue sky, bright sunshine and well-above average temperatures throughout the week. Combined with below average snow-fall, it felt more like late alpine spring than mid-winter and as a result, the 35 runs that were open (instead of 130) were pretty busy, whilst the best skiing to be had was in the morning. In order to get to the best conditions, on day two, the team headed to the higher slopes at the top of the mountain, where freshly made artificial snow was waiting. Making the most of this, Chris and Adrian attempted some easy off-piste skiing and the others refined their skills on the blues. Unfortunately, even the best laid plans don’t go smoothly and losing track of time, we discovered that the lift to the top of the mountain was closed on our return. This left us with no option but to head down La Sarenne; one of the longest Black runs in Europe and reciting Ludo’s advice “don’t forget the basics!”
Midweek, we decided to treat ourselves and headed into town for a traditional Alpine Raclette. Simply put, this involves eating your own body weight in melted cheese and bread, which for some, resulted in some serious stomach issues afterwards and arguing about who was going to use the single toilet first! Besides eating a lot of dairy and meat, we tried to eat as healthily and cheaply as possible and often favoured heading back to the apartment at lunchtime to gorge on freshly baked baguette and lots of tasty fillings and cooking for ourselves at dinner; it was Christmas after all…
On Christmas eve, Ludo invited the team to join in with celebrations organised by the ski school. We were treated to a spectacular (if not slightly odd) interpretive dance story of French Father Christmas, complete with neon lights and fireworks and the whole event was topped off by an impressive precession of lights down the mountain slopes by the ski instructors (and of course, the complementary glass of Vin Chaud).
In our minds, we knew that the Psychology of waking up on Christmas day away from our families was always going to be difficult to get used to, however it was great to spend the following day skiing with great friends in such a spectacular setting. On Christmas morning we gathered around the breakfast table to open our ‘not so secret’ secret Santa gifts and headed out for the last ski of the week, with a secret intention we had successfully kept from Matt. Heading over to L’Alpette in the afternoon, we gave him the surprise of investing him as an official Scout right there on the slope after some good fake-acting on Ollie’s part to cause a distraction whilst the team got their uniforms on and the flag at the ready. Matt recited his promise and finally became a fully-fledged Scout, despite having being in HSX for three years!
Keep an eye out for Matt’s investiture video and more photos of our week on the Slopes!
by Ian | Jan 13, 2016 | Antarctica 2018
Happy New Year!
So the New Year has well and truly began and the festive celebrations now seem like a distant memory. The team have been working hard behind the scenes over the last few weeks and thought it was high time to bring you up to speed with our latest developments and exciting new challenges and events for 2016!
Updates
Firstly, 2015 was an immensely successful year for the HSX Antarctica team. Not only did the team compete in four truly arduous challenges, but made some positive steps towards our ultimate goal, getting to the South Pole, none of which would be possible without the support from you all.
As the team look back over the past 12 months of our training, we’ve really racked up the miles, taking part in weekends across the UK, including the Cairngorms, Lake District and North Wales. The culmination of our training was our trip to the French Alps, spending our first Christmas away together as team, as we spent a sun-drench week in Alpe d’Huez honing our ski skills. We’ve got to meet lots of people attending numerous events at Schools and Scout Groups across Hampshire, inspiring the next generation of adventurers.
The team have been actively pursuing sponsorship opportunities, contacting companies across the length and breadth of the country. In October we were pleased to partner with 3 Men and a Marquee, Hampshire’s premier wedding marquee company.
In December, the team joined up with Osprey Europe. We will shortly be taking stock of our new Osprey Variant 37 packs, which we will be putting through their paces on our Ski Touring course in the Cairngorms in February. The team is really excited to be joined by such a well-known brand, and look forward to working with them over the next few years.
Whilst the team is in discussions with a number of other companies, we’re still working hard to explore all avenues of potential sponsorship. If you think you can help, please check out our sponsorship page for more details on how to get in contact with the team.
Challenges for 2016
Building upon the success of last year, the Antarctica team will be participating in two tough challenges this year.
Following the resounding success of the Clarendon Way ultra-marathon and our half Iron-man, the first event will be the Jurassic Coast Challenge! Over the weekend of 6th-8th May, the team will be completing three marathons in three days, in the stunning scenery of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. In addition to covering the gruelling 26.2 miles each day, the team will be averaging 900m of accent along the undulating coast between Charmouth and Studland. Staying at local Scout huts along the way, the team will be giving inspirational talks to the young people in the local villages in the evenings.
Our second challenge of the year will see the team competing against HSX members for previous expeditions, in HSX v HSX Antarctica! Featuring members from our pervious expeditions, including Everest summiteers and Kilimanjaro veterans, the team will compete in a tyre dragging race, completing laps of the Hampshire countryside. Similar to physiology tests the team faced on the 200 climbs and Welsh 3,000’s, this challenge will test the team’s stamina and mental resilience, pushing us to our physical limits. Taking place over the weekend of 20th-21st August the exact location will be revealed closer to the time, so make sure to stay tuned for future updates.
Events
If you like your events a little less strenuous, the team have that covered too!
On Saturday 18th June the team will be will be hosting a Summer Gala. This event will include inspirational talks from an external adventure speaker, hog roast, professional DJ and inside a luxury marquee kindly donated to us by 3 Men and a Marquee. We are busy making arrangements for the event, with the exact line-up announced over the coming months.
So hopefully now you have plenty to fill your diary with, the team would love to see you at these events and really appreciate your ongoing support on their quest to the South Pole.
by Ian | Dec 15, 2015 | Cambodia 2016
With Christmas quickly approaching, we were all ready to attend our first HSX Christmas weekend, which was made even more exciting by highlighting the fact that in a year’s’ time we will be on our expedition!
Saturday Morning started straight away with our first ever attempt at the annual Christmas Adventure race. We managed to enter 3 teams into the Amateur Category, and we were sure that our team, “Pumped on Coffee,” would do great, we took advantage of our head start after plotting our route on the map, however after a few teams overtook us at the first checkpoint and having to slow down due to injuries we resorted to strategy, managing to catch up with a few teams quite quickly by taking small paths across the bogs.
Soon we were neck and neck with a group of teams, so we knew we needed to gain some extra points, luckily a herd of horses were close, giving us the perfect idea for our selfie, hopefully putting us in front of the rest. Even though trying to get all three of us next to the horse in one picture was a challenge in itself we did it!
There wasn’t any debate on whether we should try to get the big 80 point checkpoint unless we took the train, which probably was against the rules, so we gained some extra time to gather some of the slightly smaller points. On the way we chatted about fundraising ideas as well as jumping over several water logged lands and streams, surprisingly not falling in. Soon we found ourselves on the outskirts of ferny crofts, where we were staying the night, so we immediately picked up the pace to jump the fence and get back to the croft 20 minutes early with all of our points (some of them being guessed numbers for extra points), and lead an unsuccessful gamble for more points in return for our pen.
Half an hour later the whole Cambodia Team was back and in high spirits, excited to know who had won. However there was no time for celebration as we had to start our new mission; cook-christmas-dinner-for-40-odd-people-and-let’s-not-burn-the-turkey! After an hour or so of Christmas powered chopping, slicing, peeling, and chatting we had finished preparing, and started working on our presentation for the forum the next day.
Soon we were summoned back to the kitchen to start the important part of the meal; the cooking. Its safe to say our kitchen was organised; no spillages, if you forget the oil, and no problems that couldn’t be solved, *cough cough* deep fried parsnips, so overall it was great, especially as we sung Christmas songs the whole way through. When 7:30 came along we were ready to serve on time!
Dinner went very smoothly, with lots of laughs and some flying food, it was a great chance to talk to everyone in a non-competitive way. Soon after everyone was split into different groups to take part in the quiz. This meant we got to socialize with some of the HSX members we otherwise wouldn’t have spoken to, while discovering how little we know about quiz sections like “World” or “London”.
Sunday
Up and ready the next day by 07:30, we were tired and adequately enthusiastic for PT. Several pushups and 1 kilometre later, we found ourselves chest deep in a freezing cold river, squatting and then wading under a bridge. That’s definitely one way to wake yourself up! On the, slightly squelchy, way back, we ran looking forward to a shower and bacon for breakfast.
10 am signalled the start of the forum where our team was up first to present Cambodia, we spoke about our previous training weekends, fundraising and what we are looking forward to do on the trip. The rest of the meeting went well, with a few jokes made from other members along the way, and it was great to see what everyone had done over the past year, and are planning for the coming year.
The weekend was a great experience as we got to know the members of HSX really well as well as getting to know about all the other crazy adventures HSX run, which we are looking forward to taking part in, in the future.
Becky and Cerys – HSX Cambodia Team
by Ian | Nov 15, 2015 | Antarctica 2018
“How much further have we got Joe” Matt asked whilst struggling for breath after the battle up Tryfan.
“At least another 14km and then another 1000m of ascent up the next 7 mountains” Joe replied, struggling to make light of their current situation.
On the morning of our final challenge of the year it is fair to say we were all nervous, this was to be the toughest challenge of a busy year, which has seen the team complete an ultra-marathon dragging tyres, conquer 200 climbs in under 15 hours and complete two-thirds of a half iron-man!
The Welsh 3,000’s is one of the most daunting mountaineering prospects in the UK, with over 26 miles of running across 3000 metres of ascent and is a big challenge for anyone to walk in under 24 hours, but to attempt to run it in under nine hours… utter madness!
Setting off from Aber Falls car park at 9am; Joe, Chris, Ollie and Matt headed into the Carneddau to the true start of the challenge, the summit of Foel Fras. Traditionally, most teams spend the night before biviing out under the stars on the summit of the first peak, ensuring an early start on fresh legs, but we decided to add the first 4.5 miles and 700m of assent to the overall day, which seemed like a great idea in the comfort of Joe’s dining room on the Friday night!
Progress into the mountains was slow, with the team cutting a route through thick grass and, at times, scrabbling up 70 degree slopes of moss and grass, climbing on all fours to prevent sliding back down the slippery slopes. We all had demons in our head early on while going up these first mountains as it a small leg in grand scheme of things… and we weren’t even at the start line of the Welsh 3,000’s proper! However, after navigating up to the summit of Foel Fras in the mist, we soon reached the ridge of the Carneddau and the clouds lifted, where merciful the terrain eased and everything looked much more promising!
We made great progress over Foel Fras, Carnedd Llewelyn, Carnedd Dafydd and Pen Yr Ole Wen and started to head down into the Ogwen valley, lying at a mere 200 metres above sea level. Running down 800 metres is great fun, but for Joe and Matt, in the back of their minds they knew that an accent of Tryfan was literally looming large in the background. Reaching the car park the team were greeted by Ollie’s parents and Dave and Adrian. It was great to see them and they mentally psyched us up for the next section on the Glyder’s which was the hardest section to run.
After a quick pit stop to refill their water bottles and stock up on supplies, Matt and Joe soon set off for the next part in silence, both knowing what they were heading up, having led many groups up these mountains in the past. This, if anything, made it mentally harder for them as they knew exactly how high they had to go and precisely how much they had left to conquer. The demons soon started coming back, however they knew what to do and that was plodding up the mountains, one foot after the other.
It took Joe & Matt, around 40mins to scale the height of Tryfan and as quickly as they got up the mountain, there was to be no rest at the top as they headed down to start the ascent of Glyder Fach. The terrain was proving challenging & dangerous for them. Whilst both experienced mountaineers, they found running shoes different and more difficult to manage on the wet, lichen covered rocks of the Glyder’s then their normal mountain boots. With hearts beating out of their chests they made their way up the climb onto the top of Glyer Fach, legs bursting and screaming for rest… all the while in silent contemplation, battling the demons and trying to conquer their battle of with their minds and keep going.
It was almost as if someone had heard their pain as the moment they both reach the top of Glyder Fach the skies cleared and they were treated to the most sensational sunset imaginable. There’s a famous saying “You only remember the first hour & last hour. Everything in between is a blur” and it was true, all the pain and suffering of Tryfan and Glyder Fach was forgotten as they ran across the flat, awestruck by the sunset.
With the remainder of the route stretched out across the horizon in front of them, Matt and Joe chuckled to themselves. When you are tired, cold, wet & hungry, you can’t help but doubt yourself and the situations you find yourself in and it’s safe to say, a few times throughout our challenge we’ve asked the question, “why on earth are we here”?…. In situations like this, one thing always stuck out for Matt. He remembers watching ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’ and recites the line at the start of the film “left leg, right leg, your body will follow”.
It really is as simple as that, just keep moving. Before they knew it we were heading down the steep descent of Glyder Fawr, progress proving painfully slow due to the steep wet rock, but with light desperately fading they both knew they couldn’t afford to be too slow.
Safely down into the saddle, they took the opportunity to grabbed some much needed food and water before making a speedy ascent of Y Garn topping out as the light faded. All of a sudden the situation became more serious, senses heightening in the dying light, brains became more alert. Strapping on head torches on, they started to traverse round to Elidir Fawr, enjoying view all the way down into LLanberis, where fireworks shot into the sky, imagining people with the family & friends enjoying the festivities. Matt and Joe’s situation was slightly different, as they stopped for a second to watch the fireworks, the realisation of what they had done and what they still had left to do suddenly started to sink it. The rollercoaster of emotions from the day had all bulldozed into them as they stood on the summit of Elidir Fawr, battered by the wind and rain, standing in shorts & MNDA vests.
Joe let out a scream, “ARRRGGHHH…. Let’s just get off the hill mate”.
From down in the valley, the support team were tracking Matt and Joe’s progress, watching the distant head torches slowing cut a path across the mountain side from Y Garn, eventually losing them behind a spur on their descent off Elidir Fawr. At around 19:30, after more than 10 and a half hours on the go, Matt and Joe eventually made it down to safely off to Nant Peris, to a waiting support crew, who greeted them with tea, much to Matt’s approval.
This challenge rounds off a year of hard physical and mental tests, building us as individuals but just as importantly bonding us as a team. We come out of it, mentally stronger and a step closer to the South Pole. You can find all of our blogs on the website and videos on YouTube. See you next year for more……
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!
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