by Ian | Dec 23, 2014 | News, Trip Report
As is tradition for HSX, December saw the group once again converge on Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre for our annual Christmas celebrations.
Saturday morning saw participants divide into 6 teams for the adventure race, a 3 hour orienteering race across the New Forest with teams trying to gain as many points as possible. This year the race was “expertly” organised by Andy Humphreys, Josh Hicks and Alan Braithwaite, who had promised us a slightly different event from years gone by. One by one the teams converged at the back of the Mountbatten Lodge for the 10:00 start time for the race, provided with map for each pair, and given a quick briefing. Unlike previous years, we were told the finish of the race wasn’t to be as simple as expected, with the finish line being at Ferny Crofts legendary Assault Course!
At 10:00 the klaxon sounded and the teams dispersed, each heading in different directions, depending on their chosen route choice. The routes were incredibly varied this year, and unlike in previous years, it didn’t seem possible to get around the entire course within the allotted time, so route strategy would prove criterial to gain maximum points (and more importantly avoid the dreaded 2nd place!!!).
Around 13:00 the teams began arriving at the assault course, absolutely cream cracked after the last few hours’ exertion, only to be told we weren’t finished yet… Brilliant! One by one we were briefed that the finial element to the race would involve a timed circuit of the course in our teams, with 30 points available for the fastest time, 20 points for 2nd place and 10 points for the 3rd fastest time. Having put in a good shift in the run, we all knew it would be important to dig deep for one last push… easier said than done, when you’ve already covered around 15miles!!!
Upon completing our laps, we each headed back to the Lodge for a cup of tea, chow down some lunch and thaw out with a ‘warm shower’… well Ferny Crofts version of a warm shower!
The afternoon was passed comparing routes, fixing tents from stores, decorating the hall and preparing dinner… a 4 course banquet!
In the late afternoon the numbers swelled, as we were joined by more HSX members as well as special guests. As the atmosphere grew we were invited to take our seats, and one by one the courses were served. The evening was spent catching up with friends, swapping stories, and more importantly conceiving plans for adventures in 2015 and beyond! After dinner, our illustrious leader MC Kinger took to the stage for the usual Karaoke, which continued late into the night… and well into Sunday morning!!!
After a monumental tidy up on Sunday morning, we all gather for the HSX Christmas forum… our annual meeting to reflect on the achievements of the last 12 months, inform the group of the progress made behind the scene and our plans for the up-coming year! Towards the end of the forums we had presentations from Steve Knaggs on a sport climbing trip to Kalymnos in 2015, Bakewell launch his plans for the 2016 expedition to Cambodia and Oliver Robinson also provided an update on the progress of the HSX Antarctica team. The forum also saw Chris Slater outline his plans for an expedition to Patagonia, planned for December 2017.
With much excitement and anticipation for the year ahead the forum closed, groups broke up for quick discussions on differing aspects brought up in the meeting. After lunch and tidying the hall we parted on our merry ways, excited for what lay ahead.
I’d like to take this opportunity for wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all the best for your adventures in 2015… whatever shape or size they may take!
Yours in Scouting
Chris Slater
by Ian | Jul 8, 2014 | Antarctica 2018, Expeditions, Training, Trip Report
Being able to rescue your team members from a crevasse is an essential skill that the team hope never to use in anger in the Antarctic. However, in the pursuit of learning such an important concept, the team ventured to the French Alps in July 2013 for two weeks of fresh alpine air. Not only was this the first taste of European Glaciers for many of the team, an attempt on the summit of Mont Blanc (4810m/15,780feet) was also expected, representing, for those not well versed in Himalayan trekking like Joe and Ollie, the tallest mountain they had ever attempted.
The team left the New Forest early on the morning of July 2nd,in order to catch a ferry across the channel and drive 800 miles to the picturesque town of Chamonix; the gateway to the Mont Blanc massif which contains over 100 mountains over 3000 metres. It is also home to some of Europe’s biggest glaciers including the Mer de Glace and the Bosson’s Glacier, which formed the central location for the team to practise their rescues skills. Crevasses are formed as a result of the movement and stress generated by the glacier as it winds its way down the valley. Ranging in any size, some are gaps less than a metre, easily navigable by foot, whilst others can be many metres metres wide and stretch the length of a football field.
The danger with crevasses comes when they have been covered over by snow left from the winter, becoming impossible to see to the untrained eye. Knowing how to get out is one thing, but avoiding them is arguably more skilful and so the team hired the expertise of a French Mountain Guide to give some instruction. He showed the team how to walk “roped together” on glaciated terrain to provide safety when in a group and gave us a useful rope setup we could use for hoisting someone out of crevasses using karabiners, ice screws and Tiblocs. 
Once all the necessary skills were practised, the next objective was the summit of Mont Blanc. The team chose this to give them a physical challenge that would put teamwork to the test, plus the gratification that comes with saying you have summited the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe! Although Mt Blanc is not extremely high, it was important for the team to acclimatize properly, as the risk of developing Acute Mountain sickness (AMS) is extremely high if not adapted to the altitude (symptoms range from dehydration, dizziness, headaches, and nausea). Slowly gaining altitude, whilst walking high during the day and sleeping lower at night allowed the team to acclimatise in the best way possible in a fairly short amount of time.
Setting up camp in the Vallée Blanche, both a mixture of nerves and excitement were felt by everyone. The team slept until 12am and after some food was eaten and harnesses and ropes were clumsily donned in the dark, lights far off in the distance showing the other climbers that were beginning the same task, the team set off on a slow plod up the snow slope of Mont Blanc du Tacul. Progress was slow, often walking 30 paces and stopping for a moment to catch breath back; it was going to be a long night.
On the slopes of Mont Maudit (the team were on the three monts route having to ascend the slopes of Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit and finally Mont Blanc) a 50-metre, 80o technical snow climb required the team’s full attention in the dark; a slip here would have caused a 400-metre fall to the gullies below. The team made quick work of the climb and were soon left with the final 300-metre slog up to the summit dome. This seemed to take forever and was filled with false summits to make it even more mentally challenging for the team; a suspected side effect of the altitude and the desire to be on the summit. At 8:32am the team had summited Mt Blanc. Overwhelming joy, happiness and exhaustion lead to man hugs, selfies and watering eyes (the cold!?) at the top of Europe’s highest mountain. The team had done it.
Have you been to the Alps?
Share your stories with the team on our Facebook page or tweet us @hsxantarctica using #HSX2018.
by Ian | Jun 13, 2014 | Antarctica 2018, Expeditions, Training, Trip Report
Monday, the start of the second week in Norway and we headed an hour and a half away from camp. Our aim was a nearby valley, going as high as possible to reach a flat plateau in which we were able to use the skis over relatively flat terrain. After a few hours, we found some slopes to practice and improve our downhill skills; although not so important for Antarctica, it certainly is useful in training for here in Europe. As any cross-country skier will tell you, the snow plough is pretty tough in cross-country skis, but improvement was made every day and we are now taking this all in our stride. Towards the end of the day, we came across a piste track, made the going easier, but we were only to find that we had actually inadvertently stumbled onto the training ground of the Norwegian cross-country ski team! These guys are the best when it comes to cross-country skiing, having won countless Gold Medals at the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi. Who knew we were going to share tracks with the likes of Ole Einer Bjoerndalen (the most medalled sportsman in Winter Olympics history!) before the trip was out? 
After the excitement of the Olympians the day before, our thoughts turned to the next two days in which we planned to embark on an overnight, self-supported expedition. Our aim was to cover a long distance in order to really get to grips with living, whilst skiing. The possibility of summiting Lodaskapa, the highest peak in the Jostedalen National Park was in our minds, but unfortunately, due to worse weather rolling in than forecast, the team were forced to drop down and find camp elsewhere. Descending the ridge we had spent hours getting onto was a little disappointing. However, we set up camp in a rocky lull to shelter from the elements, had a nice warm meal and got some well-deserved rest.
At this time of year, the light never completely disappears on this part of Norway and this night in particular really affected the team. The sun didn’t set until midnight and was only dark until 3am, which certainly made for an interesting, if not intermittent night’s sleep. This is one of those psychological factors we’ll have to get used to before being able to attempt the pole; the body does not function for long without any sleep and the team will need to be in tip-top condition in order to survive. We descended the same route we came up, but the difference was easy to see. With a full expedition pack, the weight had changed our speed, stopping distance and turning. This gave us all a bit of a hard time as we had not practised descending with a heavy weight on so were all sufficiently bruised and battered by the end. It was clear that we had learnt the hard way why pulks are used when skiing in Antarctica.
Thursday, and our last day in Jostedalen National park before the mammoth trip home. The bright sunshine that greeted us in the first week was now gone, replaced with grey skies in the South East. The forecast said rain (helping to remind us that Britain was only just over the horizon) but we set off back to the first valley that our guide had taken us to. We felt confident that we knew the area well and that the snow conditions hadn’t changed much, however the reality couldn’t have been more different. Much of the snow had melted in our 10 day absence, leaving large areas of heather and rock exposed, meaning the long runs we were able to make weren’t possible anymore. To add to this, the overcast skies soon turned to rain and the snow conditions worsened. It seemed like our stay in Norway had come to an end; we called for an early pick-up and got to camp to begin preparations for home, cheered up by the fact that the trip had been a success and that we would see Norway again before too long.
by Ian | May 31, 2014 | Antarctica 2018, Expeditions, Training, Trip Report
Norway is logistically perhaps one of the more challenging places to run a training expedition, which is without even mentioning the expense involved with such a task (as Europe’s third most expensive country to live in). However, this piece of Scandinavia straddling the Arctic Circle offers the best opportunity for the team to cultivate the necessary skills required for the South. After several months of planning, the team finally arrived in Jostedalen on May 25th followingan epic journey consisting of four ferries covering 600 miles and a total distance driven of 685 miles. One member of the group, Tom, flew in especially to meet the team having just returned from a tour of duty with the Royal Corps of Signals in Afghanistan and so it was good to see him back with the team after 4 months hiatus.
To acclimatise ourselves to the surroundings, Monday (the first day on the hills) was spent exploring an area near to the camp site called the Nigardsbreen Glacier. It is one of the most accessible glaciers within the Jostedalen valley but does require crampons and should not be attempted without relevant experience due to its never-ending procession towards Lake Nigardsbrevatnet, oh, and there are crevasses too!
The following two days (27/28), we hired a guide Sigbjorn from Norges Guidene; the objectives of these days was to learn as much from the guide as possible about cross-country skiing to continue our learning and development. We visited two different areas, Vonndalen & Sprongdalen where we learnt a range of skills from ski maintenance, downhill technique & route finding. An extremely patient man, Sigbjorn has lived here all his life and is never shy to comment on how our technique needs improving! He did say that throughout the second day, the team had vastly improved and was impressed that we spent much more time on top of the snow rather than falling into it. The weather could not have been better to spend time on the snow, clear sky giving excellent visibility, and good temperatures to soften the surface just enough.
Thursday (29th) was our first day skiing without the guide, 
so it was important to consolidate all the skills learnt over the past two days and use this time for some extra practice. We headed up into the same area as Tuesday to practice laying tracks and honing our downhill technique (a lot easier said than done on skis that are not as adept at taking on slopes as their Alpine counterparts). We got to the top of the valley, set up a slalom course with a couple of jumps and spent the morning working on the technique. Everyone had improved so much that thankfully the descent down the valley took 30 minutes rather than the two hours it took a few days previous. We were again blessed with the weather, giving excellent conditions to consolidate the skills learnt from Sigbjorn; the only downside was having to stop every hour and apply more sun cream.
So, this takes us to our adventures in the last 12 hours of the trip, when we headed up into the Sprongdalen valley. The plan was to continue our learning and practising the skills from earlier in the week, skills that have thus far proved to be extremely useful as our route up the valley was full of avalanche debris – we had to pick tracks carefully and move fast over the uneven terrain (thankfully and unbelievably no one fell over). Our lunch spot was by a secluded bothy with spectacular views of the valley on all sides, where we took the opportunity to work on our downhill technique a bit more. A valuable lesson was learnt by the changing weather conditions that had turned cold and windy, making the progress up the valley hard going. It is difficult, but imperative to manage our pace and clothing layers in order to reduce sweating and the cooling effect this has on the body. This can be a fatal mistake if not controlled and the importance of this as a vital skill that we must master for Antarctica is felt by the entire team.
Every member of the team has taken away some invaluable learning points this week: how skiing uses all of your body’s muscles and takes its toll. We have come to realise over a short time period that perfecting an efficient technique, as well as food, will be key to maintaining vital energy during our polar bid.
Keep an eye out for our next training update from the glaciers of Norway next week!
– Matt, HSX Antarctica Assistant Expedition Leader
by Ian | Apr 21, 2014 | Trip Report
This Easter 28 Scouts, Explorers, Network and Scout Active Support members return to Great Tower for an amazing weekend of adventure in the Lake District.
Arriving in the Lakes on Thursday the team members enjoyed 3 full days of high adventure splitting into different groups each day to experience different activities and areas of the Lake District.
Event director, Clare Symond’s said “The weekend was a great success with all members of the event challenging themselves in the mountains and enjoying the stunning scenery”
Daniel’s first time with HSX summited Hevelllyn, climbed HVS and completed a grade 2 scramble was heard to say it was
“His best Scout camp ever”
Good Friday saw three groups go out to Blencathra ascending via Sharp edge, Hevelllyn, leg 2 of the Bob Graham Round and some multi pitch climbing on Dow Crag!
Saturday saw the second day of breathtaking weather with climbing and walking in the Langdales.
Easter Sunday saw groups going climbing in the Borrowdale Valley, scrambling on Black Cove crags and the classic round walk of the Kentmere ring.
The weekend was supported by our cook team and logistics team who enjoyed the weather visiting castles, nature reserves and local tea shops!
Another successful weekend in the Lake District and we’re all looking forward to our next adventure.
by Ian | Feb 26, 2014 | Antarctica 2018, Expeditions, Training, Trip Report
HSX went to Scotland from Saturday 15th February to Saturday 22nd February for annual training. The main blog entry covers what happened on every day, whilst this blog covers what HSX Antarctica did apart from the main group, that being on days Tuesday to Friday. The 4 out of 7 members of HSX Antarctica in Scotland were Adrian, Joe, Liam and Matt.
We tentatively try Nordic skis on for the first time just outside our lodge, and make a slalom course to test ourselves
Tuesday 18th February 2014
HSX Antarctica rented some Nordic skis to use on Tuesday and Wednesday. As none of us had ever been cross country skiing before and half the team present had never skied before at all, we started gently on the flat snow outside our lodge with BMG Harold Edwards instructing us.
After we had mostly got the hang of going forwards and turning on flat ground we headed out in the van to a track near Loch Morlich. This was mostly a success, but the track wasn’t completely covered in snow and the team had to resort to de-skiing and walking on several occasions so as to not scratch the skis.
After lunch the team headed up into the mountains where we intended to ski to a loch we’d seen a few days before. Having steeper gradients, this proved more challenging and turning on the spot required new techniques. The length of the skis and the lack of binding at the back of the skis meant heading downhill on even a gentle slope led to several falls. Fortunately the Antarctic plateau doesn’t have steep hills.
Wednesday 19th February
We were a little more ambitious with our skis on Wednesday when we attempted some ski mountaineering, climbing from 550m to 750m at the top of Castle Hill in just over a kilometre, a gradient of 20% which proved particularly taxing as our skis had no skins to stop them sliding backwards. The snow conditions made things even more difficult as it was very icy, slippery and hard to dig the skis into.
Skiing up Castle Hill
The descent from Castle Hill was found tough by all there. It was very hard to stop on the slopes and numerous tumbles were taken by everyone. Even the views disappeared when a dense fog closed in. We eventually got down to a stream at the bottom and skied along the steep banks, which was physically tiring, then crossed and headed back towards the van carrying our skis.
Thursday 20th February
Thursday morning marked a change in the weather. Wind speed had picked up to around 65/75mph with rain across the lower valleys. The plan for us was to summit Ben Macdui via Lurchers Crag and back down into Coire an t-Sneachda for a night’s sleep in snow holes. Our day started well however as we headed up onto Coire an Lochain ridge we felt the full force of the wind. After much battling up the ridge through the deep powder snow we collectively made the call to change our plan and headed into the Chalamain gap and down to the Sugar Bowl car park. Once at the Sugar Bowl car park we made our way up to the Ski Centre and into Coire Sneachda where we found the other HSX party at our snow holes. Our arrival at the snow holes was at around 14:30 and being early and wanting to make the most of our day we headed up the Goat Track and onto the ridge. From there we contoured around to 1141 and headed back down the slopes into Sneachda for the night.
Friday 21st February
We awoke in the morning unaware of the weather outside our snow hole. As we started to prepare our kit and get breakfast it became apparent from all the snow drift that the winds were indeed as high or higher than the day before. With this in mind we layered up, put gloves on and made our way out of the night’s accommodation. As our heads popped out of the snow we were hit with the high winds carrying snow from the ridge down into the valleys below. Our plan for the day was simple, get down and back to the campsite. As we made our way down out of the corrie we were wearing our crampons to grip onto the hard ice and battling the winds that were set on knocking us down. At 10:30 we arrived at the Ski Centre and took a moment to reflect on the weather and our last views of the upper mountains before heading down onto the footpaths and back to our camp site.
