Our intrepid polar adventurer Joe Doherty is now well into his expedition to Antarctica.
You can follow his adventures on the HSX Antarctica webpage – click Read More for links.
Joe started his epic trek three weeks ago, and has now skied halfway to the South Pole. He is expected to arrive shortly after the New Year – weather permitting.
To view Joe’s blog click here, and to track his progress on the map click here.
Below is a little debrief of all the 2016 training we have done so for Patagonia 2017- Our 4 week expedition to Chilean Patagonia over Christmas and New Year 2017. We hope you Enjoy!
June- Ferny Crofts
This training weekend was to introduce ourselves and do some team building. We started the weekend by developing our group skills via frisbee golf, crate stacking, and a pioneering activity where we had to make a bridge across a “river” (a path). That evening we relaxed by the fire with our dinner.
On the second day, we did personal training in the morning which involved a lot of running! Once we had cleaned ourselves off, we prepared and ate a lovely cooked breakfast. We then got ready for going on a local hike around the New Forest. During this we all took it in turns to try out some map reading navigation which also gave us the time to bond as a team. We finished the day by showing of our (non-existent) volley ball skills and had a BBQ lunch.
September- FC (HSX’s 30th birthday)
The weekend began by meeting some other members of HSX including the Cambodia team 2016. We then went for a hike where we navigated on our own and did challenges and activities at each destination point. Once we got back we did some research on Patagonia and Torres del Paine and brainstormed fundraising ideas. We also did some rock climbing and abseiling on the mega tower at Ferny Crofts and then celebrated the 30th birthday of HSX with volley ball and cake.
October- North Wales
We arrived late and the lads had to sleep in tents and the lass slept in a lovely warm bed. The first day consisted of hiking up Try-Fan via Heather Terrace. This gave u some great views and at the top, we all watched Rob and Steven jump from Adam to Eve on the summit. The evening was spent relaxing and eating with both the team and the rest of HSX. The next day we went rock climbing, scrambling and abseiling which was quite challenging but nevertheless fun!
December- FC
A HSX tradition is to complete an adventure race on the Christmas weekend. We had to travel from point to point in the quickest time possible in teams. The points were distributed randomly across the New Forest area surrounding Ferny Crofts. Our team completed this, it was very muddy and the time limit was three hours. We then did an obstacle course in which Rob and Nathan jumped in a pond for extra points. Because we were the newest expedition team, we also had to cook Christmas dinner for everyone which was pretty “decent”.
To catch up on our training for 2017 – keep your eyes peeled for a post coming this week!
-The Patagonia Team
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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!
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
Christmas time was once again celebrated by the HSX Christmas weekend, and with it the infamous Adventure Race. After a stock up on supplies for the gruelling 3 hour event and a quick brief we all set out in the muddy new forest.
As we all had different tactics the start of the race was manic with all the pairs running off in different directions to the check points. Each check point was worth different amounts, depending on how hard it was to get to and since time was of the essence map reading and snacking was done while running.
No time was wasted avoiding mud or rivers, which astonished the odd dog walker! After about 21km of running round the forest all but one of the teams headed back to ferny crofts to be back in time for the 1300hrs deadline.
We then all had a well-deserved lunch and swapped stories of our routes before the results we in. In first place was Matt Prince & Ollie Robinson with, in second place, and with the honour of organising next year’s race, was Alan, Andy and Josh, and in last place with after a mini ‘epic’ was Liam and Will. Well done too everybody, and see you for next year’s race.. 🙂
by Andy Humpreys