Sunday, March 30, 2008

ten tors training on dartmoor


Set out at 4.30am yesterday on (what was supposed to be) a two-day training exercise on Dartmoor with 15-17 year olds. In the event, things had to be abandoned due to very heavy rain+40mph winds. We had 7 teams from school participating and one of our 45mile teams had to be airlifted off the moor (everyone fine and no one injured). Over 1,000 students were on the moor yesterday – thankfully, all were taken off the moor safely (with only a few minor injuries).
Arrived back home sometime after 11pm (after a very long and somewhat eventful day)!
note: the tors are high granite outcrops and the students have to navigate themselves from tor-to-tor across the moor for 35, 45 or 55 miles over 2 days (often over very rough terrain), carrying over 30lb rucksacks and camping out on the moor overnight – so not just a gentle weekend stroll! Having walked to Beardown Tor to man one of the checkpoints, I can vouch for the difficult conditions!
Photo: minibuses waiting at one of the collection points to get students off the moor (taken through the windscreen!) – you should have been able to see a large mass of high ground plus one of the tors in the background, but visibility was rather poor!

2 comments:

just Gai said...

And there I was whinging about having to walk up Park Street to buy Eilidh some art materials.
Well done you.

Ellen Loudon said...

shame you got rained off! At least you got home safe and sound. xxx