Teams from the Britannia Explorer Unit regularly complete the Ten Tors Challenge each April. This is the culmination of seven months’ training, building on the Scouting skills developed in the younger sections.
Training events in the autumn focus on pitching tents, cooking on stoves, emergency aid and navigation basics – usually in the local park or at the Group’s headquarters in Paignton Harbour. In the winter, every two to three weeks, the teams start walking longer distances on the coast path and day hikes on Dartmoor – practising more challenging navigation techniques and becoming more comfortable with the weather Dartmoor can provide! True to form, the mist, wind and rain appear frequently!
To provide some variety, the teams travel to Abergavenny, bed down in a local Scout Hut, and participate in the South Wales Three Peaks Challenge in the Black Mountains, South Wales, along with 500 other walkers. This is 20 miles in one day, climbing 1,500m over Blorenge, Sugar Loaf and Skirrid.
By early April, teams are confidently hiking 80% of their Ten Tors Challenge distance, unaccompanied.
Leaders setup the Unit’s base camp at the Okehampton Army Camp on the Thursday morning before the Ten Tors weekend, getting in the queue at 05:30. Once the base camp is established, it is off to work for the leaders ahead of bringing the Explorers up for their final preparations on the Friday. This includes finishing their route plans, annotating their maps and checking they have the mandatory team kit. There’s usually just enough time to check out the Engagement Village – various branches of the armed forces showing off their skills and equipment!
05:00 Saturday morning arrives with Chariots of Fire blaring out of the public address system. The teams eat as much breakfast as their nerves will allow before getting into their start position for 06:30 – thirty minutes to adjust boots, apply sun cream and recheck the map. The gun fires at 07:00, and they are off!
The teams try to get to their eighth tor on day 1, to minimise effort on day 2. With a bit of luck, both teams are back on the road before 05:30 on Sunday to arrive at Okehampton to the applause from supporters and parents well within the cut-off time of 17:00. The reward? An incredible sense of pride, a medal, a pasty, and memories they’ll carry with them forever.
It is a huge achievement for the Explorers and it is exceptionally rewarding for the leaders involved to have seen the skills, confidence and determination of the young people develop during the preceding years.