Pupils complete gruelling Ten Tors Challenge

5am reveille. Vangelis. Free fall parachutists. Merlin helicopters. Two light artillery pieces. 400 teams. 2,400 young people. Countless service personnel. Grey overcast tors. A General. A Member of Parliament. Oh! and not forgetting scores of spectators, of course. All the right ingredients required to start the 2018 Ten Tors Challenge.

A bugle call and the loud report of the guns kicked off the event; for the participants the culmination of much training and preparation. Training that started with night navigation in the New Forest, introduced the particular challenges of Dartmoor and finished with two intense days before the event.

“The hardest thing I have ever done in my life, sir”, about sums it up.

Numerous kit inspections, a safety brief, first aid, detailed route planning, scrutineering and dinner at Betty Cottles.

Three Churcher’s College CCF teams, 18 cadets, were at the start line to begin their 35-mile (as the crow flies) challenge. All three crossed the finishing line the following day tired and sore having coped with navigation, wild camping, blisters and the physical and mental demands that Dartmoor places on you.

An outstanding achievement by a group of determined and tough young people and an experience that will live with them for years to come.

“The hardest thing I have ever done in my life, sir”, about sums it up. 

ITV News Report

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ITV News Report