Thousands of teens take part in Ten Tors Challenge
BBCThousands of teenagers are taking part in the Ten Tors Challenge.
Four-hundred-and-forty teams from Devon, Cornwall and further afield arrived at Okehampton Camp, on Dartmoor, on Friday where they pitched tents and finalised their routes.
Three challenges take place across the weekend, where teams of six self-navigate routes of either 35, 45 or 55 miles, depending on their age, over the northern half of the moor.
Teams left the camp early on Saturday, and director of Ten Tors, Col Jim Bird, wished all of the participants the best of luck and said kit preparation was key to their success.
Bird said many people hold the event "close to their heart" and stressed the importance of training months in advance.
Ten Tors organiser Lieutenant Col Tim Gilbert, who has been involved in the event for about seven years, said the challenge was all about teamwork and rising to the challenge.
He said it also offered a "really good lesson and experience" for the young participants as they do it on their own, on the moor and push themselves hour after hour.
"You can't develop that in the classroom or anywhere else," Gilbert said.
He said teams needed to be prepared for whatever the weather was going to be, which is unpredictable on Dartmoor.
Bodmin College student Alfred is taking part in the Jubilee Challenge, a trekking expedition designed specifically for young people with special needs, both physical and educational.
The orange team he is walking with are taking on the 7.8 mile trek and he said it would be the "third and final time" he took part.
"I've been having a lack of sleep this week because of it, so hopefully once I've reached the finish line, that will be my state of relief," he said.
Jen George, head of adventure and outdoor learning at Bodmin College, said the group had been training for eight months.
"Now they're out on the moor, this is the bit where we step back," she said.
"There will be 400 leaders of Ten Tors and Jubilee Challenge students now sat at the base camp looking at the maps, looking at the trackers and not being able to do anything at all.
"So, there's a lot of people, a lot of nervous people fidgeting around with the base camp," she added.
A team from Mill Ford School in Plymouth were the first to reach the Jubilee Challenge finish line.
Despite his feet hurting, team member Rio said he would take on the challenge again and urged others to "never give up".
Rio's dad, Jason, said the group "absolutely smashed it" and were 25-minutes quicker this year than the previous.
"The students have all done incredibly well, we're all very proud of what they've achieved," he said.
"It's very difficult for some of our students being in environments like this. They've done fantastically well," he added.
A family of three generations are also out on Dartmoor with Torpoint Community College.
David, who first took part in the challenge in 1967/68, said it had changed a lot over the years.
His grandson Dan is now taking on the challenge for the fourth time, after his first attempt got called off due to Covid.
"It's a lot more regulated now," David said.
"When I first did it you sort of just set off and you were completely on your own," he added.
His daughter Katrina, who is team manager, said the challenge taught young people to be "self sufficient".
"You see them change from when they start, not knowing how to navigate at all, to the end and they feel confident to be able to do it themselves," she said.
Erin and Ruby - both from Torpoint Community College - are taking on the 35-mile and 45-mile challenges respectively.
"I'm used to walking around on the moors," Erin said. "My cousins have done it in previous years and they're coming to watch me cross the finish line."
She said she was most looking forward to "taking the bag off, a weight off the shoulders".
Col Jon Penhale, event deputy director, said the challenge involved a lot of planning.
He said all participants had a tracker on their equipment, adding "we know at any time exactly where they are".
"To reassure parents, we've been doing this for a number of years and having just come from the ops room, I can see exactly where everybody is, we know exactly how they're getting on," he said.
"We're really well placed to look after all the young people on the moor today," he added.
