50th Anniversary of Ten Tors

The weather on Dartmoor ensured that the 50^th anniversary Ten Tors Expedition was every bit as tough as the previous 49. The Saturday morning dawned grey and cold, with a strong northerly wind and rain and fog covering the moors as the teams set off from Okehampton on their expeditions. Though the cloud lifted a little, the biting cold wind and rain continued all day, making it a tough day to be out on the hills. After a night out on the moor, teams made their way to the finish. Though still cold, at least now they could see where they were going!

 

King Edward’s School teams took part at all three distances.

 

The 45 mile team walked for 13½ hours non-stop on Day 1, going through their 8^th tor a few minutes before it closed at 8:00pm, and continuing on through the dark to their 9^th tor. They set off walking at 6 o’clock on Sunday morning and were one of the first two teams to cross the finishing line at 7:34. Though Ten Tors is not a race, this is one of the fastest completions of the 45 mile expedition ever, and is a testimony to the fitness of the whole team, and their first-rate navigation skills.

The team were :

Robert Wilcox (team leader)

James Plumstead

Jon Tracy

Ben Smith

Mark Humphreys

Edmond Venables

 

The 35 mile team also had a long day. They navigated their way confidently around a long, tough route on the northern part of the moor to reach their 8^th tor where they had to camp. They set off walking again at 6 o’clock, and were the first team to complete their route.

The team were :

Merlin Hetherington (team leader)

Cameron Davies

George Widdowson

Georgie Phillips

Rebekah Chapman

David Galazin

 

To complete any of these expeditions requires great determination, but the hardest of the lot must be the 55 mile route. The KES team on this year’s 55 mile route was one of the fittest and most experienced the school has ever put in. They walked well to complete the first third of their route by early afternoon on Saturday, when one member of the team was forced to retire from the expedition due to hypothermia. After being delayed by over an hour, the remaining 5 members of the team continued on to reach the foot of their 7^th tor by nightfall, leaving a massive distance to cover on the Sunday. They were up and walking at 5 o’clock on the Sunday morning, and walked for nearly 12 hours, to complete the 55 miles of their expedition with just 40 minutes to spare.

 

The team were :

Louis Bougeard (team leader)

Peter Medhurst

Nora Spicer

Conor Sloan

Kier McDonald