Y10 Pen y Fan Challenge - June 2018

On Saturday 23rd June, forty-five students and 9 staff began the sixth Annual Year 10 Challenge.  The groups were up bright and early after a limited night’s sleep, with the first group setting off at 7am.  Ahead of all 4 groups lay over 28km of hills, climbs, geocaching and team building tasks.  All against the clock and against the other teams – not that the staff were competitive!

After just over an hour’s walk, the first team building challenges were attempted by all groups, with varying degrees of success.  Next to come was the first assent of the day.  With the sun beating down it was a tough climb but all made it.  The next 7 hours followed the same pattern—flat speed walks, followed by tough climbs.  All four peaks were reached by all groups: Cribyn, Corn Du, Pen Y Fan and Fan Y Big.

The major stop brought a much needed rest and a chance to get some more food on board before undertaking some more team-building challenges.  Following on from these there lay an interesting 500m disused railway tunnel, in pitch black, with water at either end.

The final push home began with a tough uphill section followed by a race to the finish line through the trees, and  a quick wash up of cooking equipment before the clock stopped!

The students were superb throughout and worked fantastically in their groups.  In addition to the challenge they have raised significant amounts of money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Alzheimer’s Society.