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Ten Tors

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Ten Tors is an annual weekend hike organised and run in early May for 2,400 young people by the British Army on Dartmoor. The majority of entrants are schools, colleges, Scout groups and Cadet squadrons from South West England, though groups from across the UK regularly take part, as do teams from Australia and New Zealand.

Team walking during the event

Event Format

Teams of six are required to visit ten tors; on the top of each tor is a checkpoint. There are twenty-six different routes over three different distances lettered from A to Z, using a total of nineteen different manned tors: twelve Bronze routes (35 miles/56km) for those aged 14 to 15 years, ten Silver routes (45 miles/72km) for those aged 16 to 17 years and four Gold routes (55 miles/88km) for those aged 18 to 20 years, or 17-year-olds who completed a Silver route the previous year. Teams normally train for a few months before the event.

The organisers stress that the event is not a race - although teams often compete to see who can finish first - but a test of endurance, navigation and survival skills: not just because of the distances and the challenging terrain, but potentially the weather. Conditions on Dartmoor can vary considerably and change suddenly. In 1996, for example, the event was struck by a heavy snow storm - leading to some teams still being out on the moor a day after the event was supposed to have finished - whilst just two years later, temperatures reached 26ºC (78°F).

Participants arrive at Okehampton Camp on the Thursday or Friday before the hike, watch a safety briefing video and have their equipment checked, a thorough process known as scrutineering. Teams must carry all their food, clothing, tents, stoves, fuel, navigation equipment, maps, emergency rations and a first aid kit; they also collect drinking water from the moor and use water purification tablets. Each team has a nominated team leader, who is responsible for ensuring that the team's routecard is stamped at each tor.

All the teams start at 0700h on the Saturday from an area of flat land next to Anthony Stile, close to Okehampton Camp on the northern edge of Dartmoor they stand in a semi-circle and set off when a cannon fires. They have 24 hours to visit each of the ten tors on their route in the correct order. Teams cannot pass through a checkpoint between 2000h on Saturday and 0600h on Sunday morning; nor may they pass the eighth tor until the Sunday. Those trying for a Bronze medal must camp at one of the manned tors on their route, whilst Silver and Gold teams can camp anywhere on the moor. Teams must finish back at Anthony Stile by 1700h on the Sunday, having visited all ten tors on their route, in order to qualify for a medal.

History of the event

The first Ten Tors Expedition took place in September 1960, with around 200 young people taking part. By 1980 the numbers had grown to more than 2,600. To protect the environment, the numbers are now limited to 2,400 individuals - 400 teams of six teenagers. The Army uses the event as a large scale logistics exercise.

Until 1967 the event was organised by the Junior Leaders Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals. This responsibility passed to Headquarters South West District, and in 1986 to 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regional Headquarters of the Territorial Army in the South West. Many military units and civilian groups provide support for Ten-Tors and the Jubilee Challenge including the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, Exeter UOTC, 243 Field Hospital RAMC, 6th Battalion The Rifles, two Sea King HC4 helicopters from 848 Naval Air Squadron, 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment, two Gazelle helicopters from 7 Regiment Army Air Corps (Volunteers), Bristol UOTC and the Dartmoor Rescue Group.

Since 1977, an additional event, The Jubilee Challenge, has been held for young people with physical or learning disabilities. This involves a selection of four routes of between 7.5 miles and 15 miles, both on road and cross country.

Ten Tors was cancelled in 2001 because of foot-and-mouth disease but went ahead in 2002.

Traditionally, on the morning of the event a list of songs is played over the loudspeakers - in 1986 Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" woke the tented village at 6 a.m. - other favourites such as "Chariots of Fire", "In the Army Now" and "I Will Survive". 2004 was the first year that this CD line-up was changed, to large uproar and complaints. The CD went back to normal the next year.

In 2005 one of the original teams from the 1960 Ten Tors took part in the event, which was held on 14-15 May in particularly adverse weather conditions: constant rain on the Saturday, combined with a bitter wind, leading to an unusually high number of retirements.

In 2006, the event was held over the weekend of 13-14 May, with high temperatures on the Sunday resulting in several cases of dehydration.

On Sunday 4 March 2007 a fourteen-year old girl was swept away by rain-swollen Walla Brook near Watern Tor, while training for the event. The rest of her group raised the alarm using a mobile phone, but despite being evacuated by a Royal Navy helicopter within 20 minutes, she died later that night in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.[1] Several other groups were also evacuated by helicopter after weather conditions in the training area, Dartmoor National Park, deteriorated. As a result the teams are now allowed to carry a mobile phone for any emergencies.[2]

In 2007 the decision was taken on the Saturday evening to abandon the event half-way through, as a result of severe weather conditions. The decision was also influenced by the high drop-out rate of 15% on Saturday. Having been informed of this decision, participants spent the night camped at a manned Tor, before being escorted off the moor by the Army the following day.[3]

The 2008 event has been subject to wide scale changes to the routes and use of the moor itself. To help bird conservation, Steeperton Tor and Hare Tor have now been omitted from the Tor list, and the pass from Dinger to Kitty Tor known as "Killer Valley" has also been zoned off limits. Another important change to the training for Ten Tors involves the use of the North moor: every team is now only permitted two training walks on this half of the moor, again owing to bird nesting. A review of these changes is scheduled for 2011. The 2008 event was the complete oposite of the previousyears, with the temperature's hiting the early twenty's and participents dropping out because of dehydration rather than hyperthemia.

Manned Tors

The tors used as checkpoints on the Ten Tors challenge are:

Previously Used Tors

Ten Tors Prayer

Every year before the start of the event the following prayer is read.

O God who has made the Earth of great beauty,
and who has given us the Spirit of Adventure,
we thank you for the beauty of the world,
for the courage and vigour of young people,
for the companionship and for the opportunity
to enjoy all these gifts.
We pray that you will keep them safe on this great venture
and grant that they may meet each challenge
and difficulty with unselfish courage and so find the
true spirit of comradeship as shown to us by
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen [4]

Jubilee Challenge

Since 1977 the event had also paid host to the Jubilee Challenge which is a shorter version of ten tors for competitors who are impaired in some way (be that a severe learning difficulty or physically disabled) thus showing that any one can take up the challenge . The Jubilee challenge takes place on the Saturday, over distances of 7.5, 8.5, 11, and 15 miles.

See also

  • Four Inns Walk, a 45-mile competitive event in the Northern Peak District, often attempted by young adults, as well as other teams of fit, experienced walkers
  • Three Towers Hike, a hiking event with 3 hikes of varying lengths held in West Berkshire and Southern Oxfordshire.

Further reading

  • Three Peaks, Ten Tors, Ronald Turnbull. Cicerone 2007 ISBN 978 1 85284 501 8

References

  1. ^ BBC News, Moor trek stays after girl dies, retrieved 2007-03-05
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Moor trek stays after girl dies
  3. ^ BBC News, Ten Tors expedition is abandoned, retrieved 2007-05-13
  4. ^ The Dartmoor Ten Tors Expedition
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