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MALVERN CHALLENGE 2004 Back with a venegeance June 2004 It's got to be the best weekend camp of the year, and we stepped up for our second trip to the Malvern Challenge. This time we took an unprescedented 35 scouts with us, who did us proud during an excellent weekend of fun. Departure 35 scouts met their leaders at the HQ at 5.00pm, everybody excited to see if this year's trip to the Malvern Challenge could live up to the expectations set by last years blast. 20 of these scouts had not come last year, but this year decided to take the time to see what all the fuss was about. We set off for a super-quick Friday night rush hour towards Cheltenham. Area 11 We bagged the best camping area on site - opposite the control, next to the main arena. Pretty nice as it meant we never had to walk far to get anywhere and could watch the world go by. The site of the Malvern Challenge is a big farm, with great views in all directions. Van fun We sent all our kit down in a Transit van. Unfortunately Sixt, the hire company, massively cocked it up and Matt had to go and collect the bus from Vauxhall. Anyway, this eventually meant our kit arriving on site at 1am, which meant a nice late bedtime - the scouts didn't seem to mind. Thankfully our tents had gone down in an advance party, which saved us that job too. Special Bus Matthew collected his 'special' bus from an unknown hire company near Heathrow. It had no radio and was a bizarre shape, looking like it should transport groups of old people. Did the job and at least it was easy to identify in a convoy. Challenges We sent out eight teams to take part in the Malvern and (more stretching) Cotswold Challenges. Both of these involved hiking an 8 mile course, completing activities and challenges on the way. These included first aid, abseiling, climbing, shooting, rapping, sheep-dog trials amongst a load more. The scouts did incredibly well, though I don't think anybody will be signing a rap recording deal just yet. Well done to Max B and Matthew S for completing their first abseil in the pouring rain. Pouring rain The downpour on Saturday afternoon added to the enjoyment of the day for most, and we all got drenched. Didn't phase us though, even Aslan who spent seven hours abseiling scouts and guides off a cliff. Sunny However, it was ludicrously sunny on Sunday, which made up for it. All the leaders caught the sun, which made them look a bit stupid, given the lecture we'd recently given on wearing sun cream. D.I.S.C.O. The best bit of the weekend with fit dancers in the band. We strutted our stuff like the best of them. Football Our talented team got to the semi-finals of the football competition, only conceding one goal in the process. Well done Max F, James C, Robert W, Grant M, Ollie R, Rupert H and James G. Grant performed the filthiest challenge ever seen on one team's star forward, which we thought was quite funny. Guides The scouts interacted with the guides across the weekend. Some reckon themselves to be a bit like James Bond now. Malvern Challenge Fayre Sunday at the Malvern Challenge is The Fayre, where there are stacks of activities for people to try. Bungee trampolining, car driving, laser clay shooting, dancing, throwing the wellie, a bmx display team, bucking bronco to name just a few. Bizarrely the most popular were circus skills (unsurprising given it involes chucking things about) and the characaturist (unsurprising given how ugly our scouts are). Traffic-chaos We had the longest journey ever home along the A40 with queues and hold-ups all the way. But at least we got to drive in bus lanes, well, two of us did. Wet hats Adam S' hat blew off into the pond at Oxford services and he had to fish it out with a big pole - rather amusing as he now smells of duck. The Results We bettered our best positioning of 11th in the Cotswold and Malvern Challenges from last year. Here's how our teams did... Cotswold Challenge Teams 215 (CB) = 5th (Michael G, James G, Robert W, James C) 43 (CC) = 16th (Alex H, Grant M, Ollie R, Erez A) 547 (CE) = 17th (Rupert H, Max F, Jack B, Neil P) 214 (CA) = 31st (Lewis N, Andrew F, Adam S, Richard W) 216 (CD) = 34th (David I, Peter F, Alex D, Charles R, Ben M) Malvern Challenge Teams 531 (MC) = 141st (Jonathan P, Adam M, Alex C, Kane O, Mark B) 530 (MB) = 252nd (Max W, David B, Jack S, Max B, Daniel S) 217 (MA) = 255th (Matthew S, Tom S, Christian D, Gareth I) What a storming weekend - one of the best. We'll be back in 2006 - next year is Scoutabout which we really can't miss, even for a weekend as good as this! Thanks to the leaders and scouts who worked well together across the weekend to create a superb atmosphere and ensure that everybody had a great time.