Four teenagers from Whaley Bridge have this weekend beaten teams from across the UK at one of the country’s toughest outdoor events.
The team from ICBINV Scout Network in Whaley Bridge had to take on gruelling assault courses, tackle demanding mountain bike challenges, complete open water canoeing and even test their skills at archery to win the Apex Challenge. And to make things even trickier – it all took place at night.
Adam Talbot, Alex Cripps, Calum Birch and Kai Birch spent all of Saturday night (April 14th) in the spectacular Bramham Estate near Leeds taking part in this massive scout competition. 400 young people aged 14-25 took part. They had six hours to visit as many of the 14 demanding activities as they could which also included grass sledging, circus skills, and even a moonlit space hopper race!
The winners celebrate their victory Bridge - Crossing a giant suspension bridge was just one of the tough tasks at the Apex Challenge.
Their team, ICBINV , finished in first place out of all those entered in the Network aged event. It meant that as well as the prestige of doing so well, they also won the exclusive Apex Challenge trophies, and the event’s biggest ever prize – four tickets to the world-famous Leeds Festival.
The Apex Challenge is regarded as one of the country’s toughest adventure competitions. Two technologically advanced events are held each year, which challenge teams of young people from right across the UK.
Event Organiser Matt Richards said, “It was a fantastic event with so many young people showing their physical skill, but also great leadership and teamwork throughout the competition. We’re delighted that so many young people were part of this weekend’s event at such a spectacular location.”
“Many of those taking part had never experienced these activities before. It was great to see their reaction when grass sledging at high speed or taking to the water in an open canoe in the pitch darkness for the first time. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!”
Young people from across the country took part including teams from Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Wales, Greater Manchester, Sussex and Nottinghamshire.
The winning team’s full results can be found on the Apex Challenge website – http://www.apexchallenge.co.uk/pastevents/spring2012/results/summarypagen002.htm
The Apex Challenge is a national scout competition, and a registered charity. It is run by a group of volunteers from South Yorkshire, with more than sixty people helping to organise the event. It’s a multi-activity competition where teams spend six hours visiting a range of activities to test their skills to the limit. For more information, including many photos, videos and the full results, visit the event’s website at www.apexchallenge.co.uk or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/apexchallenge.
Scouting is the UK’s biggest co-educational youth movement. Each week a total of 450,418 people in the UK are involved in Scouting activities.
Explorer Scouts are aged 14-18 years, and belong to district units. Scout Network is for 18-25 year olds. To find your nearest group and find out how you can get involved in activities like this, call the Scout Information Centre on 0845 300 1818.
