Ten Tors
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, because of not just the distances and the challenging terrain, but potentially also the weather; conditions on Dartmoor can vary considerably and change suddenly.
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.
All the teams start at 0700 on the Saturday from an area of flat land next to Anthony Stile, close to Okehampton Camp on the northern edge of Dartmoor.
Teams must arrive back at Anthony Stile by 1700 on the Sunday, having visited all ten tors on their route in order, to qualify for a medal and complimentary pasty.
Many military units and civilian groups provide support for this event 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.
(52% finished Complete, + 29% with fall-outs) 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.
(76% finished Complete, + 17% with fall-outs) 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, Charlotte Shaw was swept away by the 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 her being evacuated by a Royal Navy helicopter within 20 minutes, she died later that night in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.
[6] (61% finished Complete, + 25% with fall-outs) From 2008, the event was much changed, with different routes and use[clarification needed] of the moor to help bird conservation in the nesting season.
The 2008 event was a total contrast to the previous years, with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, and participants dropping out because of dehydration rather than hypothermia.
To mark the occasion the Duke of Edinburgh visited the event on Sunday morning to speak to finishers and present some with the commemorative 50 years medals.
(81% finished Complete, + 14% with fall-outs) The 2011, Challenge started under a clear blue sky, but cloud obscured the tops of *West Mill and *High Willhays even then.
Sunday was very similar with the first finishers (M1306 - Downend Scouts, at 08:35 Route M listing, 2011) walking in under a blue sky, but again the cloud gathered through the day.
The first 35-mile team to cross the finish was Churcher's College, Hampshire, getting back to cap with a record breaking time of 09:21 on the Sunday morning.
The Director Ten Tors, Brigadier Piers Hankinson, met the team at the finish and presented Kingsbridge with their gold medals.
Especially on Saturday, navigation became extremely difficult as fog and mist reduced visibility to as low as 10 metres: a few less experienced 35 mile teams did not even make their first tor.
Whilst the rain was beginning to lash down and the traditional Dartmoor high winds persisted, the team sacrificed their finishing time (12:15) to show the spirit and good humour that makes Ten Tors.
(73.7% complete 18.9% with fall-outs)[10] This was the 55th anniversary of Ten Tors, and to celebrate this, two teams of veterans were given special permission to take part.
They crossed the finish line at 10:52, team consisting of: Matt Domhof, Frank Hartley, Charlie King, Zoe Kuyken, Ellie Marok, and Jonny Surtees (C).
The event also generated a light-hearted news story when the downdraught from a low-flying Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopter blew away a row of portable toilets.
The event had the perfect weather conditions, with it not being too cold or too hot, leading to 84.9% of teams reaching the finish line complete.
Unusually high temperatures meant many participants crashed out due to heatstroke, with two 30-minute rest periods imposed during the event, one on each day.
The following tors are no longer used because of bird nesting: All tors on the south moor have been removed after 2014, replaced by Peat Cot, south of Princetown, and new Safety Checkpoints were put in place to ensure the safety of participants, providing road access to the checkpoint for potential drop outs during the event.
Grant that, by meeting each challenge and difficulty with honest endeavour and unselfish courage they may find a spirit of determination and true comradeship that will benefit themselves and those about them both now and in the future.
