Summit 11 Field Weekend

The Perse Exploration Society Summit 11 group travelled to the Norfolk Broads over the October field weekend to commence training for the Sweden Expedition 2013. A record 53 students in 8 Fires took part in canoe, campcraft and bushcraft training.

On land Summit 11 students learnt how to pitch tarps, carve cooking utensils, collect and prepare natural tinder and light fires using only sparks. On water they were all put to the test with comprehensive canoe safety and skills training. Sunday morning saw all students successfully ‘rescue’ others after capsize and learn how to re-right a fully submerged canoe – a chilly experience enjoyed by most!

In between training students took part in a wide game and ‘bake-off.’ The ‘Smugglers’ wide game was extremely successful and saw larger and larger items smuggled across local woodland by students, avoiding detection by border patrol agents (staff). The border patrol agents were roundly defeated. The bake-off competition was closely fought with cookies, steamed syrup puddings and sweet breads being produced to a high standard after only a single day training on open fires; an excellent effort by everyone involved.

The staff team leading the trip and the canoe coaches would like to say how impressed they were with the commitment of the Fire Leaders and all the students involved who overcame changeable weather conditions to make the weekend such a valuable learning experience. The Summit 11 group will be building on this weekend’s training in forthcoming Monday enrichment sessions and on a trip to the River Wye on the Lent term field weekend.