Intrepid Perse pupils brave Brecon Beacons on Summit 10 trip

10 May 2019

Lauren Baxter (Year 10) reflects on the Perse Exploration Society Summit 10 trip to the Brecon Beacons.

Over the last nine months, Summit 10 members have been training for the major challenge of an 11km hike, 15km cycle and 7km canoe all in one day, which included scaling the highest mountain in south Wales, Pen Y Fan.

In order to prepare for this trip to the Brecon Beacons, we practised paddle strokes at Milton Country Park, team-building exercises in our fires and undertook navigation challenges. This provided an exciting midweek break from school life and developed the skills that would be crucial for completing the main trip.

Waking up early, we boarded the buses and began the journey to south Wales. In the afternoon, we practised the toughest section of the biking route that we would be tackling the next day as well as refreshing our navigation techniques. Staying in tents at Cantref Adventure Farm, we soon set up camp and set about making our dinner on Trangias.

After an early start and porridge for breakfast the next morning, minibuses ferried us to the car park at the base of Pen Y Fan. The day started with a long 3km hike to the summit and over 600m of climbing before we descended down and along the ridge line following the Brecon Way. The bike route was exhilarating as you didn’t have to pedal and could just roll downhill all the way to Pencelli. From there, we climbed into canoes and paddled along the canal all the way into Brecon. Congratulations to the winning team who completed the course in a speedy 5hr 30min.

The trip and experience of Summit 10 has been thoroughly enjoyable and I have learnt skills that will be with me forever.