"The twelve-strong team of intrepid Canford explorers assembled at 9:00 on a cold, Thursday morning in early July, ready to take on all challenges that would come their way in the following ten days, with the aim of developing leadership skills and having an enjoyable holiday in the French Pyrenees.
The joint leaders for the first two days were the two senior members of the team, Nigel Greenhill and John Druitt. Each day, a new leader and deputy were appointed,and it was their job to organise the day and appoint tasks where appropriate. An allowance of £75 was given out daily to be spent on food, campsites and all other essentials.
We caught the mid-afternoon boat from Portsmouth and endured a rather rough and blustery six hour crossing.On our arrival in France, the weather we had been promised failed to arrive, and so we travelled throughout the night to the sounds of Bob Marley and Abba in the constant drizzle. The journey included a brief trip around the Le Mans 24 hour circuit in our fully-laden mini bus and trailer.
After a full 20 hours of driving, the weather began to lift, revealing the impressive Pyrenean countryside. Soon we had set up our tents in a small and basic campsite in the tiny village of Lescun. The campsite was overshadowed by the looming Pic D'Anie, which we were going to attempt to climb the following day.
Ed Simmons was appointed as leader for the first day's walking. As instructed, almost the entire team were seen emerging from their tents at 7:00 the next morning, in the persistent rain which continued for the next two days. The uphill trek in the less than favourable weather took the best part of four hours and involved some rather dangerous snow slopes which had to be crossed. However,in brief spells of good weather the mountainscape was extremely impressive.
Gavin Brigstocke was appointed to lead the next day's walking, which was to be less demanding than the previous day. The intended walk was to take us into Spain, where we would circle around the Pic D'Ansebere before ascending to its summit. However, due to the horizontal hail which we encountered on our ascent towards the Spanish border, our summit attempt was stopped short for safety reasons. With revived spirits and a great sense of achievement when the weather finally lifted, the team quickly descended and spent an enjoyable evening back at the campsite.
The next day, led by Nick Weeks, was a transition day,spent with a short walk in the morning and preparation for the two-day hike to follow. The morning's walk near Arudy took us along an impressive mountain path created during the Napoleonic wars to a small clearing known as Perry. During the afternoon, the group was split into two,with half going shopping whilst the remainder went to find a decent campsite to be our base for the next two days. This afternoon marked the introduction of the official team green beret, bought by the shopping group and worn by Mark for the remainder of the trip, as we moved closer still to French culture.
The following two days were taken up with a strenuous and thoroughly rewarding two-day hike, lead jointly by Johnny Goode and Mark Griffith. The trek was a 25 kilometre circuit around the Pic Du Midi D'Ossau and included three ascents to significant heights, all of over 2600 metres. The snow-capped mountains produced a remarkable view on this hot, cloudless day. Many golden eagles and vultures were present for all to see. After about six hours of walking we found a sizeable mountain lake,in which snow refused to melt, but even so several members of the group were tempted to go for a swim. The following day's walk was to be less demanding, but we were to climb to over 2700 metres. The best memory of the trek was surely the tobogganing on the afternoon of the second day. The entire group could be seen descending a small glacier on their survival bags.The walk finished with a rather polluted swim in a lake at the finish, led by Mark, whilst some of the group indulged in delicious French ice-cream and crepes. The afternoon and evening were spent on the campsite around the fire and communing with a French school on a similar holiday to us.
The following day, which was to be led by Mark Forsyth, we planned to climb to over 3000 metres. It was either divine intervention or a team member's chisel which caused the bus brakes to fail as we passed through a small French village. Whilst Mr. Owen, Jonny Goode and John "the official translator" Druitt went with the bus to Lourdes, the rest of the group were left stranded in the small French town. Ironically, it was Mark Forsyth's birthday, and we decided to spend the evening in a restaurant, because we had sufficient funds left over,where many stories of Mr. Christmas' university days were told, some more believable than others.
On the planned rest day, led by Malek, the entire group ascended to the Cirque de Gavarnie by mule. This waterfall is called La Grande Cascade and is the highest in Europe. After aggressive bartering by Malik, we gathered together enough resources to pay for everybody to ride to the cirque. Nigel was named Lawrence of the Pyrenees due to his riding ability and Arabian head dress, and that evening we all enjoyed a barbecue cooked by Miss Sach.
The following morning, final preparations were made for the two-day journey which lay ahead of us. We had leftthe campsite before 8:00 in the morning and slowly we made our way up through France. Once again, Abba blasted from the bus, with karaoake singing from all. The journey had passed calmly until we arrived at a road side chip shop just outside Tours. With stomachs filled, the team carried on, spending the night under the stars in a motorway lay-by.
Having spent the following morning travelling andlooking around Honfleur, we all caught the afternoon boat back to England. On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank Mr. Owen, Mr. Christmas and Miss Sach for their invaluable contributions to the running of a completely successful trip.
Gavin Brigstocke"
Extract from The Canfordian 1996
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