Challenge 5

There was yet another challenge left that fateful day! the teams had to make their way up the hill towards the Selmun Barracks. Once there they met almost all the leaders and support staff that were present and went down into the dark underground tunnels under the barracks.

Potholing

The challenge involved entering the underground tunnels and making your way through a route underground. Once they reached the end the teams had to climb out of a chimney-like opening using nothing but a rope.

Corrieri, Red Team, after just entering the shelters

Abela & Corrieri before climbing out of the shelters

After the challenge the teams had to return their bikes to the owner at Selmun Palace and that was the end of the route.

At this point I would like to mention how many people were involved with the activity and without whom it wouldn't have been the same!

There was the VSL who did most of the planning, AGSL Andrew who took care of the climb and the pothole, Akela Kirtsten, ACSLs Claude & Keith who took care of the SAR & Medevac, AGSL Dave, QM Mark, Skipper T, who came to give their support after a full weekend out on a Troop Activity!! Then there were the people who we call Support Staff; these are ex-Unit members who are no longer in the group namely Ed Attard, Fusu, Michele, Chris (dumu) and Stefan Meli.
So that's it as far as the SVS Challenge goes... the points will be announced shortly and I will be sure to mention it here on my blog!

Our next activity is a potholing/caving activity to be held just after the new year.

Happy new Year and thanks for reading,

Mo$es

Challenge 4

Canoeing

The 4th Challenge of the SVS Challenge was quite a surprise. No one expected, on such a cold winters day, to find an instructor waiting for them at Mistra Bay, along with his kayaks. The VSL was there waiting with dumu (SS) and Clark, owner of 'rugid adventure' and a keen canoeing instructor.

The aim here was to complete a route on canoe from Mistra Bay to St Pauls Island and back. The toughest part was always the way back, especially passing the headland where there was loads of wind coming through the straits.

On the way back the participants got the chance to explore a small sea cave in their kayaks.

Blue team members showing off in their kayaks

Mo$es

Challenge 3

SAR & Medevac

The four digit MR lead the teams to Mizieb. After the uphill cycle there task was to locate the marshalls that were hidden within the 1km squared that the four digit MR describes: the Mizieb itself.

Upon finding the casualties (ACSLs Claude & Keith) they had to treat their urgent injuries and evacuate them to the nearest road for pickup by a medical vehicle. Claude had suffered a broken leg while keith was knocked unconcious and had a major external head wound!

Red Team dragging ACSL Keith away from danger

Martin doing all the lifting for the green team; doing a better job with Claude!

Abela plotting the route to the next challenge

Mo$es

Challenge 2

The Climb

The particpants faced their next challenge at Top of the World (along the Victoria Lines) where AGSL Andrew and Edward Attard (SS) were awaiting them. The tasks here was to tie some climbing knots and complete a route up the cliff face.

As you can imagine everyone had a different technique to tackle the cliff face, some better than others. We saw both sloppy climbing and some fast neat climbing. Not every team completed this challenge. the SVS challenge is a demanding competition that involves a vast range of skills; every participant has his own strong points and weak points and in the end we determine who really has the most strong points and the least weak!

Martin and Llama tying their prusik knots while abela and corrieri look on just after succesfully completing the challenge

Martin struggling to beat the overhang

After completing the challenge the VSs were given another map reference. Although this time it was only a four digit MR. They were baffled. The VSL started receiving msgs on his mobile phone. What was going on?

Challenge 3...

Mo$es

Challenge 1

Right it's time for a challenge-by-challenge flashback of the SVS Challenge. This activity took place on the 9th of december & I only just got all the photos and info sorted.
So here we go:


The teams were:


Red Team: Abela-Corrieri
Blue Team: Cremona-Rubei
Green Team: Mallia Milanes-Pisani-Mamo


The Cycling Challenge


The first challenge involved cycling the whole route of the SVS Challenge (approx. 20kms). The teams started from Luxol Car Park and ended up at Selmun Palace stopping in Ghargur, Mizieb & Mistra on the wayto take part in the other Challenges.


The route was almost completely an uphill struggle but the teams had ample time to complete it throughout the activity. All teams completed this challenge albeit some with greater difficulty than others and some with better technique than others.


Challenge 2 coming soon! Mo$es

Green Team at the starting Point - Luxol Car Park with their biking gear

Green Team again, this time posing at the mouth of a cave over looking Mount Maghtab

Xmas time

Merry Xmas everyone!
As you can see in these pics I'm wearing a brand new xmas suit. This one is even more chic then the last and 100% wool! Last Saturday we held the SVS Xmas party, great fun was had by all.

The party was held at martin's house were we played pool, ate (loads of) chinese food and watched platoon [skond peter it's a 'very svs film']. We also had some xmas speeches and celebrated Dulli's time in the Unit - the xmas party also served as his farewell party [ also called FOP in SVS lingo.]
So Merry Xmas, Happy new Year, and fairwell to dulli.

We'll be back in '08 with some great adventures.

MoSes

SVS Challenge 2007

The 4th edition of the SVS Challenge was held last Sunday (9th Dec). This was a gruelling full day activity which involved the ventures taking on various demanding challenges in order to win the much coveted 'Challenge Shield'.
Every year the SVS Challenge takes on a different shape, last years activity was themed around survival skills and backwoods activities while this year we went back to the original challeng hike idea --- with a twist!
The hike was carried out on mountain bikes which meant that the distance travelled was much greater than usual. The first challenge was a climb somewhere along the Victoria Lines. Each member of the team had to climb the route in order to complete the challenge. The second was to locate two casualties within a 1km2 area and evacuate them using the appropriate SAR & Medevac technique.
The thrid challenge was also quite a suprise for the competitors; they arrived in mistra bay to find a set of canoes waiting for them. The challenge here was to complete a route to St Pauls Islands and also check out a cave along the coast.
It wasn't all over at Mistra! The teams had to make their way to the last checkpoint - The Selmun Barracks where they completed another route but this time; underground. The Verntures followed a route through the maze-like tunnels that exist under the barracks.

Who will win???
I wonder!
Find out next time on --- Mo$es Blog

Mo$es