YEP 9 Selection Camp – Day 10
Day 10 – written by Henko & Zuzanna
The raid continues. Some of us got to the camping site at the middle of the night after an exhausting day. Because of the dark, we couldn't see where exactly were we, but we could feel the cold and sound of water. The Team was already waiting, with tents, sleeping bags and sleeping mates prepared, but most importantly, FOOD! We could finally have a cup of warm tea and a 2-minutes noodle soup, which 'tasted like heaven' after all these kilometers… Probably no-one remembers the moment she/he has fallen asleep, as we were all so tired…
We didn't have too much time to recover, just a couple of hours of sleep before a breakfast ('cut that bread and spread that Nutella on it, if you want to, put a banana in it' Luke's words were). We were awoken by a magnificent view of a lake next to our camping site. We had to paddle to the dam wall on the other side of the lake. We used inflatable canoes and plastic paddles. Than the second day of the raid actually began, with a steep walk to the top of a hill over looking lake Rossiniere, what a amazing view! The two teams were chasing each other to the lake to reach the team building activity first! We had to build our own home made rafts out of wooden planks and petrol drums.Team Inukshuk reached the other bank, loosing one of their paddlers on the way! They were closely followed by team Aurora! It was then time for some much needed lunch to regain our energy and strenght. Thanks to Debbie for prepairing the sandwiches and some drinks! 🙂
This was when the biggest challenge began… we had too climbed to the peak of Conte De Cray which is about 2070 meters high!! Some of the YEP`s even crawling on all four to reach the peak! Team Inukshuk was the first team to ever reach the top of the mountain, then followed by team Aurora.
In the end after a grueling decent to Chateau D'Oex the teams finally reached the hotel just before the cut off time..! First was team Inukshuk, followed by team Aurora, unfortunately not everyone could finish the raid due to injuries 🙁 but everyone is making a speedy recovery!
(personal thinkings of Zuzanna) Tonight is our last night here in Switzerland, which will be spent relaxing and enjoying each others company!!! We have just eaten a typically Swiss solemn dinner: a dish called 'raclette' and cleaned the kitchen up for the last time in the evening. Most of people enjoy their last hours in the Expedition Center, talking and laughing, but I can only recall the memories from the last 10 days: my first meeting with Young Explorers and the Team, first morning exercises, moments of total concentration and complete chill out, various activities and those little features of everyday life here, in Chateau D'Oex. I feel grateful for every minute spent here and would give up all the treasures of the world to experience it again. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of the adventure in the YEP family.