61 teams entered from all over the South East of England. They were out practicing almost every weekend for 3 months before the event. Their training was in collaboration with 8 other Scout troops in Ashdown District and the friendly rivalry between these teams spurred them on the stretch and expand their capabilities, thank you Ashdown teams! A big thank you should also be given to all the leaders and parents that supported the teams over the last 3 months.

Only 6 scout teams completed the two days!
This year the event was in the environs of Alfriston, walking 25 miles through Friston Forest and up and down the South Downs towards Lewes. The weather was windy and wet with thick mist up top which tested their navigation skills and the worst since 1987. Their hiking was faster than 3 miles an hour with 9kg rucksacks carrying their weekends camping and cooking gear. In addition to this they had 12 challenges that tested their Scouting skills and teamsmanship. Some of the subjects they were tested on were first aid, Sussex birds (the feathered kind), knot recognition, map pairs, law and promise, clove hitch round a pole, camp hygiene, throwing a line, logic puzzle, stars, pack a rucksack and paper plane making.

The Southon team consisted of Andy, Christy, Callum and Ross all aged 14.
The last time 1st Crowborough Scouts won was in 1980!
What people have said:-

Great news and congratulations to all the boys taking part. John (Skip) King	Well done on winning! Mark Thompson
a BIG    WELL DONE to Southon scouts for winning the overland hike Nigel Jennings	Congratulations well done. Stewart Lomax
Fantastic. John Easton	Wot a fab result. Louise McKell
You guys are brilliant. Vanessa Johnson	Wonderful news about Southon. I walked with Andy and Christie on the very first training hike and they were impressive then. Well done to the whole team. Richard Phillips
Let me congratulate you on the excellent Overland results. I believe that the weather was awful and I take my hat off to you all. Jim Ringe	I just wanted to say congratulations to Callum, Andy, Christi and Ross for winning the overland-if Tullis B couldn't complete it im glad 2 crowborough teams came 1st and 2nd x Becci
Well done guys. We warmly welcome you to Tullis Explorers! Grant Kerwin-Nye	Well done guys. Oli
Congratulations from me once again. It was worth all the hard work to see the smiles from ALL the teams that completed. Albert Hinton	In atrocious weather too.  So very well done indeed. Merlin Beedell
I hear your scouts won the overland congratulations to everyone what an achievement on such an awful weekend. Susan Cooke	Well done to you and your team for doing so well in the overland hike. A terrific achievement by the scouts and all the training paid off.  From all of us over at Ticehurst Scouts, Tony Thompson

To explain the balloon belongs to Martyn Everitt who wascelebrating his 50th birthday.

Teams as they started, they had no time for photos they had to reach the next check point quickly to obtain maximum hike points.

All their kit was checked very thoroughly, one item missing and they cannot start.

The game was "pairs" and they had to match photos to map symbols.

The teams at the finish, many were very tired.

Southon receiving their certificates and woggle slider for completing the hike.

The Buxted team came 4th, a super result for such a young team.

On 18th March all the Ashdown District Overland teams met at Crowborough Scout HQ where they did incident training and team building.
We then all went down to look around Alfriston so that the navigators could be familiar with the footpaths in out of the village.

Training continued every weekend culminating in the West Sussex two day expedition, 11th-12th March.
The teams hiked from Bignor to Arundel camping at Ford and returning by different route on the Sunday.
All the teams finished the two days, although it was quite challenging for the younger teams
The hike times for the Southon and Alpha teams were very close (when the differences in the routes set for each team were taken into account) Crowborough beat Uckfield by 5 minutes this time.

Sunrise after a very cold night

The Bumps, 10th Feb 06. Southon Scouts hiked up and down the South Downs 9 times demonstrating they are incredibly fit, Callum even did it having stayed up all night for the Southon Scouts Monty Python night.
Turnout for this suffered due to a combination of continued lurgy and half term, but every single one of those who turned up, including teams from Groombridge, Buxted, Crowborough, Uckfield Alpha and Uckfield Phoenix did incredibly well. All of them completed all 9 bumps from Clayton to Offham, with a total climb of around 900 metres (and the same amount of going back down again). This is considerably more than climbing to the top of Snowdon (1085m) and back down again, from the usual starting point at Pen - y - Pass (395m) - A brilliant achievement!

This time it was the Phoenix A (Cheddar) team and the Southon A team battling it out all the way for top spot, with Phoenix managing to win by just 5 minutes after about 6 hours of walking. Tremendous stuff!

Tullis Explorers went hiking on Ashdown Forest

Southon Scouts hiked from Devil's Dyke on the 28th January. Very cold but the Southon scouts managed a long slide on the snow. Navigation was perfect and Uckfield were left standing! Truleigh Hill in the background.
Another good session today, despite the sub-zero temperatures, snow on the top of the Downs, and one case of early-stage hypothermia to deal with. Once again we had eight troops represented which is tremendous. For the record: Crowborough Southon turned in a blistering performance completing 20km in the time allocated for 16km

Southon Scouts and Tullis Explorers hiked around Friston Forest on the 28th January. Another good session with all 34 Scouts surviving their 16km trip through the Evington Triangle.

Southon Scouts and Tullis Explorers (Andy, Callum, Christy, Georgia, Max, Oli, Ross, Rupert and Sam) joined the 36 hiking around Alciston and Firle, all the teams navigated to a very high standard, an excellent start to this year's series of challenges.

2006 Training started with micro-navigation skills, 35 Scouts took part from most Scout Troops and the skills shown were remarkably good.
The catch phrase for the day was "The compass says ............................................................................................no!"

See Overland 2005 photos here