Well done to Cathal Ward, Third Year who completed the Crean Challenge with Scouting Ireland, over the Midterm break!
This event is one of the toughest challenges on the Scouting calendar and requires several months of preparation. The Crean Challenge Expedition is an annual event for scouts aged from 12-15 years taking place over a six-month period, culminating in a week-long expedition to Iceland. It aims to promote teamwork in patrols, to achieve a common goal, and to personally challenge everyone to identify and achieve personal goals. Participants will develop practical skills which are tested throughout the duration of the challenge, such as Route Planning, Navigation, Hill Walking, Icelandic Weather Systems, Nutrition and First Aid. The six months of the Expedition process are difficult, both mentally and physically, but participants will be trained to the highest standards to ensure that they can achieve the expedition requirements.
Cathal and his exploits were featured on the Limerick Leader (see https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/750095/limerick-scouts-swap-storms-in-ireland-for-snowstorms-in-iceland.html) and even were mentioned on The Ryan Tubridy Show radio programme on Thursday 24th February 2022 (from 13:20 onwards): https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/ryan-tubridy/programmes/2022/0224/1282704-the-ryan-tubridy-show-thursday-24-february-2022//
See below for more information and detail on this amazing achievement!