The 11th Annual County Mountain Pursuit Challenge will take place in the Comeragh Mountains from Friday the 16th to Sunday the 18th of September 2005. Basecamp for the event will be at the mysterious Foill an Priosun (S 331 092) which is beside the valley of Fauscoum and close to Coumshingaun and the Coum Mahon. We have chosen an excellent campsite (you are guaranteed a luxurious bed of heather) and if you listen carefully you will find the stream. The starting point will be at the forest track at S 341 096 which is on the road from Lemybrien to Carrick on Suir and is just before Kilclooney Wood Car Park.

There should be adequate car parking at the start of this track however if necessary teams can be dropped off at the track and cars can then be left at Kilclooney Wood car park. No valuables should be left in cars. Teams can present themselves for registration and gear check from 6.30pm. Teams must be at the start and ready to set off by 7.45pm at the latest (Remember it will be getting dark by then). The event will finish in the same place at 2.00pm on Sunday the 18th.

In a change from previous years there will only be one route this year and there will be an emphasis instead on instructional bases such as; Mountain and Outdoor Photography by leading local photographers Aidan Ennis and Emily Dixon, Mountain Rescue Techniques by Donal McNamara from the South East Mountain Rescue Team and a lot more. There wil also be the Altitude Cycle and Outdoor Photography Competition and the Hat and Gloves Competition (to encourage people to wear them - the most strange, outrageous or shocking wins), both with prizes sponsored by Altitude in Ballybricken.

Water levels permitting there will also be the 5th Annual Regional Floating Object Race on the Sunday morning and teams are invited to enter either original plastic bottles or traditional plastic ducks. Ducks that do not float will not be allowed enter and the fastest two ducks will go on to represent us in the International Rubber Duck Championships in November. This year the event is taking place in the magnificent setting of Lescun in the French Pyrenean National Park.

There will be a gear check on Friday night and all the gear listed on this PDF (28kb) will be required by everybody taking part in the event. Obviously everybody is responsible for bringing their own supply of food for the weekend. It is recommended that scouts operate in patrols of between 3 and 4 so that they can share tents, cooking equipment, first aid kit, maps and compasses. The map required is Discovery Series 75. We will be strictly carrying out the gear check and will have no choice but to send home any scout, venturer or leader without the minimum equipment.

Everybody is reminded that environmentally sound hiking is an absolute must for events of this type. 'Leave nothing but footprints (and not even those if you can help it) and take nothing but photographs' is the order of the day. The Comeraghs are a magnificent but sensitive area so rubbish of any description should never be left behind. See the Mountaineering Council of Ireland's Good Practice Guide for Walkers.

For further details check out De La Salle's County MPC page or if you have any questions or require any assistance please do not hesitate to contact Colm Ennis, Paschal Guilfoyle or Tom Casey. To assist us in allocating base and checkpoint staff, we would be grateful if you could give us approximate numbers by Sunday the 11th of September by email (address available on DLS site. We are looking forward to seeing you on what's going to be an excellent weekend and yet again we are guaranteeing good weather!