Bronze Adventurous Journey information

This newsletter is edited from time to time to be more accurate and is also shared with your parents. Last edit 26 February 2024.                  

Congratulations for your Bronze registration. Adventure is just around the corner!  The aim of the Practice Journey is to put into practice what you learned in class so that you will be ready for the Qualifying Journey that will follow.

The following Journeys will take place and your team leader has already booked to participate in a Journey. If not, then please hurry. We need to know so that we will proceed and make things happen.

Useful information

• Bronze Practice & Qualifying Adventurous Journeys take place in the wider area of ​​Macheras Forest, Nicosia district unless otherwise specified
• Departure (please be at the parking lot 15 minutes prior to departure):
  • On Fridays all buses depart from the parking lot of your school: 14:30 from GC school and 15:00 from the Senior school. 
  • On Saturdays all buses depart only from the Senior School (map location here: https://goo.gl/maps/BxmwfKMtoBE39w15A)
• Arrival location & expected return: You will be notified at the finish about the arrival location. Sometimes there is a delay caused by late arrival of a team at the finish. To avoid parents waiting for you, you should call them as soon as you board the bus to confirm the exact time and location of your return.

Prerequisites for participating in Bronze Adventurous Journeys and DOWNLOADS:

• A participant can join a Bronze Practice Journey only if they have an active ORB account with One Step Further. In case your account is not updated with your latest activities you can still participate in the journeys although we recommend updating your ORB account every week. It is your responsibility to update your ORB account. In case you need support please send your request to award@onestepfurther.com.cy. We support ORB requests only via e-mail.
• A participant can join a Practice Journey only after the completion of the training at school.
• A participant can join a Qualifying Journey only after completing a Practice Journey. Attendance at the pre-Qualifying meeting at school is mandatory.
• CLICK HERE to OPEN the e-MEDICAL & CONSENT FORM. Your parent/guardian must complete this form online before your first journey. 
• CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the EQUIPMENT LIST. You must be properly equipped according to Award guidelines.

More information regarding Team and Personal EQUIPMENT:

• Rucksacks: All Bronze participants must have their own rucksack. It is important the rucksack will be the one we recommend.
• Tents: According to the tents arrangement of every team you can borrow a tent per three or four persons from us on the spot. We will collect the tents as soon as you finish. The tents we use are of high quality and cost at least €300 each. We expect from you to use them with care. In case a team will cause any kind of damage to a tent, tent mates must cover the cost of repair or replacement.  
• Cooking set, stove, fuel and compasses: Stoves and fuel are provided by us, but you MUST purchase the specific cooking set and you will use from us, for your safety and for cleaning reasons because you will be trained with these. The additional cost will be €15 per person (no matter how many members in a team so that will be fair for everybody) and can be paid on the spot by every team leader after they will collect the money from their team members. Please have €15 with you and hand this amount to your team leader. 
• Personal equipment: We will check the specifications of the following for your safety: hiking boots, rucksack, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, waterproofs (jacket & over-pants). We recommend you purchase our proposed Value Pack that includes all products that are extremely important for your safety (marked with VP in the Equipment Kit List for the AJ). For the ones that did not pre-order the Value Pack it will be available for purchase from our shop until stock lasts. More details about the Value Pack were shared in a previous newsletter that you can access if you CLICK HERE. Although the proposed Value Pack IS NOT MANDATORY, we kindly ask you to trust us on this matter. This equipment will accompany you for almost 4 years on long hikes in adverse weather conditions. If you don’t select your gear wisely you might face several issues (lack of quality and reliability) for the next 4 years that could force you to buy the right things again, which is unnecessary. In total, you will walk 16 days and sleep 10 nights until you finish Gold. In addition to the technical specifications, price is an indication of quality. We encourage you to purchase your equipment from our Get Out store (Arsinois 18A Acropolis, tel: 22311012). We have the equipment recommended by the Award at the suggested EU retail prices. In addition, we offer you a 15% discount. If you choose Get Out for your purchases, you will be certain that you have chosen the right equipment at the right price and you will avoid buying products that either do not meet the recommended specifications or are not worth the money.
• Please prepare your gear according to the equipment list and do it yourself. We prefer you come unprepared than prepared by your parents 😊
•  Food: Eat lunch before departure. Organize your meals in groups per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner & 2 additional snacks between meals) as we described during our meetings.
  • Options for breakfast: porridge (oat & hot water), cereal, tahini pie, bread etc   
  • Options for lunch: 
    • canned protein foods like tuna, shrimp, sardines, salmon, chicken, baked beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and lentils
    • canned vegetables (corn, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, beets, asparagus)
  • Options for dinner: pasta, rice, vegetables (zucchini, broccoli etc), sausages etc. You must cook your dinner according to Award regulations
  • Options for snacks: Cookies, energy bars, a fruit like banana or apple, nuts & dried fruit
• Water and water supply: You must curry multi-use lightweight unbreakable water containers for sufficient hydration. For most people 2 x 0.75 L total 1.5 Liters per day is enough but it depends on the amount of water you are used to consume, your body weight, the amount and type of food you eat, the temperature and the type of exercise. It is your responsibility to curry as much water as you need. There will be running water every night as soon as you arrive at camp and every morning before you depart so that you can fill up your containers. In case of wild camping we will supply you with water every night and every morning.

Some more useful information

• We are always happy supporting you directly. We are available at award@onestepfurther.com.cy and on 22254612 office hours, daily from 9am to 5pm. Do not bother your parents and do not ask from them to communicate on your behalf. This is your Award, not your parents’ Award. Be responsible, you can. Of course, your parents can call us for other issues.
• During the excursions you will not be able to contact your parents. According to Award regulations, we will collect your mobile phones. You will have two mobile phones per team, turned off and sealed to be opened in case of an emergency. Please bring a camera to take pictures and videos. You cannot have a GPS device and/or any other tracking device like air tags etc
• Please ask from your parents not to contact us during journeys just to ask if you are okay. If something unexpected happens, we will let them know. No news is good news. If your parents need to contact us for an emergency, they can call me personally at 99359214 (Marios).
• Do not ask from your parents to wait for you at the expected return time. You will call them as soon as you get on the bus to inform them about the exact time of your arrival. There is always a possibility for delay due to late arrival of a team at the finish. 
• Sometimes we upload some general photos on social media. Please follow our page @onestepfurthercy on Instagram and Facebook to see the photos.
• Weather conditions: In general, we do not postpone excursions due to weather conditions unless a red warning is issued by the Meteorological Service. When there is an orange warning we assess the seriousness of the situation and decide accordingly. In case of a yellow warning, we take the necessary safety measures in organizing outdoor activities so that everything goes well. Part of the importance we attach to the issue of equipment, which we have made extensive references to. In the language of mountaineering, we say that “There is no bad weather. There is bad equipment.”
• What happens if a participant is not able to join a journey:
  • In case of cancellation for a serious reason like a health issue, a participant must bring a supporting document signed by a licensed physician so that they can join a future Adventurous Journey without additional charges.
  • In case of cancellation for a personal reason like exams, a participant must bring a supporting document signed by their teacher at least 15 days before the date of departure so that they can join a future Adventurous Journey without additional charges.
  • In case of no-show a participant must pay an additional fee of 50 euros per expedition day to be able to join another future Adventurous Journey.

We wish you enjoy your journeys in the best possible way! 

On behalf of the Award Team

Marios Hadjipetris
Award Coordinator