Think of that fun Outdoor Education class with a little team competition and a time pressure mixed in and you end up with something like the Get2Go Regional challenges!
REGISTRATIONS OPEN!
A great entry level adventure outdoor education challenge for Year 9 and Year 10 school students.
The Get2Go Regional challenges combine fun, outdoor adventure activities like orienteering, kayaking, stand-up paddling, mountain biking and a little bit of problem solving, into an action-packed day suitable for students of all fitness levels and experience.
There are 12 regional challenges in total held around the country from Whangarei to Queenstown.
NO prior experience is necessary but you DO need to be ready to give exciting new activities a go! You can be as social or as competitive as you like.
- Teams of 8 represent their school(s) in one of four categories: All Girls; All Boys; Mixed; and, Mixed Open. Only Mixed Open team entries are eligible for a place in the National Finals. Note: Teams can be a mix of Year 9 and 10 students, Mixed Open teams must include a minimum of four biological girls who identify as girls, the remainder of the team can be made up of students that identify as boys, girls, or gender diverse.
- A maximum of two schools may join together to form a team (this applies to ANY school and can include single gender and co-ed schools joining together).
- Schools may enter a challenge in another region if there are places available, however they will not be eligible for the National Final.
- At each regional Get2Go challenge teams need to undertake either three or four 60-80 minute challenges in an allotted time. To maximise their score in each challenge teams will be required to work together, using important team skills such as communication, problem solving, planning and decision making.
- The challenge generally runs between 8.30am and 3.00pm and teams need to arrange their own transport to all of the activities on the day. More information will be sent to your Team Manager one week before.
- Unlike a lot of other school outdoor activities, the Get2Go challenges are hardly ever cancelled. We may need to modify, or possibly even cancel parts of a challenge if the weather presents a safety risk but we think that playing in the wind and rain can be just as much fun as a warm sunny day (as long as you are dressed appropriately).
- There is a limited capacity of 24 teams at each Get2Go Regional challenge, with teams taken on a first in, first served basis. Don’t miss out – register early!
Simply get your Team Manager (a teacher or parent) to fill in the online registration form and once submitted we will email you back confirming your registration has been received. If 24 teams have already registered, we will email your manager and your team will go on a wait-list as occasionally we have some teams that can’t make it at the last minute. All entries into the Get2Go must be made through your school and the selection of students/teams is the school’s responsibility.
Format of Day
The format of the day varies slightly across the regions due to the availability of resources and the geographic locations of the challenges. There will generally be either three 80min or four 60min challenges on the day (depending on resources/facilities available) and these will be based around the outdoor sports/activities of Mountain Biking, Kayaking or Stand-up paddle boarding, Orienteering/navigation, plus Rock-Climbing or a Problem Solving (if no rockwall is available) team challenge. Teams will generally rotate around the various challenges and will have the 60-80 minutes at each venue to tackle the task and score points for their overall team score. You are welcome to take the opportunity to practice these activities before the day if you wish. If you need to know where you can practice these in each region get in touch with Darren darrena@hillaryoutdoors.co.nz and he can let you know.
Either on the day, or in an email a few days before, you will receive some briefing notes about the challenge including the timetable, including where you need to be at what time. In general the challenges will run between 9.30am and 3.00pm, but this varies slightly between the regions.
All challenge activities will generally only be a short drive (maybe up to 15-25 minutes) from each other. You will have more than enough time allocated to get between each challenge, provided you don’t get lost along the way. To make this part go smoothly it would be a good idea to have a good phone navigation app e.g. Google Maps that you can use. In the challenge briefing notes you will be given some instructions on how to find each location, plus a latitude/longitude reference number for the spot you need to get to. Here is an example of a lat/long number for our Tongariro Centre. -39.049402,175.558133 Try entering this into the search part of your phone navigation app so you get the idea of how it works. Be sure to get the numbers and symbols correct!
On the day also make sure that the vehicle that you are travelling in filled up with gas. Do this before the morning briefing so you don’t have to waste time sorting it out during the day.
Don’t plan on stopping for ice-creams along the way as this is sure to delay you getting to the next challenge and reduce the amount of time you have to score points. The driving to/from and between the activities is not part of the Get2Go Challenge and your drivers will be responsible for the safe transit of the team between activities. We will allow enough time for you to do this safely, but we do not want you to be racing your team vehicles all over town!
Your team will generally have to eat and drink on the drive between activities as there will not be a break for lunch. So, make sure your students know to have some good healthy energy food and plenty of water to last them the whole day. Water will not be provided at the activity locations so make sure you have enough to last. The final challenge of the day will finish sometime between 2.30 and 3.00pm. All teams head home or back to school from their last challenge.
Team medical and consent form
Every team manager (teacher or parent) must fill out and sign, on behalf of the team, the electronic medical/risk acknowledgement form for all students that you are bringing on the day. This form is available on the Get2Go page of the Hillary Outdoors website. The medical information will be passed on (if deemed important) to the clubs and organisations which assist with the challenges on the day. To enable time for these to be processed we need the forms back no later than 3 days before the date of your challenge.
Safety information
Each challenge is covered by a generic hazard management plan for that activity. In addition to this each location will be assessed prior to the challenge by the Hillary Outdoors Events Manager and/or activity providers for any new hazards. Any new hazards present that may possibly impact the safe running of an activity will be eliminated, or the activity will be modified so that the activity is safe to run. Where this is not possible an individual challenge may need to be cancelled entirely. All safety information can be found here on the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council website – http://www.nzsssc.org.nz/Events-1/Entry-Info-Safety-Plans
Points/Scoring
The Get2Go Challenge is first and foremost about participation, working with your team-mates and having a fun day in the outdoors. To make things a little more interesting, there is competitive element to each challenge for schools/teams that would like to prepare a little more to try and earn a spot in the National Get2Go Final. Points will be scored in several ways at the various challenges and you will find out more about this day. The only way to score a lot of points is to use great teamwork and support your team-mates through the challenges you face.
If your team composition changes between now and the event such that you need to change categories you need to do this before the start of the briefing on your Get2Go Challenge day.
The team with the most points on each regions day in the Mixed Open category will be invited to represent their region in the 5-day long National Grand Final competition, held at one of Hillary Outdoors amazing outdoor centres in the North Island.
Gear list (individual)
- Clothes and footwear (appropriate for running and biking in that may get wet and muddy)
- Solid running/sports shoes (NB – for climbing challenges a clean/dry pair will be needed)
- Warm layers of clothes (bring spares just in case it is really cold)
- Warm hats/gloves
- Sunhat/sunscreen
- Spare socks
- Shorts/t-shirts…etc
- Raincoat/windbreak jacket
- A spare set of warm dry clothes and a towel for after the water activity (be prepared to get totally wet. You never know!)
- A wetsuit for the water activity (optional but highly recommended if its cold!)
- Plenty of food and water (for the whole day)
- Personal medication – inhalers…etc
- A whistle
- A camera (optional)
Gear List (Team)
- A comprehensive First Aid kit (your school should have one of these)
- At least two mountain bikes of suitable size for the whole team to share (make sure the brakes and gears work). If the mountain bike challenge officials do not think the bikes are in safe condition to ride then they will not let you ride them. Instead you might have to run/push them around the course! Consider ‘flat pedals’ so all team members can ride each bike safely and comfortably. It is a VERY good idea to get your students to practice riding the team bikes before the event, so they can get used to the gears/brakes and feel of the bike. Note – no e-bikes may be used.
- A basic bicycle repair kit to fix punctures, including a pump that fits both bikes. You never know tyre changing might be part of the activity!
- Ideally you have 8 safety approved mountain bike helmets, so one per team member. If you can’t get hold of 8 you can get away with 4 helmets to be shared by the team.
- At least 2 compasses (for the orienteering challenge)
- A least 4 watches that work for timekeeping
- Detailed street/road maps for the town/area where the day will be held (to help you navigate between challenges). Or a good map/navigation app on your smartphone.
- At least 4 pencils
- At least 4 permanent marker type pens
- Paper may be useful for writing notes and solving problems
- A team vehicle(s) to transport your team and mountain bikes around during the whole day. Most teams are able to fit the two mountain bikes inside the van with the passengers if they first remove the front wheels.
Cancellation/postponement
The Get2Go Challenges generally go ahead regardless of the weather conditions and in general there is no postponement or cancellation. Some challenges may be modified or shortened if the weather is particularly bad. We have postponed only two Get2Go challenges in the last 17 years, due to unsafe weather, but in general this isn’t really an option. As long as students are prepared with the right gear, they can still have a super cool day out.
Be Social
We like to be social, if you do also please follow us on our main social media channels (Instagram and Facebook) to keep up to date on all the cool stuff we are up to. You can search for us @hillaryoutdoors and if you post any of your cool outdoor pics it would be great if you can ‘tag’ us in!
And finally…
Remember, the Get2Go Challenge is an outdoor education team challenge designed to cater for all levels of experience. Some schools will have more experience than others and there will even be some students that are trying these activities for the very first time. While there are points on the line at the activities, first and foremost it is about participation and getting out there, taking on the challenges and having fun. Good teamwork is essential, the more you look after your team-mates and support them the more fun you will have and the more you will get out of it.