Good planning and good fortune saw mild, dry and even sunny weather grace the annual Youth Outdoor Challenge Event at the Badaguish Cairngorm Outdoor Centre near Aviemore. The annual 2-day orienteering type challenge attracted a record 75 teams of teenagers from schools and clubs from all over the North of Scotland and was double the number of teams who took part last year. The teams had to navigate themselves around a 28km course set over the two days and also camp and cook for themselves for two nights at the Centre. As well as raising funds for the Centre to buy special equipment the event introduces teenagers to the beauties of the surrounding Cairngorm National Park, encourages outdoor skills and teamwork and helps to foster an 'all abilities' participation culture. It is also and most importantly meant to be 'good fun'!

The teams started arriving on Friday night and careful allocation of camping ground by Bob the Warden ensured that everyone just fitted in! It was great to see the teams (and grown ups) enjoy scrambling over the new all abilities 'Spider Net' climbing frame which was only finally completed the night before and that they had raised funds to buy from last year's event. After a quiet and relaxing evening around the camp (not!), the teams slept well and awoke fresh on Saturday morning for the event proper.

After the launch of the 2006 event song (which everyone 'loved' - ooh aah!) and the event welcome and brief the teams set off on the buses for the Day 1 Start. This year's course had a Day 1 route starting at the Rothiemurchus camp site at Coylumbridge, heading cross-country to beautiful Loch an Eilein and then back through the Rothiemurchus Estate and forest to the east side of Loch Morlich and then back up to the Badaguish finish. The vast majority of the teams managed to find all the Control Points on Day 1 and also finished in very impressive times and with huge smiles on the faces at the finishing line! The introduction of mandatory kit checks at certain Control Points to ensure teams had the minimum items of kit to ensure safety caused a few wee problems and hence some teams incurred penalty time points that ultimately affected their overall time and position; hopefully next year everyone will be aware of this important safety requirement and the system will be reviewed to see if we can streamline it a bit.

At the end of Day 1, the leading team was Nairn Academy's 'The A Team' with last year's winners '2½ Amigos' (Keith Grammar School) only 9 seconds behind and 'Hard Grit' (Culloden Academy) lying in third place.

Saturday evening saw everyone enjoy the activities laid on with many people taking part in abseiling, flying down the zipwire, climbing up the High Ropes Course or just wandering round and blethering before a much quieter and well-earned sleepy night!

Sunday dawned to a 'Perfect Day' with sunshine streaming through the trees and the teams were transported up to the Day 2 Start at the 'Sugar Bowl' car park area near Cairngorm. Sunday's route then descended on the Allt Mor trail to Glenmore Forest before taking an 'undulating route' above and then around Loch Morlich before following the smell of the finish BBQ back to Badaguish!

Once again the teams did an excellent job on Control Point finding with only two points proving a little troublesome. Once everyone was back the BBQ went into full swing, the music got louder, the results team went into a busy huddle and a general party atmosphere ensued. At 4.30pm everyone gathered in the large Sports Hall for the results and prize-giving ceremony. It was great to have Andrew Thin, the Convenor of the Cairngorm National Park, along to present prizes and we are all very grateful to him for his ongoing wonderful support for the event.

The winning team this year and retaining the trophy they won last year was the '2½ Amigos' from Keith Grammar School who had the best time over the course on both days with all control points visited. Runners up were 'Hard Grit' from Culloden Academy and third place taken by 'Your Mum' from Millburn Academy.

Everyone taking part received a commemorative event T-Shirt and a water bottle kindly donated by Outdoor Retailer Graham Tiso Ltd. It was brilliant to see regular teams taking part from Farr High School, Dufftown Youth Club, Nairn Academy, Moray Steiner School, Milnes High School and Millburn Academy and it really great to welcome new teams from Lossiemouth High School, Culloden Academy and Elgin High School.

Event organiser Paul Corrigan told the local press:

"Once again we were blessed with good weather and it was truly amazing and rewarding to see so many youngsters camping, enjoying and learning about the outdoors, having fun and giving their all on each day's route and all behaving so well. The teams really did themselves proud, respected the area and at no time let anyone down but instead showed what teenagers are really all about and can achieve but rarely gets spoken about!

There were an incredible 75 teams taking part from 10 schools/clubs and at it's height, the Centre had over 400 people on site. The success rate for 'Control Point finding' over the two days was 97% - a highly impressive achievement for 75 young teams!

It has been another fantastic and very successful and fun weekend for everyone and it was wonderful to see the teams try out the new 'all abilities climbing frame' that their sponsorship money raised from last year's event helped to buy.

The motto of the event is 'A Challenge For Young People Helping People Facing Challenges' and these kids have once again risen to and met the challenge.

I am once again very grateful for the support and help given by teachers, leaders, parents and Centre staff who also come along and give their time and services freely. My sincere thanks also go to Rothiemurchus Estate, Forestry Commission Scotland, Cairngorm Mountain, Colin Stewart Coaches, Cairngorm Rangers, Cairngorm National Park Authority, Spey Valley Hire Ltd and Graham Tiso Ltd for all their help and support without which the event would be impossible. This year funds raised from the event will go towards replacing the ageing furniture in the Respite Lodge and towards a new all-abilities mountain bike fun area at the Centre."

Well done to everyone and thank you for your support - hope to see you next year!