Explorer Scouts walk a route of about 40 miles. They begin on a Friday evening from a location only made known to them via a phone call earlier the same evening. At the start, and at each of the regular checkpoints, they are given their next destination grid reference, never knowing their final destination or how far away it is. Late on Friday night they regroup at another secret location and sleep rough in survival bags before being awoken in the early hours to continue the walk. The successful teams can expect to continue walking throughout Saturday and late into the evening before they complete the distance.

This is an exercise in endurance, teamwork, morale and above all navigation, using a traditional map and compass. A story strings the weekend together to give the teams a further element to contend with. This is a notoriously difficult weekend, which has teams returning year after year to try and 'conquer' the event.