STATUS:   CLOSED

The 2025 Series will open 1st February

             NCS - At the heart of PILOT DEVELOPMENT

All the tasks and Rules for 2025 are now available for download. The tasks - MAIN and HIKE n FLY, can be directly accessed via the links below from xcmap.

IMPORTANT - for 2025 you will need to be PILOT rated to attempt any MAIN or H&F tasks. Please read the Rules download regarding the new requirements for CP rated pilots. A Declaration form is available in the downloads at the bottom of the screen and on the XCmap task page.

XCMAP - Main Series 

XCMAP - Hike & Fly Series

The *2025 Series will open 1st February and close on 31st October.  Minor changes can be accessed by the downloads under the latest (Jan '25) Rules and Aims.  *The OPEN date above applies ONLY if the resident club has notified the site as being open.

The Background and Aims are worth a read if you're unfamiliar with the NCS.

Also. purely for background reading, are some  general notes on task setting (mainly designed for task setters) .... but they provide some insight for everyone.

TASK SETTING NOTES

The 2025 tasks remain  unchanged from 2024. Any changes will be notified here no later than 25th Jan 2025.                             

MAIN series -  A major revamp and refresh of the Series was done in 2024. Nine new tasks, four new sites.     These are unchanged for 2025.       

HIKE n FLY series -  The Dales Three Peaks is retained, otherwise a set of 'day tasks'.       Unchanged for 2025

NCT - Trophy photo link

                           Powered by XCMAP.NET (with thanks to Chris Foster)

For previous year results please go to xcmap

What is the Northern Challenge Series (NCS)?

The Northern Challenge Series is, in part, an extended competition offering a fresh approach to accommodating the British weather and pilot availability through a series of standing, focused tasks. It  provides maximum convenience, flexibility and opportunity for pilots wishing to use it as pilot development.   In large part it's also a response to the difficulty of getting enough pilots and the weather to coalesce around fixed date events. The NCS is designed to overcome current difficulties - be all things to all pilots and add extra spice (and learning) to a day's flying.

The NCS runs from 1st February - 31st October and offers up a series of 14 main tasks plus a subsidiary set of six Hike and Fly tasks running as a separate challenge. ALL tasks are open to full members of the BHPA (including visiting pilots). There is no entry fee or prior registration. Please note ... the odd site  (Stags Fell/ Model Ridge)  may be 'members only'. Read the Club site guides.

For those not of a competitive nature then tasks can be viewed as valuable pilot development  with the emphasis on navigation and instrument use, decision making and exploring what's possible (pushing your own and the site envelope). They could form useful coaching day activities if a signed off declaration/briefing is done prior to attempting (for CP rated pilots). Many of the tasks have been designed to comply with BHPA guidance for site/ridge based tasks.

The tasks are hosted on xcmap.net which provides for  easy downloads of the tasks in various formats including a QR code, a task map with cylinders and straightforward uploads with integral scoring. It also contains an historical tasks league.

Full details are provided via several downloads. These are:

*  AIMS and RULES  

*  TASKS for 2025 (MAIN) and the HIKE & FLY elements.

*  DECLARATION form

      PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ALL DOWNLOADS INFORMATION

              Windrose for tasks including task types.      Courtesey of Tam Morrison