The 2024 18th Bishops Epic takes place from 19 November to 4 December. The afternoon and evening of 3rd December will be the night when boys and their fathers/father-figures reunite.
The Bishops Epic is a 16-day journey at the end of the year by Grade 10 boys through a series of bases across the remote Cederberg, where they will experience a wide range of activities which will test them physically and mentally and allow them to appreciate the landscape as well as the people and the history of the area.
The boys will hike with staff and on their own, they will cycle along country roads and mountain-bike, challenge themselves on the banks of the Clanwilliam Dam through water-skiing, kayaking and sailing and work with school children at Elizabethfontein or Grootkloof Primary Schools. They will also be stationed at Sanddrift and/ or Jamaka, where they will learn a range of skills, from abseiling and horse-riding, to rock-climbing and shooting, study San art and contribute to the upgrading of the environment in which they find themselves. They will also experience a 24-hour solo in the bush. On the final evening, there will be time for fathers/ father-figures to join their sons and make the whole experience a significant “rite of passage” for every boy, into the senior phase of high school.
Many staff will be rotated through each of the bases, supervising operations.
In preparation for the Epic, boys will learn a range of new skills during the course of their Grade 10 year and the Epic Training Week, which will help them prepare for the challenges they will face. Being physically prepared for the Epic will help to make the experience even more enjoyable.