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For the second year running Polaris is proud to support Future Terrain on its latest endeavour, this time across UK green lanes.
Future Terrain is an armed forces rehabilitation and vocational transition charity, helping those who have served their country to move on to the next stage of their life and providing the tools needed for new opportunities for the future. Founded in 2016 by Grant White, a 25-year Royal Marine and lower leg amputee, Future Terrain has gone on to become one of the first in the world to aid the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded, injured and sick service personnel through motorsport adventures and expeditions.
This year, Future Terrain has continued to use Polaris off-road vehicles to provide driving-related engineering training, qualification enhancement and pre-event terrain testing for their latest endeavour across the UK – the Osprey Endeavour – which successfully took place from 7-12th August.
Initial training began on Monday 8th August at ZipWorld’s Penrhyn Slate Quarry in Wales, where each of the beneficiaries earned the certified LANTRA operator qualification after successfully carrying out daily checks, riding over a variety of terrain and ground conditions as well as successfully executing a failed hill climb. This not only ensured all participants were fully equipped with the right piloting skills to safely complete the Osprey Endeavour, but also opened the doors to future opportunities with their new skillset and qualifications.
Named after the tough and robust Osprey bird, like all Future Terrain’s endeavours are, the Osprey Endeavour officially began Tuesday morning. Spending a couple of days exploring the UK’s Green Lanes with the help from the Green Lane Association (GLASS) the team made it to the highest peaks of the Penrhyn area – a place where previously the veterans would never have reached without proper training on the operation and capabilities of the Polaris vehicles.
Charles Sincock, founder and trustee said: “They are amazing off-road vehicles – their capability of travelling over such uneven terrain means that the beneficiaries never need to get out of the vehicle, this enables us to maximise physical inclusivity for our disabled veterans. The CVT automatic gearbox means we can easily fit the modified hand controls resulting in us being able to help as many veterans as possible, which is our aim.”
Future Terrain uses bespoke hand controls that have been optimised for the Polaris side-by-sides and the injury of the service personnel. Charles and Grant – the founders – always find a way to cater the vehicle to the beneficiary. If a beneficiary has trouble bending their knees due to being an amputee, a vehicle with a longer footwell is provided, in this case it was the RZR Pro XP.
Due to the great progress the service personnel were making, Future Terrain even had the opportunity to offer an introduction into sit-on ATV LANTRA training to a select few. Towards the end of the endeavour, the team used the Scrambler XP 1000 S to give a very light introduction to ATV riding.
After a challenging week, the Future Terrain beneficiaries accomplished something they only dreamed possible, which was topped off with a closing celebration of flying through the air upon Velocity 2, the fastest zipline in the world.
For more information on Future Terrain, please visit http://www.futureterrain.co.uk/, or follow their latest projects and endeavours on Facebook and Instagram.
For more details about Lantra certifications see www.lantra.co.uk
For more information on the Green Lane Association see https://glass-uk.org/
FOR FURTHER MEDIA INFORMATION ON POLARIS ORV PRODUCTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE POLARIS ORV MEDIA OFFICE AT PRESS@POLARIS-ORV.MEDIA.
About Polaris
As the global leader in powersports, Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII) pioneers product breakthroughs and enriching experiences and services that have invited people to discover the joy of being outdoors since our founding in 1954. Polaris’ high-quality product line-up includes the Polaris RANGER®, RZR® and Polaris GENERAL™ side-by-side off-road vehicles; Sportsman® all-terrain off-road vehicles; military and commercial off-road vehicles; snowmobiles; Indian Motorcycle® mid-size and heavyweight motorcycles; Slingshot® moto-roadsters; Aixam quadricycles; Goupil electric vehicles; and pontoon and deck boats, including industry-leading Bennington pontoons. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a robust portfolio of parts, garments, and accessories. Proudly headquartered in Minnesota, Polaris serves more than 100 countries across the globe. www.polaris.com
