Rockall Expedition

In late May 2023 a team set off from the mainland UK, and after several days sailing, they landed on Rockall Island, more than 200 nautical miles from the West Coast of Scotland and the nearest civilisation. Their intention is to break the current world record for time spent on Rockall, and to raise as much for The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity as possible.

Due to significantly deteriorating weather, Cam aborted the expedition and was extracted from Rockall on 28th June by Rescue 22, a helicopter from HM Coastguard.

The story does not end there though. In spring 2024, Cam and a team intend to return to Rockall, to recover equipment, and to repair and replace existing plaques on the rock.

We still have a long way to go to reach the £50,000 target. Please consider donating and sharing our story.

You can view our Press Kit (including latest updates, more about the expedition and licensed imagery here)

Rockall Book Now Available

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The Expedition Team

Cam Cameron VR FRGS

Expedition Lead

Chris “Cam” Cameron grew up in Buckie in the Northeast of Scotland and spent much of his time on oil tankers, driven by his father, a master mariner from Findochty. He joined the British Army as A regular infantry soldier and spent 6 years with the Gordon highlanders.

A husband and father of two, he trained as a marine biologist and oceanographer in Aberdeen and holds a PGCE. He is also commercially qualified as a skipper and Yacht-Master Offshore, and has been working professionally at sea since 1992.

He was First inspired to occupy Rockall after listening to a presentation given by The Royal Navy Atlantic Rowing team, by the exploits of the adventurer Nick Hancock and the determination of an old acquaintance; Talan Skeel-Piggins, Paralympic Skier.

Cam works as a Senior Trainer for Babcock International Group, providing specialist training to military personnel within the UK.

Nobby Styles

Expedition Radio Operator

Nobby Styles will be joining the expedition to operate a HAM radio on Rockall island. Originally from Dartford, Kent, Nobby first became interested in amateur radio during his teen years tinkering with a CB radio and soon became addicted to the hobby.

As far as ham radio broadcasts go, rockall is the pinnacle. It is perhaps the rarest and most difficult of places to broadcast from in the whole world, and he is extremely excited to be able to broadcast from the rock, as are the amateur radio community and iota chasers!

Nobby will land with the team on the first day, and for 24 hours will be answering transmissions from radio operators around the world, before granting them their own custom rockall post card (or qsl card) which nobby has kindly designed for us, in exchange for donations for our great causes.

For the amatuer radio community this opportunity is practically once in a lifetime With only a couple of Operations to Rockall and with less than 400 claimed QsL's.

Emil Bergmann

Expedition Mountaineer & Radio Operator

Emil Bergmann was born in Bulgaria and now lives in Germany. An electronics engineer, working in telecommunications and network database systems, Emil is a radio Ham, callsign DL8JJ and a keen freeclimber. He has climbed Mt Elbrus, Kirgistan, Kasachstan, Tjian Shan, climbed Khan Tengri (7000mtrs.) Kamchatka, Iran, Polar circle, and also El Capitan (via Salathe wall) and Half Dome in Yosemite National park in USA and many more challenging walls in the world.

Emil brings a wealth of experience to the team, as a radio enthusiast and climber and is looking forward to his next challenge on Rockall.

The SUPPORt Team

Harry Brayford

Expedition Communications Manager

Harry is the expedition's communications manager and digital expert. Born in Yorkshire, he met Cam whilst studying at university in Bristol as a member of the University Royal Navy Reserve unit. He has been working with Cam since the very beginning of the project, managing all of the digital aspects of the expedition, including the expedition branding creation, website creation and on going management.

He is the shore based point of contact for all media enquiries, and will remain in satellite communications contact with Cam throughout the duration of the expedition.

Outside of the expedition, Harry is an IT Manager at a telecomms business, and splits his spare time between landscape photography, riding his mountain bike and providing logistical support as a convoy driver at all levels of cycle road racing in the UK.

James Price

Expedition Specialist

James was born on the sun baked planes of western Australia. He spent his childhood on the move: living and growing on 4 different continents and in 3 different languages. In 2018 he graduated with an engineering degree from Bristol University but he quickly traded numbers and spreadsheets for ice axes and crampons. Today, if he's not skiing new routes in the Himalaya, solo climbing north faces in the alps or hanging from icicles in the andes, you'll find him in the village of Flumet (nestled in the french alps), where he works as a care worker in a nursing home.

From snowcapped mountains to wind-blasted islet James is the expedition specialist. His task is to get the team to the summit of Rockall and down again safely. If James is out of his depth on Rockall, height will not be a problem: having scaled virgin 7000m peaks in the karakoram earlier this year.

a fundraising video...

Filmmaker Aaron Wheeler and team have helped us make this video as part of fundraising efforts.

The Expedition

In May 2023 our team successfully landed on Rockall Island, more than 200 nautical miles from the West Coast of Scotland, and the nearest civilisation. Their intention is to survive on the tiny island battling winds and waves in order to raise £50,000 for charity. The radio operators took over 7,500 radio contacts during their time on the island. Now, only Cam Cameron remains. His aim – inhabit Rockall for 60 days.

Due to significantly deteriorating weather, Cam aborted the expedition and was extracted from Rockall on 28th June by Rescue 22, a helicopter from HM Coastguard.

Cam, Nobby and Emil returned to Rockall in mid-July 2023 to in an attempt to recover all the remaining equipment, and leave Rockall how they found it, however due to ferrocious weather, they were forced to abort the mission.

Cam and a fresh expedition team plan to make another recovery attempt in April 2024, to ensure Rockall is left in the state it was found. In addition to removing equipment, they will conduct LiDAR scans of Halls Edge, and replace plaques from previous expeditions which have been washed away.

Days

The expedition has now been aborted due to deteriorating weather.

Track our vessel on the voyage to clean up Rockall

The Radio TRansmissions

The expedition team is made up of a number of highly experienced radio operators who ran 24×7 transmissions on SSB CW and FT8 for almost a week, with two radios transmitting simultaneously.

A big thanks goes to 73 Rob GM3YTS for the donation and support so far.

Read more about the radio transmissions here.

Help us to raise £50,000 to support our amazing charities.

1 Team Rock EPIC EXPEDITION ...

The Location

57°35'28.79" N 13°41'11.39" W

Rockall is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, 200NM to the east.

The UK claimed Rockall on 18 September 1955 when “Two Royal Marines and a civilian naturalist, led by Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, raised a Union flag on the islet and cemented a plaque into the rock”.

Rockall stands at 17.15m above sea level at it’s tallest point, covering an area of just 784.3 m².

Of the 110 people who have successfully landed at Rockall in over 200 years, only 5 have survived more than one night there.

The CHarities

The expedition aims to raise £50,000 for a number of amazing military charities.

Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity

The Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity is the principle charity of the Royal Navy. They exist to support sailors, marines, and their families, for life.

Beneficiaries lie at the heart of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity’s purpose, it is their duty to remain focused on their needs. Since 2007, they have funded projects and facilities that boost morale for those who serve today. They also distribute millions of pounds annually to military charities which care for the children, families and veterans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

ABF The Soldiers' Charity

ABF The Soldiers’ Charity (formerly the Army Benevolent Fund) is the national charity of the British Army. Since 1944, it has provided a lifetime of support to soldiers, veterans and their immediate families when they are in need.

They stand at the forefront of support for the Army family, last year supporting 65,000 people in 48 countries around the world. As one of the largest funders in the sector, they award grants to individuals and families, and fund leading organisations that support soldiers, former soldiers, and their families. When they hear of a person or family in need, they aim to respond within 48 hours

Want to be a Corporate Sponsor?

Get in touch with us to find out more about how you can support the expedition and benefit your business or organisation.

Our Supporters

We already have a number of amazing companies who have pledged their support to our expedition, including our headline sponsor, Babcock International Group, and SaxaVord – UK Space Port, who are very kindly covering the cost of all out satellite communications. Without this support, we would be very limited in the updates we would get from Rockall.

Rockall - The Edge of Existence (Documentary)

Filmmaker Aaron Wheeler and team are making a documentary about Rockall, which we hope will include joining us on our expedition.