avalanche

Avalanche Ranch ROCK RACING ... a new twist on good old fun! Published in 4x4 wire.com

Coming to the Avalanche Ranch October 24-25-26, 2003.

Remember when Ned Bacon of Four Wheeler Magazine wrote that competitions aren't anything like old-fashioned trail riding, and should be called rock racing? Boy, that was so wrong -- he should have called what those events Rock-Clogging or simply Roll-Fests. The event rules on highly skilled drivers and how they build their machines have slowed the action down... without the rollovers, watching competitors run one short section of trail again and again can get pretty boring. Sometimes the rolls are the only real action!

I personally can't see myself watching another stage judge counting one-one thousand, two-one thousand... Or, a team pointing out of a stage because the spotter touched a cone with his foot. Rock Racing. Heck, that is what RCAA, UROC, Pro Rock etc... have been accused doing to old-fashion rock crawling anyway, right? If it looks like a duck? Or is it?

Steve and Weaver's idea of Rock Racing takes Ned's old accusation and applies it to a whole alternate universe, leaning more towards a real race that a NASCAR/Baja 500 fan might tune into/onto. Really! No restrictor plates at the ranch!! No cones, no back-up penalties, and long enough time limits to allow occasional pit-crew repairs of previously unthinkable proportions, with stages that are a full half mile long?

No kidding! Steve's races has more than rocks to negotiate. Imagine running a trail like Sidewinder (it took Lisa and me 4 hours with a few short stops) in ten minutes, then jumping back onto the main road for a 70+ MPH race to, then through Enigma in 7 minutes, followed by a speed run back to the flats, finishing over a set of jumps -- and that is just ONE stage!

Remember when multi-purpose rigs with high horsepower and broad capabilities were outmoded by the super-direct single-purpose rigs built for short point-and-shoot RCAA type obstacles? Well, this changes all that. In the prototype experimental event held earlier this year, four rigs did battle for bragging rights. RJ Brown, 4x4Wire's Terry 'the Tiger' Howe, Rich and Ryan Schmaus from Wisconsin, Mike Palmer -- the guy who has always treated UROC and the other old-fashioned competitions like they were true rock races. During the course of that first experimental event, Mike Palmer led throughout the first day by substantial time margins only to have a breakdown that he could not prepare for -- a broken output on his Atlas II transfer case. RJ Brown had tire and wheel problems. After a great day, Terry was driving back to his trailer when a small fuel leak ignited, causing him slight burns and damaging his rig to the point that he could not run on Day Two. In that prototype event, the winner was decided by who was able to get enough repairs in to show up for Day Two. Hence Team Schmaus of Wisconsin won.

After the event, Palmer said, "Steve's rock race is the best thing to happen to 4 wheeling ever. It takes what we used to do (with trail riding) but adds speed." Mike continued with typical Palmer enthusiasm. "My spotter used to say ... a little left, stop, wait, let me move a rock. NOW my co-pilot says 'WHAAAA HOOOO, GET IT BUTCHY!!'"

I can imagine Mike Palmer who has 700+ ponies, running that rig flat out between rock courses, not to mention the high flying rock-smashing action on the trails. I'll be there October 24-26, 2003! Will you? I'm itching to see more of the Judgement Day trail I have been hearing about. Steve says it will be the extremest of the extreme, with obstacle stacked on obstacle, a non-stop thrash-fest guaranteed to challenge the most-built vehicles even with the most-experienced drivers.

The tortoise might beat the hare, but in this new type of event, maybe they all will be hares?