MILT
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Had a club event over the weekend. My favorite event, but this year it was ruined.
This event is in the snowy north; the first event in 6 months. So there’s 2-3 feet of snow, then ice, then sand or mud. Depending on temps it may be super slick or very greasy. I love it because it’s a balance of technical (off camber on ice driving between trees) and finding the balance of power in 4-lo or wheel speed in 4-hi
it was ruined for 3 main reasons all of which caused massive hour long trail delays:
1) noobs: I was once a noob. we want new people in this sport! If you are a beginner to the scene then please join a club. You need someone to help guide you on driving skills, lines, and to help with recoveries. Your club would tell you that your pizza cutter tires are not cut out for this event. They would organize your group so that you didn’t have experience levels in descending order—the least experienced driver should not be struggling at the end of the pack. You have to have an experienced tail gunner. This goes into #2
2) bad clubs; if you aren’t supporting less experienced members then you’re a crappy Jeep club. If you’re too busy taking drone videos or using selfie sticks then pull over and let people drive past until you get your issues figured out. I know it’s going to be a bad day if I see someone practicing their drone flying in the staging lot or see someone’s YouTube channel listed on their Jeep.
3) getting stuck. I spent 3 hours parked on trails because people got stuck and had no idea what to do. Anyone going off-road should be watching videos on self recovery and have an idea of what recovery gear they should have. Getting stuck is fine! Know what you need to do and do it. For example—in one situation after waiting in line for a half hour I walked 1/2 mile to see what the problem was. Two people broke down and no one knew what to do. Several of us had to tell the people what to do with the recovery gear they had
In summary;
-get experience from those that have it
-know what recovery equipment you should have
-know what your vehicle and driver are capable of doing
-have radios to communicate problems
-if you can’t afford a winch then bring a shovel and traction boards (or do all the above)
-if someone breaks down/gets stuck communication to others is key to getting going again.
-don’t be a YouTube jerk while people are waiting behind you
-if you plan to cut trail have a capable rig, recovery gear and bring a damn chainsaw!
-if you’re a noob join a club.
Make sure that club helps you
Thanks. Needed to get that off my chest.
This event is in the snowy north; the first event in 6 months. So there’s 2-3 feet of snow, then ice, then sand or mud. Depending on temps it may be super slick or very greasy. I love it because it’s a balance of technical (off camber on ice driving between trees) and finding the balance of power in 4-lo or wheel speed in 4-hi
it was ruined for 3 main reasons all of which caused massive hour long trail delays:
1) noobs: I was once a noob. we want new people in this sport! If you are a beginner to the scene then please join a club. You need someone to help guide you on driving skills, lines, and to help with recoveries. Your club would tell you that your pizza cutter tires are not cut out for this event. They would organize your group so that you didn’t have experience levels in descending order—the least experienced driver should not be struggling at the end of the pack. You have to have an experienced tail gunner. This goes into #2
2) bad clubs; if you aren’t supporting less experienced members then you’re a crappy Jeep club. If you’re too busy taking drone videos or using selfie sticks then pull over and let people drive past until you get your issues figured out. I know it’s going to be a bad day if I see someone practicing their drone flying in the staging lot or see someone’s YouTube channel listed on their Jeep.
3) getting stuck. I spent 3 hours parked on trails because people got stuck and had no idea what to do. Anyone going off-road should be watching videos on self recovery and have an idea of what recovery gear they should have. Getting stuck is fine! Know what you need to do and do it. For example—in one situation after waiting in line for a half hour I walked 1/2 mile to see what the problem was. Two people broke down and no one knew what to do. Several of us had to tell the people what to do with the recovery gear they had
In summary;
-get experience from those that have it
-know what recovery equipment you should have
-know what your vehicle and driver are capable of doing
-have radios to communicate problems
-if you can’t afford a winch then bring a shovel and traction boards (or do all the above)
-if someone breaks down/gets stuck communication to others is key to getting going again.
-don’t be a YouTube jerk while people are waiting behind you
-if you plan to cut trail have a capable rig, recovery gear and bring a damn chainsaw!
-if you’re a noob join a club.
Make sure that club helps you
Thanks. Needed to get that off my chest.
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