Joe and I have been to several WE Rock events, but always up north in Oroville CA. This time we headed East to Donner Ski Ranch in Tahoe. Donner Ski Ranch offers some incredible natural terrain,  a far cry from the man made course in Oroville. I am not saying that it Oroville sucks now, but it's very different.

Personally, I liked the course layout more than Oroville as you could hike up and down the mountain and get much closer to the action in many ways. Joe disliked the fact that you had to walk (hike really) around more the steep rocky inclines were more than he was up for. I thought he was being a puss really. HAHA sorry Joe, couldn't resist the jab. I know, "that's what she said" right? zing!

Anyway, the day started off pretty cold. About 50 degrees, with a supposed high of 60. There was pockets of snow in the shadow areas behind rocky areas that did not get warmed by the sun as much. But by mid afternoon it was warm, getting hot really. We got a little sunburned as the high mountain areas do not offer much in the way of shade.

The course seemed to give the drivers a real run for their money. I overheard one of the unlimited drivers taking to his spotter saying, "I hope the judges are up on their three tire inside the cone rule." Indicating that the course was going to be tough.

The course had several steep off camber slides and the cones were strategically placed so that drivers would slide down the slick rocks and possibly roll over. For those thinking the side hilling would be easy, think again. The granite rocks become super slick with only a drop of water.

The highlight of the day, had to be the nasty back flip that Nicole Johnson took while attempting the bonus line on A2 (or A3?) Had a rock not stopped her, perching her vehicle precariously on the edge of yet another cliff she would have flipped at least two more times end over end before resting at the bottom. Fortunately she was okay. Her vehicle on the other hand needed some serious work.

Overall, the day was filled with lots of spectacular flips and rolls. I think the crowd really enjoys the rolls so the course designers did a great job of ensuring that. I also think that this course really challenged and pushed the drivers to think outside the box. I am looking forward to more events up in Tahoe.

Here is a video montage of the pics and video that we took. Since the video is so small, I suggest you all to check out the 2010 WE Rock at Donner photo page after watching the video to see the large pictures.

While Hull Mountain may not be the dirtiest place I have ever seen, it was in need of a cleanup day. After all, if we don't take care of our own backyard, it may get closed forever. So on May 22nd we wrangled up a few caring folks and gave it a good clean up.

We had a small group of volunteers, but a caring one. There were several people from the the Redwood Off-Road Club up in Eureka. We also had a group of Tacoma guys come up from San Jose, and a couple from Sacramento. We were hoping for a bigger turn out of local guys, but we greatly appreciated the help from the few people that showed up.

Thanks everyone that showed up, I think everyone will appreciate the work you put into the clean up day.

The clean up day itself was an odd one. When Joe and I first arrived, at about 10am the sun was shining and it looked like it was going to be a decent day. By 11am, all that was gone, and instead it was raining, then hail, then sun, then you guessed it, more of the same unpredictable weather. My group actually saw quite a bit of snow as we trekked up the mountain towards the hang glider launch pad. Talk about seeing all the seasons in one day! Wow!

We broke up into three groups and worked our way up and down the mountain concentrating at a few key problem areas. In about 4 hours, our three groups were able to fill a 10' trash trailer with 6' sides to the brim, an 18' car hauler with 2' sides was heaping, and several pickup beds were filled with tires, scrap metal, appliances, bottles and cans, and everything in between. I am still amazed that we collected so much trash, yet, there was still more to be cleaned. At least we got much of it. That makes me feel pretty good at least.

It was a work day, so I didn't take many photos of the crew, but I did manage to get a few towards the end of the day when we were preparing to break for the day. Just look at all that trash! Thanks again everyone that helped with the actual cleanup, or pitched in some cash to help pay for the disposal fees and food for everyone.

I know the only reason most of you are coming here is to see the video. So lets cut to the chase shall we.

My brother Joe, talked me into competing this year at the Surplus City 4th Annual Mud & Crawl event held at the Urban Assault OHV Combat Zone up in Oroville CA.

Joe was my spotter, and I was driving "Wobbly Bob" (that's the name of my Jeep). We have never competed before and have limited experience in the rocks. I had hoped that our first competition would have turned out better than it did, but that would be too easy.

On the first course (C1) I broke my front driver side hub right out of the gate. In the video you can see at about 1:23 while backing up the jeep come to an abrupt halt. Then continues with a slight pop. We were so focused on the course that we failed to notice it. Not knowing the front hub was broken, I tried to climb the concrete obstacle at the third gate and broke my rear passenger side axle shaft (approx. 1:57). Thus ending my first ever event course just four short minutes after it started.

Don't count us out though, we Aplet's are resourceful bastards. We replaced the rear axel shaft with a spare, "jimmy rigged" the front hub into the locked position, reused the old gear oil and went back out in hopes of completing the rest of the courses. Only, we rolled it on gate two. (should have stuck to the plan...)

In our original plan, we were going to winch to the top of the slick rock climb below gate three, but after tapping a bonus cone on gate one, we decided that we wanted to try and keep the 15 points that we would have taken for winching, and instead gun it up the slick rock climb to gate three. Bad idea as you will see in the video. As I start to climb the slick rock the jeep drifts just a bit and my rear tire catches a tree spinning me 90 degrees whirling me into a concrete obstacle at close to full throttle. (approx. 2:54)

What did we learn from this? Pay attention to everything! The spotter can only see so much. Communicate more, and above all. Stick to the plan unless you absolutely must change your strategy!

April 24th and 25th 2010 marks the 4th Annual Surplus City Spring Mud & Crawl. As the title hints, this event offers two days of off road goodness. Not only will there be traditional rockcrawling on the Urban Assault OHV Combat Zone, but also a trench, filled with gooey, truck stopping mud. And lastly a teeter totter. Yes a teeter totter for vehicles. I have never seen that before, but apparently they have one.

Joe and I have been twice to the Oroville location, but always as a spectator. This April, we will be there as a competitor too. We will be entering into the Super Modified class with my 1942 Willys Jeep. I will be driving and Joe is going to be my spotter. Joe and I have never been in a contest before, and honestly, I have only wheeled my jeep in the rocks a handful of times last summer. Since Joe and I are very inexperienced (noobs) and this course can be challenging even for seasoned pros, I think it's going to be a very entertaining day to say the least.

If you don't already have plans for the weekend of April 24th Then please make the trip up north to Oroville and cheer us on. We can probably use the support. (By support I mean we need people to help pick up the broken pieces we leave behind) The Super Modified Class starts at 11 AM on Saturday. Adults are $10 and children are $5. (children under 5 are free)

Curious about the Urban Assault OHV Combat Zone? Take a look at this years W.E Rock event pictures or last years video that I posted on youtube. Lastly here is a link to last years W.E. Rock pictures for good measure. just in case you needed more proof that this event promises carnage.

Need Directions? It's right off the road on hwy 70

View Larger Map

Day one has finished and we are getting ready to head back up to Oroville to watch round two of the World Extreme Rockcrawling Championships or W.E. Rock for short. Day one ended quickly, with all competitors finishing up around 2:30 in the afternoon. But not without plenty of axel breakage, body damage, and just all around carnage. Here are a few pictures from day one. I will post the photos from day two when we get back.