4x4wire, UROC, Cedar City, Utah

It was a frazzled group of three that headed out to cover the second UROC sponsored event of 2002. Competitors were vying for a top ten finish that would allow them to compete among the elite in the World Championship Super Crawl. After a 10 hour drive through the desert of Nevada, dodging suicidal rabbits and cows that haven’t quite figured out how the game of "Ditch" works, our road wary group finally pulled in to Cedar City. We were so tired, in fact, that we completely missed the bevy of monster tires and machinery that was parked on the street as we pulled into the wrong part of our hotel. After a quick phone call and redirection, we pulled out of the "wrong-way-hotel" parking lot, to gaze upon the highly evolved machines known to us demented sorts as Rockcrawlers. The equipment ran the gamut from hydraulic steering, air suspension, cutting brakes, and tubed chassis, and narrowed down, stretched out bodies and/or frames. If this sight didn’t wake the dead, namely us, then the colors splattered about would. All the primary colors were present, and then there were the colors that turned the primaries into faded memories. We could only hope that the beauty of these rigs would still shine through after the pounding of the upcoming competition had subsided.

The organizers of this event had their act together. The details were bountiful and well met by this crew that made sure there was a "Jeep" drawn Hay Ride, led by Bernie Henkel, available to shuttle crowds into and out of the event, an ice cream truck and snow cone vender to take the edge off of two sunny days, and even a helicopter piloted by Curtis Olsen of High Country Helicopters, to give you a birds eye view of all that was going on below.

As we pulled in to the competition area, it was clear by the looks of the teams, they were there to win. Safety equipment was being rechecked, spotters were stretching their soon to be tested muscles, engines were being revved, hubs locked in, and all the while the sound of air hissing out of over-sized tires set everyone in the proper frame of mind. It didn’t take long for that sound to change to one of a more aggressive, rubber melting, mettle bashing, parts and pieces flying variety.

The competitors were divided into two divisions: Legend Class and Unlimited Class. And there were a total of 12 obstacles they were set forth to conquer over a two day span. The total group that came to "kick rock" was divided in half, and the either tackled obstacles 1 – 6 or 7 – 12 on day one. It made no difference which class they were competing in, every team had to give all 12 obstacles a try. A maximum of 40 pts. (points are not a good thing), per obstacle, could be assessed for errors such as touching a gate (cones and trees) with any part of the vehicle, spotter, or strap, backing, stopping, winching. The point values ranged from 1 to 40 depending on the infraction, with a 50 point assessment if the team refused an obstacle. In the very likely event of some sort of mechanical "oops", the teams had 45 minutes, per day, to rectify any carnage that hindered their success. The object is to have a clean, point free run through each obstacle. However, Craig Stumph and Mike Cook got down and dirty when they designed the obstacles and it wasn’t going to be easy for the competitors.

Obstacle #1 was set away from the bulk of the courses, but provided some of the best action. Curt Hildebrand was kind enough to show those of us watching what "getting back on after you’ve been thrown" is all about. This Casper, Wyoming fireman and designer of the Revolver Shackle made short work of climbing the first difficult stretch up a large rock with a gaping hole on the left side, a task that had eluded most before him. But just as he tasted success, a small turning error pitched him and his narrowed wrangler down into a drop off to the left of the boulder strewn section he was trying to crawl through. Though he tried to throttle out of the imminent roll, his efforts were futile as the front of his rig was swallowed into the bottom of the hole, flipped over and pivoted 45 degrees off course to land hard on its roof, only to be hurled into the last twist of it’s full-gainer and land rubber side down on the surface road 15’ below where he had been. Curt didn’t waste a second before slapping the custom suspension back into action and onto the course again. Spotter Mark Shugart did an amazing job of guiding Curt back on track via the last steep climb and bend left to get out the exit gates within the course time limits.

The next assault for the teams to make was on the 2nd obstacle which, if done right, had the left front wheel hanging high in the air while the other three carefully made forward progress, with the right front being the balancing point on top of a huge boulder, until gravity pulled the front safely down. Captain America, Tom LeBlanc, overheated his power-steering fluid and was "found-on-rock-dead" after his try to get over this first test of man and machine. If they managed to finagle past this, the teams then maneuvered right until they were dumped into a wash of dirt that gave little or no traction for the vertical climb up the next rock that would let them leave for flatter land.

Obstacle 3 also took its turn chomping on some of the competitors. Some of the rigs found themselves showing off custom exhaust routing after the first large rock refused to let them drive up and over. If they succeeded in mounting the fickle rock, the driver and spotter had to pick their way through rocks that rolled up and down like a ride on a Tilt-a-whirl, testing the off camber skills of driver and vehicle, as well as the directorial skills of the spotters, before they had the exit in sight.

The next two obstacles were so legendary that they had official names. "Stairway to Heaven" was #4 and it didn’t always lead to the Promised Land. For some competitors it must have felt like a long trip to the opposite and much hotter spectrum. This obstacle was a vertical launching pad of nearly 20’ with a crack about 3’ from the top that they had to get to if they had any hope of gaining entry to the Pearly Gates of completion. If they were able to get their left front tire in the crack, they then had some leverage and traction to maneuver the rest of the vehicle up with. The spotters were pulling and straining so hard to get the rigs through that you could almost hear the hernias as they happened. Just as they crested this monolith of rocks, they had to avoid a tree on their right side and turn 90 degrees uphill again to get out the last gate. Sadly, the tree seemed to be in a touchy feely mood and wouldn’t let many get through unmolested.

The second namesake was Obstacle 5 called "Armageddon". The poll is still out as to if this is a reference to a Def Leppard song or Bruce Willis movie, either way, the battle was on between Good and Evil. The Evil came in the form of a warm up section that plunged the vehicle into a short bowl and flung it back out at a side tilt to either side, depending on the line taken. This was followed be a calm little jaunt of serene flat rock that led to the face of said Evil. If Stairway to Heaven didn’t make the driver pucker up and blow denim for days to come, then this climb did. The base of this beast had large boulders protecting its sheer face and the only way through and up was to "Hammer Down". Spectators and spotters were all heard yelling the phrase, "You’ve got to commit" as encouragement to the drivers before they blasted off. Once the launch up the 20’ ledge was made, the driver had to finesse the right front tire out of, away from, or through an axle breaking crevice. Unfortunately, more often than not, the hole had it’s appetite for shafts appeased more than the drivers were able to get through unscathed. The few that did thwart the gaping, tire eating chasm found themselves over the ledge and free of further torment and able to claim victory for Good over the forces of Evil.

Obstacles 6 and 7 shared side-by-side starting pads and middle sections before parting ways. Number 6 had a series of vertical step climbs, each about 1’ -2’ high, on the left side only. Meanwhile the right side grappled with a hole that wanted to pull vehicle, driver, and spotter into its depths. Even those vehicles with rear steer had difficulty with this one. Many ended up bouncing so much, while "gettin’ it on", they snapped u-joints, drivelines or axles, and added insult to injury by taking out a gate in the rear of the vehicle while doing so. Some ended up fighting to stay belly down on this first test of wills, only to loose out to the inevitable roll as they maneuvered for an escape route. Others chose to play it safe and winch up, while a meager few found that the line to the far left garnered them a perch on the top side. Here they frolicked through a section shared with #7 that was big, and flat enough for a Chevy Suburban to turn around in and led them right into a downspout of large rocks that routinely moved beneath the rigs without notice. This unauthorized movement usually caused severe off-camber scares or high-center challenges for the spotters to wrestle with.

I spent a lot of my time on day one dashing between these six obstacles. They were certainly the closest ones to each other, so it seemed like the self-preservation thing to do if I wasn’t to experience the muscle pains of a full day of pretending I was an athletic Goddess of rock walking. Besides which, when the day first started, I was chattin’ with a few of the photo "gents" and we all swore that #’s 5 & 6 would be THE place for action and adventure, which leads to great pictures. I was wrong (yes I CAN admit it) in thinking the I would be clever in eluding the leg pain that comes the morning after, or in my case the afternoon of, such aggressive rock frolicking though. SO, with slow motion and very sore feet, we headed back to the hotel to recharge for the second days action. The top scores for this day of rock excavation were impressive and include one of the few female competitors at the event.

LEGEND CLASS	Points	UNLIMITED CLASS	Points
1. Garrett Sisson/Matt Sisson	84	1. John Gilleland/Kip Gilleland	13
2. David Laws/Randy Wells	119	2. Scott Gadsen/RD Wood	43
3. Dean Bulloch/Karl Munford	122	3. Chris Monk/Zach Steele	46
4. Von Werrett/Carl Whitmore	123	4. Dallas Lutrell/Matt Wooly/Mike Bailey/ Troy Bailey (tie)	83
5. Jeff Rector/Mike Knouse	138	5. Jennifer Little/Todd Little	87

Contacts	Related Links
UROC 648 E. Bristlecone Delta Utah 84624 (435) 864-3199 e-mail: craigst@hubwest.com	UROC Cedar City Photo Galleries


Curt Hildebrand takes an unwelcome line and ends up on his top.