Island Rock Crawl 2000
|
| courtesy of BC4x4.com |
Short Cuts |
|
|
|
By: Larry Soo 7/2000
 |
| 'Dangerous' Dana Swanson of Randy's Offroad pilots a customer's Jeep through R.I.P. |
With every passing year, Rock Crawl gets larger and larger. This year was the biggest ever with about 200 vehicles and roughly 380 people. It was also the year with the largest number of difficult trails being offered to the participants. R.I.P., Morningside, Doomicon (extended play version), and D.S.S. provided challenges to satisfy the most rabid of hardcore 'wheelers. In fact, demand was so high this year that the event sold out in less than a week. Contact the Island Rock Crawlers 4x4 club now if you want to attend in future years.
The trails making the biggest news were R.I.P. (Rest In Pieces) and Morningside. R.I.P. was added to the trail inventory earlier this year and has earned the title of the most insane trail ever offered at these events. From beginning to end, it slaps you in the face with one obstacle after another. Due to its extremely narrow sections, only vehicles with a width of 76" or less were permitted. Unfortunately, this precluded any vehicle running full-size truck width axles from participating. Morningside is an old stand-by that has earned the reputation of having the most demanding trails available in British Columbia. It is a 4x4 playground situated on a First Nations reservation near the Metchosin/East Sooke area. If you enjoy steep, off-camber hill-climbs, this is the place for you. Both trails posed a high potential for vehicle damage. R.I.P. more so than Morningside, because there were NO bypasses or escape routes available. On the other hand, Morningside's extreme, off-camber hill climbs promised severe vehicular and personal damage if you screwed up.
...lars
| Rock Monkey Videos |
 By the producers own report, "Our videos will be completely devoid of banjo pickin' and the sounds of some guy's wife screaming at him. What we will have are bags and bags of action and carnage arranged for your viewing pleasure. These are NOT fancy, slick pieces of video art. They're just the money shots from our fourwheeling adventures... These videos do contain some segments with coarse language but in most cases, they happen to be funny as hell."
With a description/disclaimer like that, you'll cue up the tape with interest... and the edgy underground feel won't leave you disappointed. Non-stop action fills the screen, with all the raw, metal-crunching sounds of real 'wheeling.
Rock Monkey released two videos in 1999: 1.)Rubicon '99 - Watch the Island Rock Crawlers, S.N.O.R.T., and Pirates of the Rubicon take on the granite challenges of the Rubicon Trail, and 2.)Morningside Tough Truck Challenge - Watch the Vancouver Island four wheelers work their rigs hard in pursuit of toughest-truck bragging rights. Rock Monkey will be releasing a video about Rock Crawl 2000, as well.
Check out 4x4Wire's own recent review of the Rubicon Rock Monkey Video, then click HERE for ordering information.
|
