Sniper Run - Poison Spider Mesa - EJS 2000
By: Randy L. Wheeler- 5/2000
4x4wire.com takes the Sniper for a run on the Poison Spider
Mesa
My first trip to the mecca of 4-wheeling. Moab,
Utah. This trip had been on my "must do" lists of trails for, oh
I'd say the last 5 years or so. This year was the time to make the
pilgrimage to southeastern Utah for some Moab slickrock. The plan was to
meet up with some other 4x4wire staff members for a run up to the Poison Spider
Mesa trail. When we pulled into the City Market parking lot on Tuesday
morning, low and behold there was the famous Sniper by Avalanche
Engineering. Our plan for the day was to take the Sniper out for a once in
a lifetime photo shoot.
Josh Lowenstein had arranged for our group to meet up with
Steve Rumore of Avalanche Engineering. Along the way to the trailhead,
Steve suggested that each of the staff writers should get a chance at driving
the Sniper to offer their own perspectives on this unique extreme trail rig.
When it came my turn to slide into the drivers seat of this
handcrafted machine, you wouldn't have been able to pry the steering wheel from
my hands. I think the look on my face says it all. I graciously thanked
Steve for this golden opportunity, slide the automatic transmission into gear,
and the engine roared to life. The first thought that struck me about this
rig was that it was surprisingly easy to drive. And it has power
steering! Something my Jeep doesn't. The spartan interior of this
rig is built for function, not form. You won't find any plastic drink
holders or cloth seats in this rig!
We went out looking for anything we could crawl over, drive
up on, and test the off-camber of this rig. When we came to a steep
sidehill, Josh motioned for me to put the driver side tire high up on the rock
face. I looked over at Steve for some reassurance, and got this response
"It does pretty well on sidehills". As the photo below illustrates,
the articulation of this rig is very, very impressive. Only one steep
obstacle gave me a bit of trouble, until Steve suggested that I "give it a
bump" to make it up the 60 degree incline. With the huge 44-inch
Swampers aired down to about 4-psi, the combination of traction and horsepower
made short work of the incline.
After several other obstacles, some off-camber stuff and
steep rock ledges, it was time to turn the controls over to someone else.
My sincere thanks to Steve Rumore for allowing 4x4wire.com the opportunity to
drive this one-of-a kind trail rig. Thanks Steve, thanks very much!
| Contacts: |
Related Links: |
|
|
|
This site and all original materials contained herein are Copyright © 1999 - 2009 by OutdoorWire, Inc.™ -- All Rights Reserved.
The use of this website, OutdoorWire, or any of its publications or services is subject to the terms of use agreement.
You may link freely to this site, but no further use is allowed without the express written permission of the owner of this material.
All corporate trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This publication and OutdoorWire, Inc. assume no liability for your use of the material contained within this site.
OutdoorWire, 4x4Wire, SUVWire, JeepWire, MUIRNet-News are all trademarks and publications of OutdoorWire, Inc.
