Oregon Trophy Challenge 2014

Earlier this summer Team 6 aka Team got together, and unanimously decided to register for another year of Oregon Trophy Challenge. Our team consisted of Dustin (myself) and Josh (jeepboy381) driving, with Scott (ZJScotty) and Nick (redjeep2.0) as codrivers.

I was also stoked to hear another NWC team was registered, Team 16 aka Team Elusive. Rod (mojo) and Brandon (bmikes) would be driving, with Ryan (nightfoam) and John (bronzy) as codrivers. A strong team for sure!

Fast forward to this past week, and we all received the news that TSF was at level three fire danger. This meant the trails were closed. This was a major bummer, but Teresa and her crew were willing to make some alterations to allow the event to go on.

Heading out of town on Friday the weather was great. As I rolled into Browns Camp it was apparent at how vacant the place was with the fire danger.


After getting our teams base camp set up, we rolled over to the event site for tech inspection, check in, and then started to prepare for what the following day had in store for us. Josh working out some time/distance calcs.


Scott preparing his lunch and admiring his live moth topping.


Woke up to a crisp morning, rolling out to make our 0435 departure time.


At the start line we received a sheet with a list of coordinates we were supposed to locate within the forest. No big deal, I went to plug them into the GPS only to find that they were in a different unit. There we were 20 feet from the start line scratching our heads.


Our first clue was head for the highway, so thats what we did. In the meantime we were all frantically trying to convert along the way. It wasn't until we reached the highway when Josh figured out the conversion factor between units. We plugged the new numbers in, and set off for the first cache. While locating the first cache two other teams managed to pass us, one being Team Elusive. The hunt was on!

We settled into the groove and started knocking out the coordinates one by one. By the time we reached the last coordinate, Teresa informed us we were the first team back and right on time. This was a huge moral booster considering how we felt two hours prior. Nice work team!

We received the location of the first checkpoint, and set off down the highway for it.


Team Swag Offroad passed us enroute, so we grabbed some snacks and waited for them to finish the challenge.


We killed the first challenge with four quick zaps from the impact. Received our second checkpoint location, and set off to find it. The second challenge was read to us, and our time started right then and there. No matter how many times you tell yourself to keep calm, the second the timer starts everyone runs around frantically. None-the-less we executed our plan flawlessy, and were enroute to the third checkpoint.

Came upon a hunter who was too stubborn to let us pass. After several miles of following him, he finally pulled over. What ever happened to common courtesy? We made sure to stick to the 25mph limit on gravel too.


As the day went on we finished the rest of the check points. Got to play with a large blonde doll, push our winching/rigging skills to the max, dodged some cones, and even picked up some horse $hit. After the last challenge we were given one last sheet of coordinates, and told we had until 0700 the next morning to complete them.

Even though we really wanted to head back to camp for a bit to relax, our decided to crank them out then and there. Josh plotted them on the GPS, and we rallied out to locate them.


We rolled into the event site shortly after 4:00pm, and were the first team to finish. At this point we were feeling pretty good with how our day went. We rolled back to base camp, enjoyed some beverages, and hoped for the best.

Later that evening Team Elusive rolled into camp with Brandon's rig on the strap. AC compressor had seized.


The next morning we all walked over to the event site to hear the results of the first day. Four teams would advance into the final round of challenges. #4 Team Lights Out Racing, #3 Team (we were in!), #2 Team Elusive (the rookies beat us!), and #1 Team Extended Driveshafts.

We geared up, and prepared for what the judges may have had in store for us. At this point it was anyone's game, and we knew we had to step it up to secure a win.


We were the second team to compete in the final round. Basically there were three challenges, winch/rigging, vehicle bases, and medical recovery. Our team worked great together, kept our cool, and knocked out the challenges with a strong finish. At this point all we could do was hope it was good enough.

The bright side was we could watch the last two teams compete, one being Team Elusive.



Ryan coaching during the rigging challenge. XJ owners must think alike, because both our teams did very well on this task.


Gearing up for the medical recovery. By far the most frustrating and difficult task of the final round.


Great job, Team Elusive! I have to admit I was starting to sweat after seeing your guys' performance. I knew it was going to be a close one.


Team Extended Driveshaft's finishing up their final challenge.


After all teams had competed we rolled back to the event site to enjoy a tasty lunch.


Reminiscing about the weekend, and hoping for a strong finish.


Huge thank you goes out to Teresa and her crew for putting this event on. I could only imagine how frustrating it must have been hearing that the trails would be closed. However, you did an amazing job keeping the event going on.


In the end only three teams could have a podium finish.

#3: Team Extended Driveshaft's
#2: Team Elusive
#1: Team

The NWC brought back gold and silver.


I'm super proud of our team for stepping up this year, and really working together. We killed it. Also, a big congrats to Team Elusive for a second place finish their first year competing! Nice job, guys.

Team will be back next year to defend our trophy. Will you? I'd start planning now, because I have a feeling Teresa is going to kick it up a notch. I want to see more miles and more trails.

As the not team leader I'll let Rod do our write up, basically what Dustin said except we were pretty much in the lead for the first set of checkpoints/punches. Not that it mattered. FWIW, instead of converting the coordinates given to us I just changed my GPS settings so I could enter in what was given to us.

Gotta say, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to hear we did so well on Saturday and then we managed to maintain our position through the finals. Like Dustin said, the calm cool collectiveness goes out the window the instant they say "your time starts... NOW" and I think if we can overcome that reaction for next year, a different team will be bringing home the trophy.

Out of the ordinary for me, I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I did get a bit of video of the winching challenge on Saturday and the final challenge on Sunday.

Write up??? I don't do write ups haha! Hell I only snapped 2 pictures ! One of sunrise and one of sunset. 16 hours of stress and hauling ass on gravil, left no energy to grab a camera. I'll see if I can put our adventure into word... But pictures are more fun

Sand, Or Dust, Which is worse? I vote dust... its still seeping out of my head. I got a few photos, well see what I can do.

^What he said.^

Bronze.

3rd times a charm! we made a TON of improvements this year (as a team) And even with a few small quirks, We still pulled it off! I can think of 3-4 spots where we could of pulled off More/Better score.. I look forward to next year..