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Nevada
Trophy 2004 - Two
15-Hour days of Nevada
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 Team
Walker Wins Nevada Trophy 2004Right:
The “A” Team of Doug Walker & Jason Walker (A1) and Adam Walker
& Deakin Hodge (A2) of Los Angeles, California won the 2004
running of Nevada Trophy.
(click pictures for larger view) |
Lovelock, NV.
The “A” Team of Doug Walker & Jason Walker (A1) and Adam Walker
& Deakin Hodge (A2) of Los Angeles, California won the 2004
running of Nevada Trophy.
The Nevada Trophy was first run in December 1996 in
Fernley, Nevada, the creation of Michael Green and John
Gulliford of the Off-Road Experience; the event has endured and
become an annual event.
The event is unlike any other in North America, and the most
copied. NVTR is fact a number of events in one;
Geocacheing (which has become very popular in the USA today), a
Navigational Adventure, and an Off-Road Adventure all wrapped up
into one.
NVTR works like this: Weeks, even months prior to the
event, the NVTR Course Crew set out on their own
adventure, that of laying out waypoint markers. The marker is
normally a 3” diameter colored tag, these may be attached to a
wooden stake, a bush, in a tree, or on/near a building. In some
cases a power pole will be used, in other cases trail marker, a
road sign and even old ghost town ruins. Depending on the time
format (12-hours per day, 15-hours per day, or 36-hours
non-stop), will determine how many waypoints are set, in extreme
cases this will be 200 per book (2 books are normally used).
 Participants are required to have a 4WD (Land Rover), a GPS, a
Nevada Atlas, a compass, recovery gear, and first-aid kits,
among other items. Since 2003, laptops have been legal.
Participants are given a route book, on each page are five
waypoints, the Lon/Lat is provided of the location of the
waypoint, each has a point’s value of 100 to 1000 points (the
greater the value, the greater the difficulty), and a clue as to
what they are looking for is included, such as “Stake”, “Bush”,
“Tree”, “Ruins”, “Pole”, etc. The object is to get to the
waypoint, then write down in the book what is written on the
tag, thus proving you had been there. While searching for these
waypoints, participants will encounter varied terrains – from
highways to bladed gravel roads, to two-track dirt trails…
always Treading Lightly! The team with the most points
wins. But it’s not that easy, as organizers sometimes booby trap
waypoints, and Special Tasks are included throughout the
weekend. Navigation and Time Management is the key to NVTR.
Come in late and you receive a penalty of 200-points per minute
late… this can and have ruined a number of team’s scores in the
past.
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Thursday April
29th, was reserved for Registration and Tech Inspection. NVTR
staff inspects the vehicle for safety and that the required
equipment is on board and securely stowed. Friday morning, April
30th, at 8:30am is a mandatory drivers meeting. Michael Green
will discuss safety, route instructions, and the how-to of the
route book, among other things. At 9:00am, Chief of Scoring,
John Gulliford hands out the route books and logs the “out-time”
to the minute. The participants will have 15-hours from this
time to complete the days tasks.
With their route books in hand, the teams now have to enter the
Lon/Lat’s into their laptops and GPS’ and determine what route
they will take (this is left solely up to them on how they
attach the course). While they are doing this, they will have to
consider the “Mandatory Waypoints(s)” listed in the book. These
are just as the name suggests, and sometimes will have “hours of
operation”. Teams will have to include this, as missing a
Mandatory will result in penalties, not only for missing it, but
lack of points earned doing the Special Tasks located there. For
Friday they have 80 waypoints, since they won’t be able to get
them all, and due to the values vary, strategy is key.
By 9:30am most teams are on the road… as are officials, as they
head out to the Special Task areas. On Friday the officials will
drive 52.5 miles, 40 miles of this being off-road, to the Task
Area. Waiting for the participants on this day will be four
tasks: First up is the Slalom; this is in a wash, and the
further you go through it, the tighter in becomes, turning
within the cones is a big problem for some. In all driving
tasks, Low-range is required, and fastest time wins. Todd
Rueppel & Bill Lockridge, two firemen from Livermore,
California, in a 2004 Discovery-II took first place with a time
of 71 seconds.
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Slalom: |
 |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
ET: |
Points: |
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First |
B1 |
71 |
4000 |
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2 |
A2 |
84 |
3100 |
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3 |
D1 |
110 |
2500 |
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4 |
C2 |
116 |
2000 |
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5 |
D2 |
127 |
1800 |
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6 |
B2 |
131 |
1600 |
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7 |
C1 |
274 |
1400 |
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8 |
A1 |
275 |
1200 |
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Next was the Hill Climb, a steep climb with a hairpin at the
top, followed by a downhill and right-hander to the finish. Doug
& Jason Walker aced this tasks with a time of 43.22 seconds.
Nick Mit looked as though he would win it, but a big slide
slowed his pace to 47.35.
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Hill Climb: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
ET: |
Points: |
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First |
A1 |
43.22 |
4000 |
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2 |
B1 |
45.39 |
3100 |
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3 |
A2 |
45.85 |
2500 |
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4 |
B2 |
46.73 |
2000 |
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5 |
D1 |
47.35 |
1800 |
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6 |
D2 |
52.29 |
1600 |
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7 |
C1 |
55.85 |
1400 |
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8 |
C2 |
62 |
1200 |
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After the driving, it was a True/False First-aid test issued by
Bill Turpie. First-aid may not seem so important, but if an
injury occurs, it could very well play a huge part in a teams
day.
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First Aid: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
Correct: |
Points: |
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1 |
B1 |
10 |
2900 |
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1 |
B2 |
10 |
2900 |
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1 |
C1 |
10 |
2900 |
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1 |
D1 |
10 |
2900 |
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5 |
C2 |
9 |
1700 |
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5 |
D2 |
9 |
1700 |
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7 |
A2 |
8 |
1400 |
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8 |
A1 |
7 |
1200 |
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Then for fun, we had the always-popular Shooting Task. John
Gulliford & Woody would set up a .22 and targets, each
participant had 10-rounds. D2 of Jim Pasichuke & Craig Milligan
win this task with 14 hits out of a possible 20.
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Shooting: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
Hits: |
Points: |
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First |
D2 |
14 |
4000 |
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2 |
D1 |
12 |
3100 |
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3 |
A2 |
10 |
2500 |
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4 |
B1 |
9 |
1900 |
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4 |
C1 |
9 |
1900 |
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6 |
A1 |
8 |
1600 |
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7 |
B2 |
6 |
1400 |
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8 |
C2 |
5 |
1200 |
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Friday
Night Scoring: |
At 5:00pm the officials cleaned up and broke camp, while
participants where on there way into the moon lit night
searching for more waypoints, their “In-Time” being
Midnight. |
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Vehicle: |
Points: |
Penalty: |
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A1 |
38,300 |
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A2 |
44,700 |
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B1 |
44,200 |
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B2 |
36,000 |
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C1 |
25,700 |
3200 |
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C2 |
28,900 |
3200 |
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D1 |
33,550 |
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D2 |
29,600 |
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Saturday, May 1st, at 8:30am, would entail another drivers
meeting. On this day, other participants were included, those
participating in the “12-Hours of Nevada” (this is
a 1-day event combined into the 2-day event). Following the
meeting, John Gulliford again issued books with a 9:00am
out-time, again another 80 waypoints, though these would be a
bit more difficult.
Once again the event officials were laying in wait for
participants with a few more Special Tasks, this time located
near an old ghost town. First up was the Reverse Slalom course
designed by John Gulliford and Fred Cone. Here the participants
have to run the course (the clock running), and then the driver
is to reverse through the pylon course, the Navigator spotting
him along the way. Fastest time wins. This time Adam Walker &
Deakin Hodge would have the fastest time in their D90 Wagon.
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Reverse
Slalom: |
 |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
ET: |
Points: |
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First |
A2 |
2:18
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4000 |
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2 |
A1 |
2:42
|
3100 |
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3 |
B2 |
2:48
|
2500 |
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4 |
D2 |
3:06
|
2000 |
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5 |
D1 |
3:28
|
1800 |
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6 |
E2 |
3:38
|
1600 |
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7 |
B1 |
3:50
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1400 |
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8 |
C2 |
4:32
|
1200 |
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9 |
E1 |
4:37
|
1100 |
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10 |
C1 |
6:36
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900 |
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Then a new task for NVTR, was Chef Earl’s Egg Cook
Contest. Earl Minkler would hand each car 2-raw eggs and two
matches, the object: “I want the yokes hard”, said Earl. It was
amazing how this event progressed and the ideas used to cook the
eggs. Two-Time NVTR winner, Wayne VanNorsdall cracked one egg on
the hot radiator that was slow in cooking, so used the exhaust
manifold for the other. Nick Mit and David Juricic tried the
valve cover, while yet another team used the catalytic
converter, and the two firemen started a fire. The winner? Jim
Pasichuke & Craig Milligan with their gasoline fire in an
incredible time of 3:31. Post event comments from D1; “My
D90's Radiator-omelet was fun. Too bad, we didn't understand
just "hard yolk". I am adding Cream-Brule torch to my off-road
list. Next time, I'll be able to show some real Martha "Rover"
Stewart's cooking to Earl. With a torch, I think 30 seconds and
I can win it. LOL! It was a really fun NVTR.” - Nick.
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Egg
Cook: |
 |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
ET: |
Points: |
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First |
D2 |
3:31 |
4000 |
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2 |
A2 |
5:15 |
3100 |
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3 |
B1 |
6:26 |
2500 |
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4 |
A1 |
7:00 |
2000 |
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5 |
C2 |
9:39 |
1800 |
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6 |
E2 |
10:32 |
1600 |
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7 |
B2 |
13:07 |
1400 |
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8 |
D1 |
17:16 |
1200 |
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9 |
C1 |
24:37 |
1100 |
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10 |
E1 |
DNF |
0 |
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Doing the tasks as quick as possible and getting on the road
again to search for waypoints is the best way to stay ahead of
the competition. Next up was Bill Turpie’s Knot Tie task.
Here Turp had 10 knot displayed, points varied on difficulty of
the knot itself. Each Driver & Navigator had to pick two knots
each, would have two attempts, with no time limit. The three
winners (tied) would tie a Bowline, Sheet Bend, Rolling Hitch
and a Curling A Rope Plus Finish Hitch.
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Knot
Tie: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
Tie Points: |
Points: |
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1 |
A2 |
75 |
3200 |
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1 |
B1 |
75 |
3200 |
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1 |
D2 |
75 |
3200 |
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4 |
C1 |
70 |
1800 |
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4 |
C2 |
70 |
1800 |
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4 |
E2 |
70 |
1800 |
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7 |
A1 |
60 |
1400 |
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8 |
D1 |
45 |
1100 |
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8 |
E1 |
45 |
1100 |
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By 5:00pm all cars had been and gone from the tasks area and
were now on the road again searching for waypoints… such as
“Pyro’s Gulch”, “Dead Critter Canyon”, these two hidden up a box
canyon that required low-range. Another one would require a bit
of time: Finding the stake at the Lon/Lat provided, the teams
would find that they were required to “Go To… 41 XX.XXXN – 119
XX XXXW”, finding the next stake they again would find “Go To”
instructions. Finding stake #3 they would find further
instructions: “Go To: Bearing 320 degrees, Distance .41 mile”.
Sound easy? NOT! It’s one of those, “can’t get there from here”
waypoints, as the #3 stake was on a rock outcropping, which was
nearly straight down. Teams would have to get creative and use
the road winding down to the south & west to gain access to the
final waypoint tag. Another stake nearby was titled, “A 110 can
do it”, making reference to the rock wall that the Off-Road
Experience uses on its Intermediate class, as well as past
NVTR task’s.
The final task of the event would be in the mountains near the
base of operation, in the trees. The task would have a time
limit of 9:00pm to Midnight, show up at 12:00.01 and you’re
DQ’ed. This task is known as the Fire Fly. Here officials had
placed 12 small reflectors in the trees to mark the way around
the course. The object; Using a flashlight, the team is to make
their way around as fast as possible on foot. Finding the first
one is easy; once there you sweep the light beam through the
trees until the next one appears, then continue on. Officials
had two courses so both team cars could participate at once.
That said, once you’d finished Course-1, you had to complete
Course-2 before the stopwatch was stopped. Team D1 of Nick Mit
& Dave Juricic had the fastest time with 9:55, whereas the
slowest was 18.20. It was here at the Fire Fly that team would
be clocked in, the overall winner A1 clocked in at 11:54pm, thus
completing 30-hours of competition.
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Fire
Fly: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
ET: |
Points: |
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First |
D1 |
9:55 |
4000 |
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2 |
B1 |
10:23 |
3100 |
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3 |
A2 |
12:24 |
2500 |
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3 |
C2 |
12:22 |
2500 |
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5 |
E1 |
13:50 |
1800 |
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6 |
D2 |
14:05 |
1600 |
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7 |
A1 |
14:36 |
1400 |
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8 |
B2 |
14:44 |
1200 |
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9 |
E2 |
17:16 |
1100 |
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10 |
C1 |
18.2 |
900 |
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Sunday May 2nd, at 9:00am was the Awards Breakfast at the Ramada
Inn in Lovelock. There were some surprised people in the room,
to say the least. Team Walker, who had won the NVTR-II in
miniature last October, won this years NVTR, A2 of Adam
Walker and Deakin Hodge (’97 Defender 90 Wagon) from Los
Angeles, CA., were the overall individual winners, beating out
Todd Rueppel & Bill Lockridge by only 300 points! When the
officials averaged the teams overall scores, Team Walker A1/A2
were announced at this years winning team. Team B of Rueppel/Lockridge
and VanNorsdall/ Palladine were second overall.
Michael Green and John Gulliford would award the winning medals,
while Ritch Julian helped distribute prizes donated by
ARB Inc.,
British Pacific,
DAP Ent., and
Rover Accessories.
Officials and competitors alike thanked these companies for
their participation in NVTR. NVTR & Off-Road
Experience officials then thanked
Dunlop Tires for their
support and tires donated to official vehicles.
As for Nevada Trophy 2005… Stay tuned to
www.offroadexperience.com for dates.
Thanks to all the workers and participants alike for the job
well done.
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TEAM FINISHING ORDER:
(Team scores are averaged to find the winning team) |
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Placing: |
Team: |
Points (average): |
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First |
A |
146600 |
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2 |
B |
142200 |
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3 |
D |
102150 |
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4 |
C |
88600 |
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5 |
E |
40750 |
(First in 12-Hours of Nevada) |
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INDIVIDUAL FINISHING ORDER: |
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Placing: |
Vehicle: |
Points: |
Spec Task: |
Total Points: |
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First |
A2 |
54200 |
22300 |
75500 |
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2 |
B1 |
53100 |
22100 |
75200 |
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3 |
A1 |
54200 |
15900 |
70100 |
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4 |
B2 |
54200 |
13900 |
67000 |
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5 |
D1 |
34600 |
18450 |
53050 |
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6 |
D2 |
34600 |
14500 |
49100 |
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7 |
C2 |
34500 |
14600 |
45900 |
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8 |
C1 |
34800 |
11100 |
42700 |
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9 (1st
in class) |
E2 |
15300 |
6100 |
21400 |
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10 (2nd
in class) |
E1 |
15300 |
4050 |
19350 |
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NVTR04 owned by The
Off-Road Experience, Copyright 1995/96/97/98/99/2000/2003/2004
All Rights Reserved. |
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