Well our final day on the rocks is now complete. Day 3 was the icing on the cake as the UTVUnderground posse tackled the famed CLIFFHANGER trail. Along side the usual suspects of Mad Media, Pro Armor, Walker Evans Racing and UTV Off-Road Magazine we traversed one of the most scenic and challenging trails that Moab has to offer.
So much took place today but one thing that really grabbed my eye was just how well the Arctic Cat Wildcat does in the rocks. The Wildcat is relentless and can tackle just about any line it points itself at. I was truly impressed with its capabilities and it has quickly jumped to the top of the ranks when it comes to bone stock rock crawling UTV's. If the rocks are your choice then you have to consider this machine.
It was a real blast on our final day of the Rally On The Rocks event. The staff at ROTR set us up with a fantastic trail boss who stuck with us the entire day and was able to see lines that otherwise most would never see. I will say that after a couple of years of playing in Moab my confidence in the rocks is sky high. I owe that confidence to Reid Nordin aka Team Green who has been my host the previous 2 years. Unfortunately for me Reid was not able to attend this year but all he taught me has stuck with me and certainly made me a better rock crawler. I even found myself trail bossing a bit and helping others make it up some of the most difficult obstacles the trails had to offer!
Once again I want to extend a special thank you to the guys at Pro Armor for lacing up our XP900 this week! It sure was nice having door protection that thankfully we didn't need. The trailing arm protection on the other hand was critical!! The roof was pretty darn nice to have as well as we saw the sun again today.
It would be hard to pinpoint one single highlight for today but if I did it would have to be watching Brian of Walker Evans Racing conquer a really gnarly staircase type obstacle. After watching his RZR with 30" Falken A/T's break dance on this super sketchy obstacle he finally found a line that worked and with a hop-skip and a 2 wheel bounce wheelie he was able to burn rubber to the top. Its going to make for some SICK video footage, of course we got it from 2 angles and in slow mo!!
Another mention I want to make is for my boy Dan Fernandez aka OffRoadSwapMeet. Dan was able to come along on the trip and he has been an enormous help both on and off the trail. He has assisted our camera crew, driven the tow rig, and provided some coverage of his own here on the site. He also piloted the UTVUnderground RZR4 XP900 today and DOMINATED the trail! Everyone was impressed on how he would roll up to obstacles and knock them out in one shot! hahah I was really impressed, and almost embarrassed by him numerous times!! Thanks Dan, its always sweet to be able to spend time with one of my best friends doing what we love!
Of course we need to give props to the Mad Media crew who came out to Moab as total virgins not only in UTV's but in the rocks. Of course these media icons want their own UTV's now! hahaha. I cannot wait for you all to see the stuff we were able to capture on their high quality video equipment! Get ready to have your mind blown!
We also want to give MAJOR props to rally leaders Lanse and Jerrod at ROTR. They not only accommodated us but they made us feel like VIPS! Making sure we had all we needed to provide the best coverage we could and run the trails we wanted with all of our close friends and colleagues. They still have 2 days left even though we are powering home early to get back to our families but we wish them 2 more days of fun and success. If you have never experienced Moab or rock-crawling then you definitely should consider this event to break you in. The organization is top notch. You can select your own trails based upon experience or challenge and their trail bosses are great in spotting you and keeping everyone safe and sound while out enjoying all the beauty Moab has to offer.
Lastly we want to give huge props to FOX (
http://ridefox.com/utv ) for stepping in and sponsoring our coverage so that you all could enjoy the trip yourselves while logging into the site!! Thank you FOX for all of your support of UTVUnderground and of the UTV industry in general!
Until next year Moab......
