with Bill Johnston
Chile Challenge 2006
Day 1 - The Arrival
The weatherman says we are in for some nice weather here in Las Cruces,
New Mexico for the 2006 Chile Challenge. As I pulled into the
fairgrounds west of Las Cruces, I counted half a dozen Zooks already
there. Not bad considering the trails were already heading out for the
day.
Here
are a few from mild to wild, stock to 'trail experienced...The stocker on the right didn't see any trails the first day, but the 49" IROKs on the bigger machine saw plenty of action.
The
'Zukicon' we found had many upgrades that were born out of need and
experience on the trail. The 2000 driver of the Grand Vitara brought the
vehicle out to see what it could do - bone stock. He was pleasantly
surprised.Day 2 - Amatista Ledges
The
crowds started gathering early for the trail line-ups. As you can see,
the 'Zook -on-49's' didn't just sit at the fairgrounds looking
impressive... he is heading for his trail assignment.
There
were many Zooks in attendance this year, like the 'short bus' tin top with
the 33's and the virtual lift. Today we did Amatista ledges, and we four
other Zooks to even up the field a little. 
To
get to Amatista Ledges, we had to drop down Big Jim. It had a few large
ledges, cracks and crevices to maneuver that turned out to be fairly
technical. Rock sliders and stout bumpers were pretty much required unless
you wanted to leave pieces on the trail.
Once
on Amatista it was more ledges and technical driving. The crack on the right
can swallow a Zook. If you rear tire falls in you can dent the targa bar...
think about it.
The
whole trail gave us plenty of opportunity to show off a little and have some
fun. Tomorrow we hit Cayenne Crawler. This is one I have never done before,
so it could be very interesting...Day 3 - Cayenne Crawler
The
air-down point for Cayenne Crawler is the old quarry where the Chile
Canyons start. This makes for a whole lot of vehicles (of every shape
and size) including a few strange ones.
We
had many law enforcement officers watching every move. This was a chance to
either make or break our chances for future events in the area.
We did eventually get to the trails...
The
trail to Cayenne Crawler took longer than the trail itself. We
had to go down a moderate trail, turn onto an extreme trail and then turn
onto our trail. We got there by noon. 
The
trail was very short, but it took a bit of technical driving on the ledges.
We finished up the trail by 2:30pm. Then it was a nice drive across the
countryside back to the fairgrounds.Day 4 - Broad Canyon (Hard)
Broad
Canyon is a long standing tradition among some of the participants. The
trailhead is ominous as the path leads into a slice in the rock. This
trail changes with every rainstorm.
The
group was made up of all sizes of vehicles from Zooks to Hummers. Some did
better than others on each obstacle, depending if the challenge was better
suited to longer or shorter wheelbases.
Saturday
night was the big feed, along with a huge raffle giving away at least two
sets of tires and two winches. Lots of food, prizes and surprises for all.
Stak 4X4 showed off their 3 speed Monster Boxes. They had both versions
(standard and Bronco style) installed in rigs while they showed their new 2
speed box out on a table for a closer look by all.Come back tomorrow for updates from the trails!