June 24-26
Above: Team Walker, Doug in orange.
Below: Best NVTR pic ever! By Team-5
NVTR2011 Results
For Immediate Release
Copyright MG/ORE/NVTR2011
June 29, 2011
This years event was, to say the least, a monster to get organized. It took two trips, totaling over 100 Man Hours to lay out the course alone, not counting driving to/from. What with fuel prices and economy the way it is, entries were low when compared to recent Nevada Trophy event's... but that didn't stop the eleven car's that entered this years event!
For the first time in the history of NVTR, which was established in 1995, and first run in '96, was a LAND-ROVER didn't win... "Team Russia", as we named them (aka Team-5), in two Toyota's, took a convincing lead on Day-1 with a total of 29,375 points, over Team-1 with 21,800 point. The 7575 point lead was impossible to overcome this year, and even though Team-1 chewed into that lead by collecting an additional 31,400 waypoints, plus 1500 additional points for the Special Task, they could not overcome the deficit.
This year's NVTR was dedicated to Doug Walker... who was a great supporter and a multi-time winner of the event, but sadly passed away this past December. This year Nevada Trophy was based at the Super-8 in Fernley, Nevada, after many year's in Lovelock, NV. Hard times and sale of the hotel there forced management to relocate back to Fernley, the site of the first Nevada Trophy. The original plan was to start at Cabela's & BoomTown, but insurance company delay's mucked things up right until the last minute, hence the complete move to Fernley. It must be said that this worked out quite well, as it gave participant's numerous way's to attack this year's course without undue mileage having to be covered.
Above: Taken by Michael Green... The Start, Team-1 readies to leave at 8:35am Friday June 24th.
Above: Taken during layout by Michael Green... a great area to ditch waypoints!
Above: Taken during layout by Michael Green... a place we'd never been before, "Pyro's Saloon"
Above: Taken during layout by Michael Green... That's Pyro hanging up there, where he nearly lost a GPS into the abyss of rock's!
Once again thing's would change in NVTR. In past year's we've given out one route book per day, one year we gave out two in a day- bummer was we swapped book's on participant's without their knowledge during a Special Task. Boy did that toss a few off the deep end! LOL!!! This year we handed out one book and each team went on their merry way organizing a route that suited them, one that should earn them maximum points in the 15-hour's allowed (per day). As promised, we added a new area to the course this year. Our planned area didn't pan out due to size and too many people living nearby (the ones you don't see on a map), thus it was dropped and the course moved west. Another new section in the NE area had been off limits on our BLM permit for many year's because it was a working mine. Now that it's been closed and research completed, we motored on in there... "Pyro's Saloon" was found there. Oh, you've noticed I'm not disclosing the exact area of the course? I've done that for a reason... Want to see it? Should have signed up! LOL! Let me say this, we were in a huge box hemmed in by I-80 on two side's.
The June date was another new twist to NVTR, and we scheduled it for the maximum amount of daylight possible. Remember, most NVTR's have run in December; though once in Feb, April and October. The long day's brought some great driving, warm temp's, and great adventure.
As always I'm on course seeing who I can bump into, or catch being naughty... like team's splitting up (which carry's a huge penalty). As my little convoy of Myself & Son, plus Lorie in her 88" Land Rover and Tim in his Jeep... we made our way across country heading North. After a 40 mile run we bumped into Team-2 at the Cattle shoot, where they told us of their adventure "climbing a rock wall." (On the Result page there is a sort u-tube video of it).
Proceeding further North I made a stop at "Holiday Inn with a Pool" to make sure the tag was still in place (too much traffic here sometimes), then headed North and NE where we soon bumped into Team-5, as they began their hiking into the "Bedrock" (ala Fred Flintstone) field of wild rocks & boulder's with some wild waypoint's hidden. As we departed there a huge herd of Wild Mustang's ran behind me and in front of Lorie in the 88"... was pretty awesome! Continuing now NW x North we came across Team-3 (aka Team Hummer) as they negotiated through the heavy overgrown sagebrush... Eric wasn't having a good time. His number-1 Hummer blew a piston on the way to NVTR on Thursday and had to return home and get his Pick-up show rig, bummer was it had fresh paint (ouch!), we caught them as they left Cow-crap Springs. Not far behind was Team-4 with their Mercedes leading the way. I stopped and talked to Bruno, asking him who he'd seen. "We've been seeing the Hummer's and Todd & Nick for some hour's, I think the two Rover's turned off somewhere else."
Above: Taken by Tim... NVTR Official convoy running North on Day-1.