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You can definitely feel for folks who have 22” street tires! I should have gotten some pics of all of the mud pancakes on them from just the wet farm roads!
Here is what the manufacturer vehicles were running on the off road course. 275/65R20. They had to shut down a section of the course because it was very muddy, but by Saturday afternoon the worst of dried up a bit. It was fun - definitely recommend going in 2024.
Those tripod fire pits were badass. They even went through the effort to have them engraved with the Defender silhouette. If anyone wants one you can order them from: https://burchbarrel.com/products/son-of-burch
Had an absolute blast at the event! Learned an incredible amount at the winching and recovery classes and the music and overall venue were amazing. Highly recommend and looking forward to next year!!
How good does the Trek Finals Edition look!? Lucky8 bumper looks amazing and they said its about ready. Drone show Before the mud...
Here is what the manufacturer vehicles were running on the off road course. 275/65R20. They had to shut down a section of the course because it was very muddy, but by Saturday afternoon the worst of dried up a bit. It was fun - definitely recommend going in 2024.
The 130s I drove in the spotting seminar and in the off-road experience course were all fitted with the standard 19 GYs Adventure - which BTW were all caked in mud, but I did not see any of them stuck. I seriously doubt this size will fit without lifting rods. At a minimum will rub in access height. I have ko2s in my truck in 275/60/20 with lifting rods and although they do not rub in access height, it is very very close.
I'm seriously surprised if folks got stuck on the loop around the various activities. Not sure what it was called. They were all farm roads at worse with mud. Some in fields had some wash boards on them. If someone got stuck, I'd wager a lot that they had street tires. I did the "Skills Course" on one of their Defenders. QUITE fun and the guide/coach was awesome. It was seriously muddy and one of the Defenders ahead of me got HARD stuck. But they were winched out before I could catch up and rubber neck. They were FAST. The biggest pita was the huge delay in checking folks into the loop. It was like applying for a home loan, or felt that long. I was seriously bummed because I wanted to go back one station to watch the winching talk (On next post I was at #5 wanting to go back to #4), but it was only one way. 30 minutes later I'm back at the entrance and with 20 Defenders waiting to "check into" the road, I called it quits and went back to the main spot. It was (is) pretty cool but that border patrol to get onto the loop is INSANELY inefficient. Met a ton of great folks. Great food. LOVED the free barista and the smokehouse. Looking forward to more fun. BTW - the rain was perfect. It happened mostly beforehand and made the trails "interesting". Otherwise, hard packed dirt in this part of Texas would have been a yawner.
Agree with everything here. The line for the off-road course driving was insane (we waited for 80 minutes). My wife and I went together and switched half-way, but we saw some groups splitting and going one by one alone in a car with the instructor. I would just add that it was a bit of a bummer not being able to drive my own Defender in the actual off-road course. The instructor told me it is because of liability with the vehicles, insurance, etc. I guess they could just make us sign one MORE waiver in addition to the other ten or twenty we signed before the doing the loop.
I was there at Destination Defender in Texas. Long haul from Omaha for my wife and I. We stayed on property in what the Brits called "the accommodations". It was pricey, $1,750 for the two night stay and another night in College Station the night before. At least they gave us a fancy blanket for staying in the accommodations.
I was the 1st or second person through the gates on Friday morning when it opened up. I was the guinea pig for testing their systems.
Had a fun time but the rain spoiled some of the fun. Temps were cold too, at least for south Texas.
I had my little 90 there and it has shown up in a few pictures. Eiger grey with 22" aftermarket wheels and 33" tires. Here is a picture someone else got of it:
I got a chance to meet Justin from Lucky * LLC and Sarek himself.
My wife and I listened to a lot of the talks they had, learned how to cook wild mushroom, ragu risotto, went mountain biking, ate some amazing BBQ and listened to first class music. We are looking forward to the next one. I hope it is in the mountains this time and dry...
I agree it was a great time. I on the other hand went the low brow, lightweight option! I skipped Friday because of the rain forecast. With over a decade under my belt, I know that when it rains in Texas - it's the bathtub upending, not a light shower. I arrived early Saturday to enjoy the carnage afterwards. I was planning on tent camping, but the mud pit to get into group camp area changed my mind. After one day, I had my fill and wasn't inspired to camp. After camping for decades, I now have started to remember not to do stupid things camping. Not often, but occasionally. Like why camp in the mud if I'm not doing a lot the next day...
I had a blast and learned a lot as well. Highlight was going around their closed course with an instructor/guide. However, my zen on the whole thing is still a bit unbalanced. I'm still amazed at myself for being so focused on how CRAZY long and onerous the check in was to ride around the loop. It's one way, so after I did the loop I couldn't stomach another 30+ minute wait to get in. I don't care where it is in the future, I just hope they can figure a way to do all the on-line waiver signing BEFORE folks arrive.
