When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
This weekend I competed as a co-driver in this event, my Disco was in the shop for a rear main the week before and I was not certain it would be ready in time. As it turned out Ben of Rovalution saw my post and made sure I had my Disco in time but by then I had committed to being co-driver.
The event post (Just a reminder this is over):
Yes, its that time again. Every 3 years BC gets to host the North West Challenge and in October we will be at it again. Put the dates in your calendar (coming up fast) and it will be great to see some teams (Driver plus Co-Driver) stepping up to take on the Challenge.
North West Challenge in BC for October 5th & 6th 2019, teams will need to arrive onsite on Friday late afternoon on 4th October. This years event will be held in the Upper Fraser Valley area, a fun off-road challenge, tune up that Land Rover, find yourself a Co-Driver and sign up today! More details below including how to register your team (Driver, Co-Driver and Land Rover)
Base Camp- there will be a base camp, rustic camping, one out-house, big camp fire. These mountains are the home of the elusive Sasquatch Expect a challenge on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Sunday will be a day of rest, lazy breakfast, awards, hugs all around and heading home. Info package with directions and coordinates of the base camp will be sent out to participants.
Volunteers Also, looking for volunteers to assist with the running of the event, volunteers will also get the limited edition NWC 2019 T-Shirt and the Saturday night dinner. Volunteering normally involves manning a post or check point, helping with Base Camp set up, break down and generally assisting where needed. Must be willing to be able to attend the for the whole weekend and be prepared for all weather (good & bad!) email roverlanders@shaw.ca if interested.
Registration Form - Print and complete this form, then send by mail to The Rover-Landers of BC, 1323 King Albert Avenue, Coquitlam, BC. V3J 1Y2. Payment can be made by cash or cheque (payable to Rover-Landers of BC) or by using PayPal to roverlanderspaypal@shaw.ca The registration fee is $40 for 2 adults and a Land Rover ($20 each). Note; Early registration is recommended on or before Sept 21st and will include your 2 NWC Event T-shirts and Saturday night dinner. Final cut off for registration is Sept 27th. Any other questions, please email- roverlanders@shaw.ca
Vehicle Requirements
All Vehicles MUST be equipped with the following: 1.) Winch (optional but recommended) 2.) First Aid Kit 3.) Soft Top / No Top must have Roll Bar / Cage 4.) Max. vehicle width 78" (pretty sure we are all good there but just to be sure) 5.) Min. one traction aid CDL/LSD/axle LOCKER 6.) Co-Driver 7.) FYI -The area requires vehicles to be street legal ie.: all functioning lights, licensed and all drivers must be licensed Vehicle Checklist for safety: Must be a Land Rover with: Head lights Running lights Brake lights Brake pedal – must not hit, or be near the floor on the first pump Parking brake – holds vehicle on 30 percent hill grade Steering play – visually inspect ball joints Fire extinguisher Spare tire Jack suitable for changing vehicle tires and tire pump Load tied down in back Tow point – FRONT Tow point – REAR Tow strap License plate matches registration form Hard top or Soft Top with Roll Bar First aid kit Communications device(s) Shovel
Event Rules
1. A “team” consists of one Land Rover, one Driver and one Co-driver. 2. A team cannot change their entered vehicle during the event, they must use the same Land Rover for all stages of the event. 3. A team cannot participate without a Co-driver. If you do not have a Co-driver, you may be able to work with the organizers to find you a volunteer co-driver. However, no vehicle will start the competition without a Co-driver. Arrangements with the organizers will take place prior to the event day to ensure the organizers have time to try and accommodate. 4. There will be zero tolerance for alcohol consumption by competitors or volunteers during competition portions of this event. 5. Dogs are not permitted inside the competition vehicle. This is a competitive off-road event and as such may be dangerous and stressful to dogs.
A brief history of the Northwest Challenge
In 1989 the first Northwest Challenge was held in Oregon, organized by Doug Shipman. The group of Land Rovers braved the wet weather and headed out into old snow conditions, which made for slow progress. Although there were no prizes for this wet run the Northwest Challenge has evolved over the last 25 years and has even been featured in Land Rover Owner, Land Rover Monthly and Land Rover International Magazines. The original organizers Gord ‘n Perrott (WA), Aart Van Der Star (BC) and Doug Shipman (OR) thought it would be best to share the load of putting on this event every year and thus the Northwest Challenge alternates host locations between Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Since 1989 members of the Pacific Coast Rover Club and Rover-Landers of British Columbia have organized and participated in the Northwest Challenge. Dedicated Land Rover enthusiasts have come from as far as Vermont and S.F. California to participate.
Typically entry is accepted on a per team basis, although depending on what the organizer does, you could be assigned a teammate/truck when you arrive. A team consists of two Land Rovers with a minimum of two adult occupants per vehicle. Land Rovers must be licensed, insured and in good mechanical condition. A proper roll bar is required for all open and soft-top vehicles. Equipment carried, must be sufficient to see the team to and over all obstacles encountered, without the assistance of other participants.
In recent years it has been challenging to find enough volunteers and hard-core participants to pull off a challenge similar to the past, where most often the teams consisted of two vehicles, each with a driver and co-driver. The Challenge is evolving to included more technical and fun challenges, and participation by newer vehicles and competitors, rather than just a tough off-road event. With this, new life is being breathed in to a long-standing Land Rover event in the Pacific Northwest
I will note this event was setup for single vehicles and was considerable less technical than previous events, the last BC even had 10 entries and only 4 finished, the damage included with several blown diffs, damage tie rods and other carnage. This has kept the field very small, this year's event was designed to get new people and newer vehicles involved.
In the end we had 9 - 2 person teams :
1 Lr3
2 Disco's
1 fully customized rig
The rest were a mix of range rover classics and defenders 90's and 110's
2 teams from Oregon and 1 from Washington state
My driver, Andrew, came in from Calgary 1836 Km round trip
Challenge logo - we all got a very nice cotton t-shirt Guiding my driver over the nasty obstacle, that rock on left side did some damage The teams group photo me and my driver on far left
Friday night, a bit of a gong show for me, I supposed to leave the house at 4:00pm to be at the campsite for 5:30. We had a server go south that had me leaving the house at 5:45, the problem is I had to be on site a ready for the 1st event at 7:00. So a wee bit of warp speed driving, got clear of both train crossings without hitting a train and moved fast down the FSR.
I got on site just as the team meeting finished, I met Andrew my driver for the 1st time and about 20 minutes later we were on the road to the nights event.
This event was a Sasquatch hunt, find 6 sasquatches write down their names and locate the sasquatch beer storage. The event area had 1 way in and out so it was like a mini maze.
We had some light drizzle to contend with and 2 hours to finish. Things went well once we found out 1st Sasquatch,we knew what to look for and we were set. By making mostly right turns we found all of our target including the sneaky one off to one side of along straight stretch, all the rest were at dead ends.
Upon reaching the "Beer Storage" we were handed a Sasquatch beer, adn trivial quest, both of which had to be turned in un-opened.
The beer had a black seal on top with a value for 10 to 100 - we got 90 which was pretty outstanding. The trivia test was all Land Rover related and we managed a 35, which was middle of the road the high score being 55, by the father and son team out of Washington.
By the time this was all done and a quick team meeting before bed it was 10:30 and I setup camp and hit the sack.
Pictures to follow.
Note I was incorrect 2 teams from Washington
day one results
Last edited by Richard Gallant; Oct 8, 2019 at 03:20 PM.
Reason: add picture
The 1st challenge was to get any 2 tires off the ground and on to the supplied cedar blocks.
Most folks went on of these 2 ways :
The old guy (me) thought that is way too much work and after some discussion with my driver took a simpler approach, that required a bit of shovel work.
Prior to leaving the tire challenge you had to get a Sasquatch hunting permit, no one forgot.
The second challenge was 2 minutes to make a single stack of rocks as high as you could, I will note small hand sized or a little bigger rocks. The trick was to look at the rocks before touching as the moment you touched the 1st rock the timer started. We did well at 33.25 inches the top was 37.25 inches. If the pile fell over you could not restart and only got the height of what was left. The low was 5 inches, everyone else was between 20 and 37.
This was followed by a hill climb, it was wet gravelly rock with a sort of muddy surface underneath speed was your friend, the week before there was about an inch of wet snow on the hill
Northwest Challenge Oct 4-6 2019
