Carnage at the Vermont Jeep Jamboree...
This past week-end, I attended the 2nd Annual Vermont Jeep Jamboree. Everything was going well... Melanie drove an easy trail on Friday, and I drove a more intermediate trail (the "No Name" trail, rated 5-7 I think) on Saturday. It rained a little bit in the morning - just enough to make things a little more interesting. The trails would snake around some trees and boulders. There was some rubbing against the rock rails and skid plates, but nothing serious. The roof rack added a degree of difficulty because we had to watch the off-camber stuff (we get wider as the top swings out). But then in the afternoon, we had a kind of tropical down-poor with hail. It came down like a bathroom shower for several minutes. We threw on the windows and jumped inside the Jeep to change into our rain gear. When we got out, the whole thing turned into a winch fest. The soil was a kind of clay / dark earth mix with dead leaves and roots. The tires would clog up and/or you'd end up digging ruts. After winching up a hill and looking at the way down, I asked the guide if we should winch down too. He said two other Jeeps had managed it, and his winch didn't hold properly anyway. With the Jeep pointed downhill, I didn't think of turning around and using my own winch to backup down the hill (as someone else did later). So, I said ok and headed down. Not a good idea. I was significantly heavier than pretty much any other Jeep there, and I later found out the previous Jeeps had barely kept control anyway. I tried to keep the wheels turning, and even gave it some gas when I saw I wasn't veering enough to avoid the tree. Which I didn't. Maybe a good thing too, because the ditch at the bottom might have flattened my front-end and set off the air bags. As it is, I have to replace my AEV bumper, grill, ALL the fender's various pieces, AND do some minor body work to straighten the hood and quarter panel. I'm hoping a "no paint" body shop up north will be able to pop everything back into shape. All in all, I'm hoping to stay under $3k for the whole repair.
Several people approached me afterwards expressing concern about the lack of 'attention' by the trail guide. In the end, the decision was mine. I took the decision to go down the hill. I could have turned to the guide and said "I'm going to winch down" instead of "Should I winch down?". Considering this was only the 2nd year for this Jeep Jamboree, I think inexperience on my part, and that of the guides, led to this situation. But ultimately the responsibility lays squarely on my own shoulders.
Ok, so you want pictures, right? I should mention that it was very dark after the storm, so the quality of these isn't great, but it gives you an idea...
Here's a shot after the impact:
Afterwards, setting up a snatch strap in the rear and winch w/ snatch block on the front to straighten out the bumper:
And the shot of the carnage after getting back to the parking lot:
The _real_ downside to this is I now have to waste time fixing stuff instead of improving my Jeep. So the 2nd battery and air tank will have to wait a bit longer. I'm really hoping to get those body panels looking like new. We're driving up to the body shop later this evening for their opinion. They're supposed to be really good, and won somekind of award in Florida earlier this year, so we'll see.
js.
