2013 FJ Summit - 5th Gen T4R

I wish I had know you guys were going to be there we could have ran some more trails together. I posted on the 3rd Gen board here and none of them were going and did not look any further. I should have realized a bunch of you would be there.

I still think the truck from Texas that tried it first could have made it without that rear diff skid.
 
phillyd2 said:
Great vids, thanks for posting them. But was not the line most use way more to the right?
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As far as I know, the 3 of us and the 5th Gen from Texas and the 5th Gen from Arizona were the only ones to try this left line the entire event.

You are correct the rest did a line to the right.
 
phillyd2 said:
Great vids, thanks for posting them. But was not the line most use way more to the right?
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Myself and [MENTION=8206]harper7[/MENTION] did the line to the left because all of the FJs were taking FOREVER to get up the right. They were making it way more difficult than it needed to be. They were trying to attack it from an oblique angle, and then turn into a groove. The majority of them did not make it at all, and if they did they were bucking, smoking, and cutting tires. Once I went up the left, I had [MENTION=51030]joneseyyy[/MENTION] and [MENTION=69716]wdlsmaerw[/MENTION] plant their tires directly in the center on the right line and they both climbed it without any drama.

I've got video of it somewhere. I'll post it soon.
 
Here is my Red Truck in the same place at the 2011 Summit. You may recognize it from an article in 4WD Toyota Owner Magazine. Every year there is craziness at that spot.

037.jpg
 
limamike said:
Myself and [MENTION=8206]harper7[/MENTION] did the line to the left because all of the FJs were taking FOREVER to get up the right. They were making it way more difficult than it needed to be. They were trying to attack it from an oblique angle, and then turn into a groove. The majority of them did not make it at all, and if they did they were bucking, smoking, and cutting tires. Once I went up the left, I had [MENTION=51030]joneseyyy[/MENTION] and [MENTION=69716]wdlsmaerw[/MENTION] plant their tires directly in the center on the right line and they both climbed it without any drama.

I've got video of it somewhere. I'll post it soon.
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That's great to know, thanks. Since I will be out there in a few weeks I've been reading up and heard that after some harsh winters getting up was getting bad enough that they added winch points.

Sounds like the line you guys took is the way to go! Now, post that damn video. :wave:
 
Last year my 100-series walked right up the wall on the first attempt. This year due to the rain, my tires were pretty wet and still loaded with mud from the approach to the wall so the video shows me spinning the tires much more than I like to.
 
Bighead2001 said:
Last year my 100-series walked right up the wall on the first attempt. This year due to the rain, my tires were pretty wet and still loaded with mud from the approach to the wall so the video shows me spinning the tires much more than I like to.
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well now that you have that nice, new TE you won't have any reason to spin tires again...:heh:
 
phillyd2 said:
That's great to know, thanks. Since I will be out there in a few weeks I've been reading up and heard that after some harsh winters getting up was getting bad enough that they added winch points.

Sounds like the line you guys took is the way to go! Now, post that damn video. :wave:
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Here are the videos. I thought I had some video of [MENTION=42717]Jonesey[/MENTION]y and [MENTION=69716]wdlsmaerw[/MENTION] climbing the right line, but I guess not. Maybe they have some?

On the video below, you can see [MENTION=8206]harper7[/MENTION] climbing the left line. Gary runs 34s and has front and rear lockers. He was getting hung on his rear differential skid, and if the skid wasn't there or he was a bit more careless he would have made it. The blue FJ climbing the right line is a good example of the kind of shenanigans that were going on at that spot - hence why we took the left line. The right line is in fact easier if you take the correct line (which is directly up, no turns), but if you take a complex line then it turns into what the FJs were doing: spinning and smoking tires, bucking, and bouncing all around.

When [MENTION=51030]joneseyyy[/MENTION] and [MENTION=69716]wdlsmaerw[/MENTION] climbed the right line there was no loss of contact at any point, no tires spinning, and no bouncing around; it was a straight up and over.

Poughkeepsie Gulch - The Wall - YouTube

This video shows my climb of the left line. I was having a difficult time with no lockers and just ATRAC. I'm on 33s, was aired-down to around 18, and I hit a my engine skid a couple of times on the approach and climb (video is at 2x speed).

Poughkeepsie Gulch - The Wall - YouTube
 
The FJ Summit Crew said:
Thank you for volunteering to trail lead at the 2013 FJ Summit. Without volunteers like you the Summit would not be possible. We have already had many compliments thanking us for the professionalism and help that you provided. With approximately 65% of this years attendees being first timers and new to offroading, your guidance was critical. Thanks to you, those people have left the Summit with knowledge that they will be able to take with them to the next trail.
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I guess no one reported me for leading the Alpine Loop in record time! :hiding:
 
Titanpat57 said:
"Thanks to YOU...those people actually "left" the summit...

lol...


:car:
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No joke....

I heard there was a girl in a FJ that almost went over the edge on Black Bear and the trail leader needed to drive her truck the rest of the way. I have not yet checked their forum for the whole story - or even IF its true.

Anyways, hats off respect to anybody taking on the job of trail leader.
 
phillyd2 said:
No joke....

I heard there was a girl in a FJ that almost went over the edge on Black Bear and the trail leader needed to drive her truck the rest of the way. I have not yet checked their forum for the whole story - or even IF its true.

Anyways, hats off respect to anybody taking on the job of trail leader.
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We know that girl. She told us about it. Apparently in a momentary lapse of focus her driver tire caught a rock jutting out from the "wall" side of the shelf road. It jerked the wheel to the driver side and her FJ started the climb the wall. Gave her a good scare and she was still shaken up over it several hours later. She was the trail leader on Alpine Loop last year and has run plenty of difficult trails; shes not a NOOB. Just goes to show that a momentarily lapse in judgement or concentration even by experienced offroader can have very bad consequences.
 
joneseyyy said:
We know that girl. She told us about it. Apparently in a momentary lapse of focus her driver tire caught a rock jutting out from the "wall" side of the shelf road. It jerked the wheel to the driver side and her FJ started the climb the wall. Gave her a good scare and she was still shaken up over it several hours later. She was the trail leader on Alpine Loop last year and has run plenty of difficult trails; shes not a NOOB. Just goes to show that a momentarily lapse in judgement or concentration even by experienced offroader can have very bad consequences.
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Yeah, she was definitely spooked! To add detail to Ben's description, she said that the truck came off the wall and slammed down on the trail with one tire on the very edge of the trail. So, essentially, the rock pulled her into the wall, the wall subsequently pushed her out, and her front passenger tire almost went over the edge.
 
joneseyyy said:
We know that girl. She told us about it. Apparently in a momentary lapse of focus her driver tire caught a rock jutting out from the "wall" side of the shelf road. It jerked the wheel to the driver side and her FJ started the climb the wall. Gave her a good scare and she was still shaken up over it several hours later. She was the trail leader on Alpine Loop last year and has run plenty of difficult trails; shes not a NOOB. Just goes to show that a momentarily lapse in judgement or concentration even by experienced offroader can have very bad consequences.
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I'm a noob at 4X4 and the FJ Summit was my first 'real' exposure to the trails. Although I had driven Imogene and Ophir, they are relatively benign trails when compared to Black Bear.

"Focus" is my very first and most important rule. You experts already know about this, but ya gotta watch every rock, rut, overhang, etc., especially when it's a LONG way down if you screw up. I'm glad that the lady didn't go over the edge, that's for sure.

My three rules, relating to SW Colorado trails.

1. Focus
2. Don't look down.
3. When it looks impossible, remember that dozens of trucks drive these roads every day.


:usa2:
 
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7-15-13MineralCreek_zps6fa8137b.png~original


Screen shot of Mineral Creek Trail from GoPro video. The right side is down. Quite a way. This is a pretty 'easy' trail because it's pretty wide.

:usa2:
 
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