Trail Hero rolled around once again, and we geared up for another rock-crushing pilgrimage to Sand Hollow Park in Hurricane, Utah. For the uninitiated, Trail Hero is the Mecca of off-roading events, drawing gearheads and mud-slingers from across the nation. It's our chance to put rubber to rock, test our mettle (and our metal) against Utah's unforgiving terrain, and pow-wow with industry comrades and die-hard customers.
Well before the sun peeked over the horizon, most of our crew stumbled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 3 AM to catch flights, while Dan and Hudson played pack mule, hauling our rigs cross-country. After setting up basecamp, we hit the kickoff party to decompress, swap tall tales, and psych ourselves up for the week's adventures.
Tuesday morning saw us crawling out of bed early, and we linked up with Aaron, our West Coast Sales guru and seasoned spotter, along with the guys from Revkit, WULF Off-road, and a motley crew of trail warriors. Our target: Sliplock Gulch. We crawled and clawed our way through without major incident until we faced the near-vertical beast known as Hardtop Alley. Dan muscled El Jefe up the obstacle like a mountain goat, with Hunter's open-top JLU, the Hooligan, hot on his heels. Not everyone emerged unscathed, though. Joe from Wulf Offroad got a bit sideways and ended up between a rock and a hard place. Nothing a couple of winches couldn’t handle, though.
As the week unfolded, we tackled a smorgasbord of trails that pushed our rigs to the limit. Triple Jointed threw down the gauntlet with mind-bending obstacles that demanded equal parts brains and brawn. The Chute had us white-knuckling a near-vertical ascent that felt more like a rocket launch than rock crawling. Milt's Mile served up a heaping plate of humble pie at Middle Monkey, but El Jefe flexed its horsepower and conquered where others faltered. New to the scene, our Production Manager, JJ, made his trail blazing debut on Joint Effort, navigating the gauntlet like a seasoned pro.
Midweek, we set up shop at the vendor show, rolling out the red carpet for our customers. As usual, El Jefe held everyone’s attention like a celebrity, while our Bobbed Beds, Roll Cages, and Half Doors turned heads. Unsurprisingly, many people wanted to meet Bender and “The” Bobby Cox and hear their stories. We saw a myriad of faces come and go, many of which are the proud new owners of various, game-changing Motobilt parts.
Back on the trails, we capped off the week with two unforgettable runs. First, the ladies' conquest of Milt's Mile, where us fellas donned wigs in a hilarious (and surprisingly successful) attempt to infiltrate their ranks. After dropping our disguises and our inhibitions, we braved The Maze – a devious labyrinth of steep slopes, sharp inclines, and claustrophobia-inducing crevices that pushed our skills to the edge. While we had to split for the vendor show, Aaron stuck around to take a crack at “You Gotta Be Nuts”, an insanely difficult obstacle at the end of The Maze.
When the dust settled, we looked back on a week of triumph, camaraderie, and pure, unadulterated off-road bliss. Trail Hero lived up to its name, forging legends and memories that'll fuel our passion until next year's showdown. So, grease up those differentials and mark your calendars – we'll see you on the trails!
