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12th Exmoor 4x4 Jaunt & Challenge
The Exmoor Jaunt and Challenge are annual 4x4 Charity Events in aid of Wooden Spoon which supports projects designed to improve life for disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK and Ireland. The event took place over the weekend of the 28/29th March and is split into two distinct activities, the Jaunt and the Challenge. The Jaunt has a variety of off-road sections of varying difficulty. It is suitable for families, all skill ranges and most types of 4 x 4. Children in road legal seats with seat belts are welcome. The Challenge however is much more demanding than the Jaunt. Good skills and experience are required as is a suitable vehicle. Challenge teams consist of three vehicles and each team needs at least one winch equipped vehicle.
This year, the 12th Exmoor Jaunt & Challenge had 25 Challenger’s and 30 Jaunter’s, The Four Wheel Drive Club entered 2 teams of 3 vehicles in the Challenge.
Participants met up on Friday evening for registration, meals, drinks and pre-event discussion in the Moorland Hall, Wheddon Cross and spilled over into the local pub.
Saturday morning we had bacon butties followed by a short briefing and it wasn’t long before we were off! Teams left at 3 min intervals and after navigating around some local roads for a few minutes we hit our first taste of the Exmoor mud! The first site was challenging and really sticky which meant that tyres soon got clogged up. There was a good mix of side slopes, muddy dips, hill climbs and steep descents, which most of our vehicles coped with surprisingly well, although some slopes required the use of a winch, and others required lots of momentum. There were also some trials sections, which required good driver techniques to manoeuvre in between trees and other obstacles – no easy task in very slippery mud! Just enough time after for a quick cuppa before navigating to our next challenge…
We arrived at Croydon Hill forestry site and were presented with a 150m freestyle hill climb on Forestry Commission land. We were on the lower track and the challenge was to get to the top track by any means possible choosing our own route through what was basically a forest. We had the blessing of the Forestry Commission who were in attendance to oversee that everything was done in accordance with their national policy. Teams started by carefully choosing their route using different ways and techniques including winching, pruning dead and fallen trees and judicious use of the 4x4’s abilities! There were lots of 4x4’s stuck on stumps etc, but the teamwork was fantastic and it wasn’t long before we were all at the top saying WOW! We all agreed that this was the most exhilarating challenge of the weekend. We are all still really surprised at how the Forestry Commission let us have such a huge amount of freedom on their land, so big thanks to them. Further along the track we were rewarded with some fantastic views of Exmoor countryside and thought it was a good time to pause for a photo opportunity. We carried on to the next challenge which was a trials section and then straight on for a well deserved pub lunch. After a filling lunch, a general check of our vehicles and fluid levels revealed one broken rock slider, one bent exhaust that had to be cut and shortened and the odd scratch here and there. We then set off for the afternoon challenge.
We navigated our way to the next section, set in another woodland called ‘Galloping Bottom’, only to find that a large tree had blown down over in the night blocking the track. The teams ahead of us decided to join together to overcome the obstacle by sawing, winching and general teamwork. They seemed to have this in hand so we decided to take a different route and found our way to Western Cliff which was another series of steep climbs, steep descents, drop-offs, trials and tricky manoeuvring through boggy woodland. After spending a couple of hours here we headed back for cream tea and cakes while plotting our route for day 2. Before we knew it, it was time for the evening meal where we shared each others experiences. As the time past other teams were joining us in the hall. After a thrilling and challenging day we headed back to our various accommodations for an early night. Some braved the elements by camping whilst others chose local B&B’s or cottages.
DAY 2
We were allowed an extra 30 mins in bed because it was Sunday but really we lost an hour’s sleep as clocks went forward, never the less we were at the start with bacon butties in hand at 8:30am; the briefing was given and we were ready to go! Day 1 did have some casualties and Stu’s (Stueydo) Trooper was one; A head gasket failure meant he and his navigator Anthony had to jump in with Rich (Disco Kandi).& Chris. We navigated to ‘Broad Oak Wood’ where we had 2 hours to tackle even more demanding challenges of hill climbs, trials and to roam around finding our own challenges, including crossing a very muddy pond, which Ben (who4mud) braved and made good use of his winch. We went for lunch at the Stogumber village hall, followed by a short drive on to the winch section at Elworthy Combe. This entailed winching up very steep woodland which was virtually impossible to drive. As time was running out we went straight on to the last section at Middleton Bottom, which included driving down a rocky river, more boggy tracks and slippery climbs. We then headed back to Wheddon Cross to the Moorland Hall for a large selection of cakes with tea and coffee.
The event raised a current total of £13,000 with teams from The Four Wheel Drive Club raising just over £2,000 of it, so a big, big thumbs up to the two teams.
If you like off roading with a challenge then the Exmoor 4x4 Challenge event is definitely for you! Be warned there is a risk of some vehicle damage! If you like green laning and fantastic views then the Jaunt will still more than satisfy your needs. We had a fantastic weekend with excellent company, combined team work, good sportsmanship of the competitors and lots of friendly banter – and it’s all for such a good cause. Exmoor generally has very few places where you can drive off-road, and this is a fantastic way to see some of the best countryside in the South. We will be doing the 13th Exmoor Challenge – will you???
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