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Crawlin' To A Cure 2013

07 Aug 2013 By admin

We went out last Saturday to attend the third annual Crawlin’ To A Cure event in Eagle, CO that supports Breast Cancer Awareness and raises money for the Keepin’ ’Em Real Scholarship Fund. We’ve been attending this event since the beginning and seen it grow to what it was this past Saturday. The progress has been amazing, both in terms of the course, the rigs, and the crowd in attendance. With buggys, Jeeps, and pickup trucks coming from all over Colorado and some driving in from Moab, UT, the event is starting to attract some attention, and that’s a good thing.

The fundraising this year targets a local scholarship designated for students from families who have been touched by cancer. Something a little different than raising funds for the national breast cancer awareness cause, but we think that keeping the money raised local is a nice step going forward. Now, on to the pictures!

We got to the event a little late, so we missed the first go round with the stock / lightly modified vehicles which is our favorite part…just seeing what a Jeep can do as your daily driver and weekend wheeling machine. Apparently, the $100 entrance fee didnt deter any of the drivers from going all out with their rigs, even if they do need them to get to work on Monday. This guy late in the evening had the flags flying as he soared over a few jumps on the tamer of the two courses.

Another pretty stock Jeep was rolling through the JV course with the hard top on and aired out the first jump with all 4 wheels off the ground! Kinda went against the theme of the event which was “crawlin,” but we’ll give him a hall pass since it was pretty cool to watch.

One Jeep we wanted to see do more later in the night was this old rust bucket. It was pretty much being held together with duct tape and bungee cords, but damn if it isn’t cool looking! Unfortunately, two obstacles into his run, there was an abrupt stop, followed by the gentleman holding up a shiny object…his shifter! Fortunately, after some fiddling, the reverse gear still worked, so he backed his way on into the staging area. Would have liked to see what he could’ve done, oh well, that’s Jeepin!

After the stock / near stock classes went through, it was time for the rigs built to rock the trails only. Very fun to watch what a machine can do…like scale a small building! This Jeep with flames on the hood was probably our favorite driver of the night. It still resembled something you could buy at a dealership, but definitely had a lot of love put into making it an off road machine…and it showed on the course. The first run through was impressive and as we recall, the driver put in one of the top times of the night.

Later on, a lady (maybe the first driver’s wife? we weren’t sure) got in the drivers seat to see what she could do on the Varsity course after driving her own Jeep on the JV course earlier in the night. The results were impressive over the first three obstacles…she was killing it! Then came the big ramp and things got interesting to say the least. She came in a little hot and off angle, rolling right off the side and into the guard rails. Fortunately, everyone was okay and the Jeep lived to drive again later in the evening…Impressive!

This wasn’t the only casualty of the night as this friendly roofed buggy took a tumble as well. The good folks who put on the event were prepared with an earth mover ready to right any wayward vehicles in short order. Sometimes, with a little help from the course crew who also did a great job directing drivers through some of the trickier spots on the course.

Rounding out the gallery is a couple of our favorite shots of the night when the light was just right and the dirt was flying off a few of the obstacles. Hopefully, it gives our readers an idea of how this event is progressing from where it started a few years ago to where it is now. Pretty impressive growth for a local off road event.

That’s it. Special thanks to everyone who put on the event and we’re glad we could make it out again this year to support a great event and a great cause.

Go Topless Day 2013 Recap!

18 May 2013 By admin

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Well, needless to say, any day you can get out and wheel it’s a good day. Go Topless Day 2013 was a blast for us here in Colorado. We went out with the South Park 4×4 Club to Leadville, CO for the meetup and proceeded to Halfmoon Creek trail to see how far we could go.

Turns out, we got up further than we thought we could and made it all the way to a creek crossing where a couple of rigs attempted to get across. The crossing itself wasn’t really an issue, but an ice shelf greeting drivers on the other side of the creek caused a few problems. Due to the layout of the rocks and the shelf, a right to left move was necessary to get out of the water. Shorter wheel bases seemed to rule the day as well equipped TJ was the only successful crossing. A chopped up cherokee and a newer 4 door wrangler got wet and had fun, but couldn’t navigate the exit out of the water without some winch assistance.

After the fun, the snow started moving in, right on cue, and we figured it would be best to head down. Quite a scene with 10 topless jeeps (and one Toyota) with snow falling softly overhead. We figured it would be a waste not to stop for lunch quickly, and sure enough mother nature cooperated long enough to bring the sun back out for a quick bite and some Go Topless Day pictures. AHHHH, Colorado weather!

At any rate, all in all, a fun morning ride and another great Go Topless Day. Looking forward to doing it again next year and appreciative for a great start to wheeling season here in Colorado.

*** On a side note, we threw up about 10 Jeep Waves to random motorists on our way out to Leadville and had almost a 90% return rate for waves. Pretty darn good! It might help having the Jeep Wave Sticker right in view of oncoming drivers! ; )

National Jeep Wave Day 2013

23 Apr 2013 By admin

The second annual National Jeep Wave Day is May 7th, 2013…and that’s just around the corner. For those who don’t know, we’re trying to have a day to celebrate our Jeeps and promote the Jeep Wave. With more and more Jeep drivers out there every day, we need to make sure everyone knows about the wave.

Last year, we spread the word to over 5,000 Jeepers via Facebook, Twitter, and word of mouth. This year, we’re gonna need your help again to share with social networks, Jeep clubs, and Jeep friends around the world. Throw that #JeepWaveDay hash tag out on Twitter, share posts on Facebook, and don’t forget to wave to all the Jeeps you can see on May 7th.

Feel free to link back to the blog here if you want to share around the web with your Jeep friends! linkback: Jeep Wave Day 2013

When Jeeps Fly…

11 Nov 2012 By admin

It’s Veteran’s Day today. Like every year, a time for us to personally reflect and thank those we know and those we’ve never met for their service to the USA. Like last Veteran’s Day, jeepwaves.com is bringing you some interesting historical notes from WWII – Jeep related of course.

This year, it’s a story about when Jeeps fly…seriously. Excerpts taken from the book Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose, recall the first solo flight recorded in a Jeep. In WWII, the US military had a sizable fleet of gliders used to deliver troops and equipment into battle, often behind enemy lines, by gliding in just above the ground. In March of 1945, a Jeep and a medic, Pvt. Wallace Thompson, were loaded into the front of a glider (likely a Waco CG-4A) with two pilots. Then, things got interesting:

“Over the target, just a few meters above the ground, an 88 shell burst just behind Thompson’s jeep. The concussion broke the latches of the nose section, which flipped up and locked, throwing the pilots out. The blast cut the ropes that held the jeep, which leaped out ahead of the glider, engine running, flying through the air at high speed, Thompson gripping the steering wheel with all his might. He made a perfect four-wheel landing and beat the glider to the ground, thus becoming the first man in history to solo in a jeep.”

As if that wasn’t enough, after landing, Thompson proceeded to drive his Jeep over to the two pilots who were injured in the landing. He then treated their wounds, and drove them to an aid station. A story of heroism from all involved and an impressive number for our beloved Jeep to boot! A little reminder next time your Jeep gets “airborne” on the trail…it could be worse.

The rest of the book is definitely worth a read, but we thought this little excerpt would be a fun read and a good reminder just how intertwined the Jeep is with the history of those who defend our country. So, as we pay respect to our Veterans today, give a Jeep a wave if you see one!

Crawl To A Cure 2.0

18 Oct 2012 By admin

The second annual Crawl To A Cure event went off in Eagle, CO at the fair grounds last week. With a goal to raise money in the fight against breast cancer, off road machines from all around Colorado came out to race around the course.

Like last year, the rain / snow / sleet came in right on cue and muddied up the course. It was cold and the crowds weren’t quite as big as last year, but the folks that did show up sure weren’t lacking any enthusiasm.

There were two classes of vehicles, some that were mostly stock that ran on the small course and some built up rigs that ran the big course. In some respects, seeing what the stock-ish Jeeps could do was a lot of fun. Nothing impresses us more than watching a Jeep more or less off the factory line do things you don’t think it can do…like catch air.

That said, it wasn’t all roses for the regular sized Jeeps. While you can see the big wall in the background, the little stack in front caused some problems when one lady took a turn driving her husband’s rig and got a little hung up.

All in all, good fun for the first round, but we were excited to see the big rigs come out next. Now, hard to tell if some of these were Jeeps…all that was left was and engine, wheels, some seats, and a vague outline of a frame. AKA: Crawling Machines.

The most impressive part of the whole deal was seeing who could get up and over the big wall. Looking at it before the start of the event, and based on last year’s showing, we didn’t think anyone was gonna make it. Stretched up in front of the wall, you can see how big it was…

Surprisingly, or not, depending on your faith in your Jeep, a couple rigs made it up and over. The most impressive one was probably this green monster that made quick work of the big wall. HUGE!

All in all, a really fun event again this year. We’re glad to support a good cause and have some fun at the same time. We hope to do it again next year!