Sunday, February 12, 2012

King of the Hammers(KOH) 2012

Where to start...what a crazy weekend...never saw so much raw power and carnage. Again, I was invited out to Johnson Valley(East of Victorville) for the King of the Hammers event. It's the most grueling single day race in America. You break, and you're out.
KOH is one of the most challenging races on the planet. Competitors negotiate several of the toughest rock crawling trails in Johnson Valley known as “the Hammers” with sections of open desert thrown in on a 165 mile long course. The racers/weekend warriors/spectators situate themselves besides the Hammers(Mountain ranges that are called "Sledgehammer" and "Clawhammer" to the east...with "Chocolate Thunder" and "Backdoor" at the corners for good measure. Some of these rigs cost well over 150K...daaaaammmmm!!!

Start of the race....look at that crowd...this picture only depicts a tiny percentage of racers and spectators. Picture this place as the SEMA of desert rock/sand warriors. Vendors were on in full force, displaying their products. Photos courtesy of Offroad.com and pirate4x4.com...

 Your typical rig...Shannon Campbell's Monster sponsored Monster
Another Rig negotiating rough terrain...and I mean ROUGH!
The "Hammers" will claim their share of victims...
The race goes on, even if you've rolled...nobody waits, they go around you...or over you!
Stuck...pshhh...I've got my 1,000 ponies to get me unstuck quick!
Not just navigating over rocks and boulders, but sand and dirt too!!!
When we were out here, we figured we might as well bring the toys along...of course, my uncle brought his Rhino...Here's Charlie and his nephew Michael
Cruising...
One of the major vision crippling sand storms I've ever been caught up in...
 Plenty of Amateur enthusiasts were out doing a little bit of everything...here we have a Lexus LX450 trying to crawl up "Backdoor"...he wasn't able to make it :(....sorry, the picture loaded sideways due my damn iPhone
My toy of choice at the end of the day, the Yahama Rhino that is out-fitted with Walker-Evans Shocks,custom rims, Maxxis tires, and 4 custom fitted HID lights...
Last but not least, the Tacoma got a little dirt time...mobbing through the bomb craters in the dry lake bed was bad ass!!! Toyota builds a fine product and the stock Bilstein suspension held up...
Bonus content...came home to some Hundreds goodies...
 Wow, you guys got a special treat this weekend from me...2 blog posts in 3 days...must be some sort of record...outro!


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