Crawlin' BC - Mainland Cup Articles and Pictures

2008 Mainland Cup Event Article

Written by Richard "u-can-2" Walker

Pictures by Kelly "she-can-2" Walker & Jim "Z" Hogins

For the third year in a row, the crew at Crawlin’bc.com were hard at work getting ready for their Mainland Cup Challenge 2008, which again, was held just outside of Mission, BC in an area frequented by wheelers from far and wide. This allowed the organizers to take advantage and use cones to change trails that most of the competitors had already run. The trails on this years agenda included; Stoner, Alpine and Plumbsucker. Stoner (named from certain paraphernalia found when it was built) and Alpine were the trails for Saturday, while the top 10 would run Plumbsucker for the finals on Sunday. All three trails are typical for the trails found in the area; steep rock faces with dirt transitions, slippery logs and a little moss thrown in just for fun!

The weather was holding off on Saturday morning (I think that was due to the fact that we were in the clouds!) and all 18 rigs were tech’d and split into 2 groups. Half would run Stoner while the other half hit Alpine, then everyone would switch for the afternoon to make sure everyone got a full day of wheelin.

The trail leaders took all the competitors, judges and volunteers to their respective trails and got set-up while the drivers and spotters got a chance to walk the trails and see what they were in for. Stoner was set up with 3 coned courses and 1 bonus climb worth -10 points if you made it, but no penalty if you didn’t. Alpine was similar, but ended with a short rock race worth bonus points for the fastest times.

Courses 2 & 3 on Stoner were the action spots for the day. Course 2 was a tight left hand turn to line up for a steep, slimy 8 foot drop with one rock in the perfect spot to throw rigs on their lids. Almost half the rigs in each group ended up on either their sides or roofs. Nolan Skopliac in his Jeep Thrills sponsored Zuk did a complete roll back onto the wheels and while trying to get back on course ended up on his side again! The loudest cheer from this course had to be when Joe Miller (the only guy who drove his rig to the comp) completed the drop unscathed.

Course 3 was a long one and competitors had to be careful of their time. Again, there was one drop and if they weren’t careful teams could end up fighting gravity. Curtis Warner, in the Gear Centre Jeep & Shawn Birdsell did complete rolls and with seconds to spare crossed the finish in time. Kris Fraser in the other Jeep Thrills sponsored rig rolled on both course 2 & 3. His flop on Course 2 was a hard landing bending some of the tubing on the rear section of his cage. Then on course 3, a ľ roll killed a side wall on one of his Iroks and with quick fire extinguisher work from his spotter a small fire was put out under Kris’ buggy.

Only one person was able to complete the bonus climb on Stoner. With no spotter, “Money” Mark Lynum signaled the judge to start the clock and proceeded to get out of his buggy to do some “trail mods”. With a few minutes left, Mark calmly strapped back in, pushed the skinny pedal to the floor and in a cloud of dust, clawed his way to the top!

Although Mark was the only one to make it, everyone gave it a great try. Taran Halarewich in his BCC f-toy came close, but ended up back on his wheels after a complete roll and attacked the wall again as he still had 1 minute left. Dustyn Friesen also came close, but had no oil pressure on the steep incline and chose to back down to save his motor for the rest of the comp.

Over on Alpine, there were similar tales of spills, thrills & chills. There were more rolls, flops and even another fire! Joel Tickner was hard at work on one of the courses and as he flopped onto his drivers side a large fallen tree caved in the upper passenger side of his cab. Some quick chainsaw work, a hi-lift and without his windshield Joel was on his way again.

The last course for Alpine was a rock race, and Paul Deakin in his red four door Trooper brought home one of the fastest times. Many of the drivers had problems completing the rock race so doing it quickly was really worth the bonus points.

In true MCC fashion, the weather just couldn’t hold off and as the sun faded the rain fell. Although we all got back to camp by dark, the last two competitors had to run in the rain. Both Paul and Dustyn cleaned their courses posting some of the best scores of the day. Great driving guys!

Back at camp, the rain continued to fall and people huddled under tarps, e-z ups and whatever else provided shelter. With numerous fires burning, Saturday night turned into a “fire-hop” while people bounced from fire to fire sharing stories and maybe a drink or two. Once the top 10 scores were posted, everyone enjoyed the rest of the rainy night and faded off to bed.

Top 10 for Sunday finals on Plumbsucker; Paul Deakin, John Kennedy, Shawn Birdsell, Mark Lynum, Taran Halarewich, Joe Miller, Curtis Warner, Joel Tickner, Dustyn Friesen and Ryan Dey.

Plumbsucker was set up as three separate coned courses and each finalist had to run all three. We had to move quickly as we still had to wheel, tally scores, announce winners, give out prizes and get home. All competitors were on their game and all were shooting for the top spot.

All 3 courses were being run at the same time and it took great planning from the organizers, judges and volunteers to keep things running smoothly. I guess the mention of the day would have to go to John Kennedy who managed to go all day without rolling! John (or johny5 as we call him) managed to flop or roll 4 times the day before and one of them wasn’t even during the comp.

With the last few rigs finishing up, the trails were cleaned up, the prize table set up, and everyone enjoyed a moment of relaxation while they awaited the announcement of the winners.

With consistent driving in his new buggy and great restraint to not use the rear steer, Mainland Cup Challenge 2008’s winner is Dustyn “BIG-D” Friesen with “Money” Mark Lynum in 2nd place and Shawn “rock monster” Birdsell in 3rd place.

We would like to thank all the competitors (drivers, spotters and teammates) judges, organizers and volunteers. MCC couldn’t happen without all of you!

Also, special thanks to all our sponsors; The Gear Centre Group, Abbsry Tires, Jeep Thrills Customs, Big Country Customs, Fraser Valley Building Supplies, National 4WD, EBI Cruiser Parts, Eaton, Rhino, North West Fab and everyone else who donated.

To see more write-ups, pics, vids or to order the MCC DVD please visit Crawlin’bc.com.

See you next year!

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2007 Mainland Cup Event Article

Written by Richard "u-can-2" Walker

    The second annual Mainland Cup Challenge was held just outside of Mission, BC Canada, in an area that depicts what BC wheelin' is all about!

    As competitors arrived, the weather was bleak and the rain showed no signs of stopping. This, however, did not dampen (pun intended) anyone's spirits.

    Day one began with everyone getting unloaded, camp set up, registration and getting ready for the night's trail. That's right, the first trail for the competition was a night run. The order that the rigs would run was determined by the order in which they showed up and Nolan Skopiak was the first lucky one to arrive while Curtis Warner would be the one to finish up the night.

    The trail chosen for the lucky competitors is named "Up and Over" and would prove to be quite a challenge for most of the competitors. Up and Over is named so because it basically goes up and over a small mountain but is still short enough to run 17 trucks through quickly.

    Competitors were faced with 2 large slippery rock wall climbs right of the start gate (Tyler Vanderwall attempted the bonus line, but gravity prevailed), followed by one drop that would be the "action" spot of the night! This drop claimed many of the rigs, throwing them onto their sides and roofs. Near the middle of the pack was Myles Schafer and as he began the drop the backend got light forcing his Toyota into two barrel rolls. Luckily he landed back on his wheels and drove through the finish line with no major damage. Dave Kalinocka, who just finished building his Toy buggy, and Nolan Skopiak, both also had quite spectacular spills onto their roofs.

    Further back in the running as the night wore on and the rain still plummeted was Rob Reid. After successfully navigating the drops and just feet from the finish gate was another smaller drop into a ditch. As Rob descended his front bead blew and his Toyota stood on it's nose before crashing hard onto the passenger side in the ditch filled with small stumps and branches. One of the branches managed to get wedged between the exo cage and roof, severly crushing the roof down and popping the windshield partially out. Rob and his spotter were quickly removed from the truck and while Rob went off to the hospital to get checked out, the officials and competitors extracted his rig and got it back to camp. Rob was back at camp the next morning with some sore ribs and after some hi-lifting on his roof, was back in the competition!

    The order for day two was chosen from a hat the previous day and Paul Deakin got the honors of being the first up on a trail called "Fuct". This trail is aptly named so because this is how many of the people who run it feel when they are done! Hoping that the weather would hold off, everyone was lined up awaiting an exciting day of excellent driving, teamwork and carnage. Fuct was broken into four sections: three sections of coned obstacles and one rock race. In section 1, the only person to try the bonus line was Dave Buckle, but he ended up flopping onto his passenger side. With no damage he was back on his wheels in no time, and back on track. The toughest part of the day was section 3. Drivers had to do a figure eight loop within the trail and the tight cone placement caused many of the competitors to point out. Paul Deakin in his Trooper made good use of his twin sticks and line locks and was able to pilot one of the longest rigs there through this difficult section. This loop also claimed a few rigs to breakage. After doing really well in sections 1 and 2 Mike Debuc entered section 3 on the bonus line and snapped a rear axle as well as a hub. Ryan Dey, Dan Bushwick, and Laura Warner (Mainland Cup Challenge's only female competitor) also fell to breakage on day two.

    The final section for the day was a short rock race with the top finishers receiving points off of their scores. Nic Pook spanked the rock race section with the quickest time earning his minus 20 points. As darkness slowly approached, Joe Milller's ring and pinion decided they'd had enough and let go with a loud ratcheting sound. He was quickly helped off the trail so the remaining few rigs could finish their races and get back to camp.

    Once back at camp, all competitors and volunteers were treated to barbequed hamburgers, deep fried turkeys with all the fixins, and maybe a "soda" or two. The perfect treat after a long day of wheelin.

    For day three (the finals), only the top ten rigs from the previous two days would get to run as we still had to wheel, give away trophies and prizes, as well as get home. The trail chosen for the finals is called "Upper Fuct" and is basically an extension of the trail from day two. This time there was a rock race to start the trail followed by a few more coned sections for points. Again, Nic Pook grabbed first in the race with Kris Fraser and Alex Hinds close on his heels. The show of the day had to be by Curtis Warner who in the first section, only a few feet in, flopped onto his driver side and while trying to drive out of it managed to snap a Dana 60 outer axle. After using pretty much every second of his breakdown time, he was back in action putting on a show of epic proportions! The sound of Curtis' motor could be heard two mountain ranges over as he tried to finish up section four, a short, steep rock climb with a turn part way up. Unfortunately, another Dana 60 axle let go and with his engine at 290 degrees his time ran short. Everyone in the crowd, including other competitors cheered loudly as Curtis' Jeep was pulled off the trail.

    Back down the trail on section three, most of the rigs were having a bit of trouble negotiating a huge, round rock to the left of the trail with a fallen tree to the right and cones right in the middle. Dave Kalinocka and Kevin Bradshaw both flopped onto their passenger sides, but were quickly righted and back on all fours. Kevin's carb'd Toy even stayed running while on it's side. Mike Debuc also had some gravitational issues, but this gave all the spectators a reason to look at his new, "custom" skidplate!

    Day three ended right on time as planned and while everyone packed up camp and loaded their rigs onto the trailer, the judges counted and double checked all the points to decide a winner. With consistent driving all weekend and a great team, Nic Pook took home first overall with Curtis Warner and Paul Deakin coming in second and third respectively.

    All in all, it was a very tiring yet rewarding weekend full of whatever it is that makes these wheelers build and drive like they do. I wish I could tell you what it is, but I'm sure, after a short rest, all of these competitors and volunteers will be right back into getting ready for next year and maybe we can figure it out then?

    For more pictures, write ups, and to order the MCC'07 DVD (brought to you by: CrawlinBC.com and Sketcht Productions), please visit CrawlinBC.com

    We'd also like to thank all of the people and businesses who made donations as well as our sponsors: Big Country Customs, North West Fab, National 4WD, The Gear Center Group