Oct 01, 2021
This is my first attempt at writing a review of an experience like this, so apologies in advance if it is a little rough. I attended the Moab Off-Rodeo on the 29th of September. It was the day after a rather large thunderstorm, so from the beginning I new it would be a fun and muddy adventure.
The check-in process was very smooth, and there was plenty of time to peruse the merchandise. We received our yeti water bottle with name tags, and unlike some previous posts, only one sticker was attached. Turns out any additional stickers could be earned by answering trivia questions throughout the day. On a small side note, a bronco wrist band was attached to all the folks different colors noted whether you were allowed to drive or not. I only bring this up because the bands are designed to not be easily removable. They will tighten, but not loosen. One of the members of our team found this out the hard way as she had to have hers cut off to restore the circulation to her hand after she accidentally tightened it a little too much.
Once we were all checked in, there was a little bit of introduction time, everyone got to put a pin in a map to show where they were from. We were then divided into groups and were introduced to our Broncos. Unfortunately no 2 doors at this location, they did have however several Badlands, one Outer banks, and a bunch of Black Diamond Sasquatch editions. It was recommended by our guides Kelly and Joe, that the Badlands on the 33 inch tires were a bit more fun (had to pick better lines) than the Sasquatch ones that would pretty much just clear everything on the trail.
Wasn't long until we were in our vehicles and following a quick inspection and some paperwork (damage waiver stuff) we were on our way to the trail. A quick side note, they were really only concerned about major body damage and windshield damage. Scraping rocks with the rock rails and skid plates was in some cases unavoidable, and in other cases encouraged.
The drive to the trail was on highway so I got me first taste of the on road manners of the new Bronco. Have to say I was not disappointed. The ride was very nice and handling was good especially considering that the tires were aired down already for the trail.
Once at the trail we spent a little bit of time talking about recovery and preparedness, as well at trail safety and etiquette. This served a few purposes, one it was very informative, and two, it allowed some time for the group ahead of us to clear the first set of obstacles so we didn't bunch up on the trail.
After this initial lecture it was onto the trail with the guides sharing tips and wisdom over the walkie-talkies as we drove.
For the entire morning portion we drove, stopped only to survey some of the bigger obstacles, then kept driving. We did everything in the morning with no driver assists, and in normal mode with lockers basically optional. In fact we were encouraged to try certain things without lockers to show the importance of momentum and just being smooth.
We stopped for a brief lunch at an amazing lookout, but unfortunately one of the guides who shall remain nameless ate all the cookies before I could get one. Should have had desert first.
After lunch was more obstacles, more driving, and we started to play with some of the assist features. The one pedal and trail control stuff is basically cheating. I was very impressed with what these stock vehicles could do, and by the end of the day I was already planning my next adventure and figuring out ways I could become a better off-roader.
The day wrapped up at a beautiful arch, then it was time to head back to base camp for a delicious dinner and then some s'mores by the fire pit. I highly recommend hanging out at the fire afterwards, a great time to reflect on the day, get some grief on your driving from everyone, and just make some new friends.
Some final takeaways.
1. You will drive a lot, so if you are worried that this will be 2 hours of talking followed by 5 minutes of driving, don't be
2. If you go by yourself, you will most likely be able to ride with one of the guides. I had a blast riding along with Kelly, he has an amazing amount of knowledge to share, and is just a great person to spend a day on the trail with. Also if you end up in the lead Bronco you will be carrying the water cooler so I hope you like the sound of sloshing ice water.
3. If you can go in the cooler weather I think you will have a better experience, we had amazing weather with temps in the 70's, but a week earlier it was almost 100 degrees on the trail.
4. Drink lots of water, the Yeti bottles they give you are amazing. I also think that buying a Bronco may be the cheapest way to get a Yeti water bottle.
5. I love the Area-51 color, so happy that I ordered it.
6. The stabilizer bar disconnect is a game changer for both obstacle clearance, and just basic comfort. In fact 3 people in our group are changing their orders to the Badlands edition for that feature alone.
I think that is about it, feel free to post any questions and I will do my best to answer them. I also made a short video with some drone footage I took. Hope you enjoy, added some music for interest but you are more than welcome to mute the audio. Hope to see some of you on the trail in the future.
Moab Off-rodeo drone video
I will also add a few pics from the day.
The check-in process was very smooth, and there was plenty of time to peruse the merchandise. We received our yeti water bottle with name tags, and unlike some previous posts, only one sticker was attached. Turns out any additional stickers could be earned by answering trivia questions throughout the day. On a small side note, a bronco wrist band was attached to all the folks different colors noted whether you were allowed to drive or not. I only bring this up because the bands are designed to not be easily removable. They will tighten, but not loosen. One of the members of our team found this out the hard way as she had to have hers cut off to restore the circulation to her hand after she accidentally tightened it a little too much.
Once we were all checked in, there was a little bit of introduction time, everyone got to put a pin in a map to show where they were from. We were then divided into groups and were introduced to our Broncos. Unfortunately no 2 doors at this location, they did have however several Badlands, one Outer banks, and a bunch of Black Diamond Sasquatch editions. It was recommended by our guides Kelly and Joe, that the Badlands on the 33 inch tires were a bit more fun (had to pick better lines) than the Sasquatch ones that would pretty much just clear everything on the trail.
Wasn't long until we were in our vehicles and following a quick inspection and some paperwork (damage waiver stuff) we were on our way to the trail. A quick side note, they were really only concerned about major body damage and windshield damage. Scraping rocks with the rock rails and skid plates was in some cases unavoidable, and in other cases encouraged.
The drive to the trail was on highway so I got me first taste of the on road manners of the new Bronco. Have to say I was not disappointed. The ride was very nice and handling was good especially considering that the tires were aired down already for the trail.
Once at the trail we spent a little bit of time talking about recovery and preparedness, as well at trail safety and etiquette. This served a few purposes, one it was very informative, and two, it allowed some time for the group ahead of us to clear the first set of obstacles so we didn't bunch up on the trail.
After this initial lecture it was onto the trail with the guides sharing tips and wisdom over the walkie-talkies as we drove.
For the entire morning portion we drove, stopped only to survey some of the bigger obstacles, then kept driving. We did everything in the morning with no driver assists, and in normal mode with lockers basically optional. In fact we were encouraged to try certain things without lockers to show the importance of momentum and just being smooth.
We stopped for a brief lunch at an amazing lookout, but unfortunately one of the guides who shall remain nameless ate all the cookies before I could get one. Should have had desert first.
After lunch was more obstacles, more driving, and we started to play with some of the assist features. The one pedal and trail control stuff is basically cheating. I was very impressed with what these stock vehicles could do, and by the end of the day I was already planning my next adventure and figuring out ways I could become a better off-roader.
The day wrapped up at a beautiful arch, then it was time to head back to base camp for a delicious dinner and then some s'mores by the fire pit. I highly recommend hanging out at the fire afterwards, a great time to reflect on the day, get some grief on your driving from everyone, and just make some new friends.
Some final takeaways.
1. You will drive a lot, so if you are worried that this will be 2 hours of talking followed by 5 minutes of driving, don't be
2. If you go by yourself, you will most likely be able to ride with one of the guides. I had a blast riding along with Kelly, he has an amazing amount of knowledge to share, and is just a great person to spend a day on the trail with. Also if you end up in the lead Bronco you will be carrying the water cooler so I hope you like the sound of sloshing ice water.
3. If you can go in the cooler weather I think you will have a better experience, we had amazing weather with temps in the 70's, but a week earlier it was almost 100 degrees on the trail.
4. Drink lots of water, the Yeti bottles they give you are amazing. I also think that buying a Bronco may be the cheapest way to get a Yeti water bottle.
5. I love the Area-51 color, so happy that I ordered it.
6. The stabilizer bar disconnect is a game changer for both obstacle clearance, and just basic comfort. In fact 3 people in our group are changing their orders to the Badlands edition for that feature alone.
I think that is about it, feel free to post any questions and I will do my best to answer them. I also made a short video with some drone footage I took. Hope you enjoy, added some music for interest but you are more than welcome to mute the audio. Hope to see some of you on the trail in the future.
Moab Off-rodeo drone video
I will also add a few pics from the day.
AKCin, drtabick
Last edited by a moderator:
Oct 01, 2021