Surf's UP!
Rocksurfing at the Dakota Challenge

by Glenn Wakefield

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Each year in a little place tucked deep within the Black Hills of South Dakota, one of the premier surfing events in the entire world occurs. Of course with no hope of ever seeing actual ocean 'surf' until the polar ice packs melt, these boys take to a whole different brand of surfing.... Rocksurfing!

Forget about the about the Rincon and Pipeline the Beach boys used to sing about with cushy sand and "two girls for every guy". We're talking about some extreme surfing action. The rocks of South Dakota make the Australian Barrier Reef look like an airport runway. What is Rocksurfing? It gets its name from driving (or at least attempting) to drive over big huge slippery rocks. And when it comes to big huge slippery rocks, South Dakota is the North Shore of the rockcrawling world during peak storm season.

Being a professional rocksurfer requires years of experience, lots of money, and the technical know-how to build a machine capable enough to handle some of the country's most difficult trails. Vehicles arrive in South Dakota from all over the country to go through an inspection process in camp which determines just what kind of surfing you'll be doing for the event. 33" meats, lockers front and rear, a winch, a host of safety equipment, and a measurement of the width of your vehicle are all required to qualify for the biggest baddest rocks. With our vehicle proudly wearing the badge of the highest order, we were set.

One of the great things about this event is its well-contained size. Only one hundred participants are allowed to attend every year. And with the amount of press coverage and the notorious reputation of the Challenge, participants were using Federal Express to get their registrations back early this year. The heavily forested Black Hills make this event the most beautiful place we go wheeling every year. The area's unique history compliments this enchanting beauty. Beyond the obvious tourist stops like Crazy Horse mountain and Mount Rushmore, the Hills are widely regarded as the last bastion of the Wild West. In fact, the area remained relatively undiscovered and unsettled until later in the 1800's. It was the Summer of 1874 when an expedition led by General Custer discovered gold in Deadwood. What followed was typical of the time period back then, the Black Hills Gold Rush, boomtowns, and the 'last stand' of the Wild West. Names of characters such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, and Crazy Horse endear this area to all of us who ever dreamt of what the old West must have been like. Possibly the most well known Black Hills resident was a fella known as Wild Bill Hickok. With a reputation as the most deadly and accurate of gunslingers, it was said Wild Bill could hit a dime tossed into the air 9 out of 10 times. But those days are gone now and there's a new gang in town. The roughest, toughest, mangiest, most rockiest group of outlaws that ever roamed the northern territories. The Black Hills 4wheelers.

Okay, actually they're really great folks. They've done so much to serve the local forest service district, that it never fails..... year after year the Black Hills 4Wheelers keep managing to add trails even more difficult than the previous year's. The best part is that thanks to an impenetrable maze of backcountry roads, no one can find these trails, so they don't get 'built up' year after year like some of the more well-known and easily accessed "extreme" trails in the West.

The Dakota Challenge offers several trails designed to challenge stock vehicles too. However, this being the year of El Nino, we were looking to do some major hardcore rocksurfing. Two years ago we experienced the madness of a trail named Hal John's. Last year, brought the insanity of a new trail dubbed KONG, which introduced the "winch mandatory" level of trails. This year, brought the most damaging and difficult trail to date..... Twister.

TWISTER

What is Twister? Twister is an ancient road which was miraculously found by a couple members of the Black Hills guys. However, decades of growth and erosion have erased just about every trace of road there ever was. The main game with Twister was its narrowness. Sure, your vehicle has to be a capable rock spider to even get a glimpse of this trail. But in order to even get around on foot on this thing, YOU have to be a fairly decent rockspider too. This is the tightest most punishing trail we had ever been on. Around every corner, up every ledge, over every rock, lurked not only the challenge of the trail underneath, but also trees and rocks whose whole purpose of being it seemed was to pummel the sheet metal of your vehicle.

Glenn, negotiating Twister

Even the most careful driver can suffer damage on this trail. We repeatedly witnessed this. For example, in one rare section of trail which was devoid of rock, yet covered with fallen trees, one of our front tires must have pushed down on a small fallen tree which lifted up the rear of the tree. On this section, one of our front tires must have pushed down on a small fallen tree which lifted up the rear of the tree. This tree then managed to wrap itself around our rear axle and after bending up our Rancho 9000's, promptly snapped off the shock mount. This was minor compared to the carnage others were suffering. A couple of early model Broncos (including Pat Gremillion's Der Welder Wagon) looked like they had been through a demolition derby by the end of the trail. A Toyota pickup in our group sat pigeon-toed at the entrance to the trail before it was decided to drag it out of the way and leave it for scrap..... or until parts could be brought in from Rapid City. A Flatfender shredded 3 tires in the first 200 yards before calling it quits and backing out. And the list goes on..... This trail was not only challenging though, it was fun and rewarding. In fact, we had it so bad for this trail, we ran it not only the first day of the event, but also the last day.

Don't think that only one trail gets to have all the fun though. Registrants line up every morning waiting for their number to be called to choose from a host of great rockcrawling trails. In year's past, we sampled such local offerings as: Lower Buzz, notorious for its deep water pockets covering hidden rock gardens; Rodeo Drive, with hills that only a handful of vehicles have ever conquered unassisted; Hal John's, which unfortunately this year was underwater; Badlands Boogie, with its quicksand pockets that sucked us in deep last year; and the Iceman, which this year opened up a whole new section which was reported to be extremely challenging.

FULL SIZE

After the tightness of Twister on day one, we needed some breathing room and so fired up the engine for a trip to Full Size. This is a trail that allows full-sized guys a chance to play, since it is wide enough to allow you to actually get out of your vehicle without having to climb out the top and over the hood. This is no tame lion though. We found challenges galore on this trail. The trail came to a halt for a bit when one of our Canadian pals got so stuck, he ended having what looked like a spider web of winch cables hooked up trying to get his Commanche dislocated from its rocky dilemma. And to top it off, our trail leader demolished his full-sized Blazer while demonstrating a textbook upsidedown-full-flying-rollover-flop. It was rumored this was just a maneuver designed to ensure he took home the trail leader's 'boner' award this year.... which he did.

Lest ye think all we did was break parts, camp offers a great place to not only repair vehicles, but also to relax. A central bonfire serves nightly as a rally point. However, we really enjoy wandering from one small campfire to the next visiting with old friends and making new ones. One was rarely without 'free beverage' using this technique. Speaking of which, we'd like to offer a special thanks to Rick Pewe, and Rod & Bea Pepper (Wild Oats) for introducing us to the wonderful world of the Butterball. A very tasty beverage.

If you're thinking 'Cowabunga', I gotta go surfing next year too! There's only one way to do it. Contact the Black Hills 4wheelers at P.O.Box 1354, Rapid City, SD 57709. They'll get you the registration information you need to book your rocksurfing holiday. Just remember to get your registration back very quickly as this presitious event only takes the first 100 entries.

Will we be back next year? Well..... what do you think :^)

Glenn Wakefield
www.summitoffroad.com
Poet, Traveler, Extreme Recreationalist

Where the road ends, life begins....

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