May 15, 2021 at Hollister Hills SVRA
I arrived at Area 5 Friday afternoon. It was sunny and warm when I arrived, so I chose a spot in the shade to set up camp. The shade served its purpose, but the spot I chose was very close to where the hill descent exercise would be conducted during the clinic. I was not planning on camping Saturday night, so I packed up camp right after registration on Saturday, so as to not be in the way.
The rest of the day Friday was spent eating, drinking and hanging out around the fire with other club members and prospectives. It was great to be able to spend more time talking to everyone at greater length than generally possible during Zoom meetings or quick day runs.
Students were allowed to camp at Area 5 this time, and some joined us for Friday night camping. I had been a student at the September 2020 clinic, when only volunteers could camp, so it was good to experience a more normal clinic camping situation this time.
Friday night and Saturday were colder than I had expected for Hollister this time of year. It was especially chilly in the morning, and didn’t go above low 60s all day. I got an early start to the day on Saturday as I was helping with registration and parking. I met up with Rick at the Area 5 gate before 7 am - my task was to guide students to line up for registration after Rick had collected their covid forms. Registration moved so fast though, that it wasn’t necessary to line students up after the first few, and I was able to directly send them to registration as they came in. Good job everyone on registration.
After registration, I packed up my camp and ate an early lunch. I found Scott, Michele and Rye, and we waited around at Area 5 until it was time to go up to the obstacle course. It was fun to watch the very capable RC Land Cruiser tackle the various Area 5 obstacles, like some sticks next to each other (small frame twister), shoes, and some concrete pads on the ground.
Scott, Michele, and I got to the frame twister some time before the first group of students. We checked out the obstacle, discussing our plan of action and figuring out the best line and ruts to avoid. Thanks to all ED4 members who worked on stacking rocks and dirt to make this obstacle more doable before the clinic.
Students were directed to aim toward the third from the last pole, then turn slightly in the other direction to get over the final poles. This would result in the student’s front passenger and driver side tires aimed at the two rocks following the poles (avoiding the deep ruts), which they would get over to complete the obstacle. This worked for most rigs - one Lexus with a low hanging bumper couldn’t make it over the rocks so we spotted around the rocks, and stacked some smaller rocks to help.
Another group not part of the safety clinic went through the frame twister in the down time between safety clinic groups. We did not spot them (they had their own spotter), but they did not pick the best line and got stuck in the ruts. Tire spinning and bouncing followed… but they eventually got through it. We also saw a Toyota try and fail to get over the other obstacle with the logs, across from the frame twister.
The last group to come through was a little after 5 PM. After this, we all drove back down to Area 5 from the obstacle course. The students remained in their groups to take photos, with the groups spread out across Area 5. I had already packed up my camp earlier, so I said my goodbyes and left at this point.
This was my first time volunteering at clinic. It was great to work with the dedicated club members and prospectives, and to see the enthusiastic students have fun in their 4x4s. Hope to see everyone out on a future run soon.
-Dishaan Ahuja (prospective member)