Hosting a Trail or Event

Hello fellow off-roaders!  I hope you’re getting out there and hitting some trails or learning how to maintain your ride within your capabilities and facilities. I know it’s been a minute since I’ve wrote anything but that changes today.  Let’s talk about hosting a trail or event.  Now I’m not talking about the Jeep Invasion at Pigeon Forge, that is… well, more than what I want to deal with currently.

I’m talking about your ‘little’ local trail events where you not only get with your friends and your crew/team but sent out invites to other off-roading people, groups and teams. So how does one prepare for that?

Well, if it’s just a trail, that’s fairly easy.  You’re going to meet everyone at a certain spot on a specific day at this time.  THAT’S the easy part.  Now comes the ‘work’; did you recon the trail prior to the event? I don’t care if you went there last year, things change. I did Black Gap in Big Bend National Park in Texas 4 1/2 months apart and there were some changes to the condition of the trail. Went on a recon with the Team Lead and Team VPs in Tecolote near Tularosa, New Mexico a week prior to 2 different trails we were hosting and the terrain changed slightly in between the recon and actual day of the event. So, recon your routes at least a week prior.

So after you did that, refine your plan and schedule. Hopefully you have a good idea on approximately how many vehicles are showing up, type of vehicle and drivers capabilities.  When hosting an event, you want to make sure you have a little something for everyone or be very specific about difficulty and vehicle requirements needed to negotiate obstacles.

As host, greet your attendees.  They are your guest, make sure your team is also greeting them as well.  Have one of your team be the ‘time keeper’. Regardless of what’s going on, unless it’s a maintenance or medical issue, stick to your time schedule.  If you don’t have one, make one. Your guest will appreciate it in the long run.

If you have to move from the meet up point to the trail head, let EVERYONE know this.  As your team is mingling have them spread the word about moving, radio frequencies or channels, difficulty of the trail, a quick overview of the planned event.  Don’t keep your guest in the dark.

If you have to move to another location to get to the trail head, have your team get a count of how many vehicles are there.  Get another count at the trail head.  Perform radio checks at both spots.  The roles of Trail Lead, Tail Gunner, Spotter(s) and Floater should already be established within your team, if not, then ask for help.  This says two things, 1) you want to make sure that people are invested into the success of this trail, 2) you don’t have enough people to manage the flow of events, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing UNLESS you don’t ask.  And sometimes your attendees will fill in gaps without having to be asked cause they want to see the trail be as much as a success as you do.

As a host/event coordinator, you have an inherent responsibility to everyone that attends your trail.  Keeping track of how many start, if any and who leave early, making sure everyone gets back to the trail head or end of the trail if at a different spot. If it is an overnight trail but there are folks that are not spending the night, you should Identify them early on and make sure they get back to the beginning of the trail safely.

Now, I will say this, if you plan an event or trail, you need to think on how many vehicles realistically will show up.  Then I would say add 1/2 to double that amount just to be safe.  There is no more overwhelming feeling than having just 2 on your team or group hosting a trail, expecting 10-15 vehicles and 40+ show up.  Even with 5 members of Twin Cities Off-Road Team managing a trail, 41 rigs seemed a lot.  Though it was an AWESOME sight watching them roll down highway 54 towards Tularosa.

As a host or event coordinator, met your guest, accept responsibility for not only their wellbeing but them having a good time.  If you don’t have enough people, ask for help within the attendees, I guarantee that you’ll get it. But above all else, take the appropriate steps to plan and don’t make it up as you go along.  People will see the difference.

Until next time my fellow off-roaders, maintain your rides, rotate your tires at every oil change and keep it dirty.

Alaska