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Mike Lommer
Halfpipe - The Trail
Resetting a blown bead
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
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Kelly Walker and Mike Lommer
Article by Richard Walker, Photos by Mike Lommer & Kelly Walker
I don’t get the chance to head out snow wheelin as often as I would like. I usually stay close to my cabin where I store my Samurai. It is far better in the snow than my rock buggy (shocking, isn’t it). When a topic came up on Crawlin’BC about a new trail in Kelowna I jumped at the chance to run it. We started making plans to run it one last time BEFORE the snow flew, but it turns out we waited a week to long. Either way, I was committed!
A few of the guys cross posted the run on the BC Jeep Club site, so when we rolled up to the meeting spot there was a good size group ready for a day in the bush. It’s always nice to see an assortment of rigs in the group. We had a stock-ish Zuk, a bone stock 4Runner, my rock buggy, and an array of Jeeps with various amounts of modifications, including Jeff’s “Juggy”.
Halfpipe is actually split into 2 sections; Lower and Upper. Lower is the newer section and is more difficult as it’s never been completed. The plan was to drag Jeff and I through Lower, then catch up with the rest of the group on Upper. As we got closer to the trails the snow was more evident, covering the entire trail in a good couple inches of slippery, slimy fun.
We played on a few optional obstacles on the way to the trails then Jeff and I traversed down the first drop into Lower. The snow made it a bit of a “slip n slide”, but with light braking it was easy to control the drop. After that, it was quite the throttle fest and Jeff and I took turns mashing the skinny pedal to get up the next few climbs. It was a ton of fun using my purpose built rock crawler for something different.
At the top of one of the climbs there were a couple trees we had to split to make it all the way up. I took six or so runs at it and finally got up. Jeff was next and being a little wider than me he got pinched on one of the trees. Let’s just say he had a cold drive home as his windshield frame wasn’t on the Jeep when we were done. Good thing for goggles, eh Jeff?
Shortly after this climb the day became interesting. A series of blown beads for both Jeff and I kept us busy for a few hours. We used the old Ether trick to seat the beads and decided to turn around as we were running out of daylight. The two drops into the trail on the way out looked rather challenging, and since no one had completed the trail yet, we thought it would be a better decision to leave the way we came.
We ran out of time and didn’t get a chance to run the Upper section, but quite a few of the other guys ran it while we were on Lower. I have every intention of going back as soon as the snow is gone and finishing this trail. Then we will run the Upper section and get some more photos.
It was great to meet everyone and thanks for the invitation to run this new trail. We had a blast and can’t wait to try it again in the spring- unless I can get some 42” non-sticky tires for my buggy!