Sno*Drift 2010
#1
02-09-2010, 07:22 AM
Sno*Drift 2010
I've been holding out on posting this thread until I got the video finished but it looks like that's going to be at least a few more days. So, until then the pics and stories will have to suffice.
Welcome everyone, to Sno*Drift 2010!
For those that don't know, Sno*Drift is the first stop for the Rally America series, and it takes place in Northern Michigan (Atlanta/Lewiston area). I've gone the last three years and will continue to do so as long as life allows it. Tyler (aryiman..) came out again this year, as did three of our other buddies for a full weekend of shenanigans.
The trip kicked off Thursday evening when we got my buddy Mark's truck loaded up, piled in and hit the road. We traveled up to Petoskey, MI, where a good friend of ours lives. The plan was to go watch him play hockey, have a few beers, and get ready for the event the following day. Petoskey is only about an hour away from Atlanta, where as Grand Rapids is over 3 hours. So, going to Petoskey first saved us a lot of early morning BS traveling the day of the event.
It was an intense drive north through sections of zero visibility (which did NOT hinder Mark from passing all the slowskis, blinding them in the process I'm sure
). But, we made it in one piece, and had a great first night.
After everyone was done licking their wounds, we once again loaded our crap into the truck, and set out for the event.
First stop, Parc Expose, where you get to see the cars up close, and can even talk with the drivers if you're willing to wait in line. We were not willing to do so, after all, we had missions to complete! Here are a few pics of the parc expose.
Ken Block's new whip (Ford Fiesta)
Pastrana and Mirra Subaru STi's (fanboi fap!)
Probably the hottest car there, GroupB Rally Audi Quattro
Group shot
Quick Note: Rally America prefers that all spectators go to the designated spectator areas for viewing each stage. These areas are fine, usually on good corners or high speed stretches. However, it takes forever to park, you then walk (sometimes upwards of a mile) only to stand with 800 other people blocking your picture attempts, etc.. I decided this was not acceptable for 2010, and created a series of maps intended to keep us off the beaten path. That it did, we didn't land at a single Des. Spec. area the entire weekend, awesome!
Quick Note 2: Tyler and our buddy Chris both brew their own beer, and they are GOOD at it! I believe the tally was 13 growlers of homebrew, UNF!
We arrived at our first stage area to find only two other vehicles that had made it back there (SUCCESS!). We geared up, grabbed a couple growlers of homebrew, and set off to find the perfect viewing spot. Chris and I had a surprise for Tyler this year (for those that missed last year's thread, Tyler smashed a growler of Founder's Breakfast Stout [nectar of the gods] before we even reached the first stage) He was trusted to carry it again this year, but we took precautions...
Last year:
Precautions taken for this year
Anyway, the first spot we found was a good one. Long, fairly straight entrance to an open S-Curve. This event is something that simply cannot be felt by viewing pictures and videos. In the words of our buddy Doug (who was one of two Sno*Drift newbs this year) "I knew it was going to be cool...but HOLY ****!"
The sound of a boxer motor grumbling grows near. You can see a white dual rooster tail rising up over a crest, and all of a sudden your staring down 2500lbs of automotive bliss ripping across the snow and ice at intense levels of speed. As they pass, you experience a light pelting of snow on your face, and the smell of race fuel burning; it's truly intoxicating. Enough babble, here are some pics..
We then headed to another stage, hungry for both more racing, and some freakin FOOD! We came prepared with sausage/cheese/cracker type stuff, smoked salmon, burgers, and chili. Unfortunately, we left the Chili in Petoskey :| but made do with what we had. No one thought to bring a spatula, so got all Bear Gribbs on that **** made our own.
Chris using Nature's Spatula
We didn't get any pictures at this stage. It was dark by the time the cars came through, and due to incredibly icy conditions coupled with a 90* turn, they were movin pretty slow. Not all was lost here, however. What does free time + testosterone = ? If your answer is "competition," than you my friend earned yourself one free internet.
"Let's see who can slide the furthest on their bellies down the hill!" (The following clip really shows just how icy it was out there, and yes, the cars did use that very stretch of road earlier in the day. One Subaru got after it too fast, and ended up backwards in the woods.
http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...t=MOV01899.flv
We watched a few cars roll through, got bored, and headed back out to the first place we chilled at, where the cars were all making their way back through in the opposite direction. It was dark and cold, but a full moon provided just enough light to provide some great visuals. Again, no pics, but there are a few video clips that I will post later.
Saturday held more of the same. Great times, lots of beer, and hunting for the best spots (yeah, we found em
) Some random pics from the first stage we visited that day. (The volunteers tried to tell us we had to leave, but they just wanted the spot all to themselves. Sorry dingleberries!)
We decided to skip the Super Special Stage as it really wasn't all that exciting last year, and you had to pay to get in..EFF THAT! Skipping the SS meant we had a huge head start for the next stage. We were far enough ahead of time that we actually got to drive down the stage, and pull off wherever we saw fit.
Then, we found it, by far the best spot I'd seen in my three years of attendance. Here is a shot of the view where the cars came in
The other side was a straight away with another s-curve at the end of it. To put the seclusion into perspective, the ONLY other person back there was Travis Pastrana's personal videographer. A few shots..
Waiting on brats to cook up, enjoying good stogies, great beers, and even better friends
One of my favorite cars of the weekend, 1980 Volvo 242
Wagon <3
This ought to give you an idea on how close to the action you really are.
We then headed back to Petoskey for some more bar shenanigans, and home the next day.
CLIFF NOTES: LOTS OF AWESOME HAPPENED IN THE SNOWY REGIONS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN, TRUE STORY! If you ever get the chance to attend this event, do not pass it up!
Full set of pics can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47158990@N05/
I will update with the video once I've got it all put together, so keep an eye out for that.
Welcome everyone, to Sno*Drift 2010!
For those that don't know, Sno*Drift is the first stop for the Rally America series, and it takes place in Northern Michigan (Atlanta/Lewiston area). I've gone the last three years and will continue to do so as long as life allows it. Tyler (aryiman..) came out again this year, as did three of our other buddies for a full weekend of shenanigans.
The trip kicked off Thursday evening when we got my buddy Mark's truck loaded up, piled in and hit the road. We traveled up to Petoskey, MI, where a good friend of ours lives. The plan was to go watch him play hockey, have a few beers, and get ready for the event the following day. Petoskey is only about an hour away from Atlanta, where as Grand Rapids is over 3 hours. So, going to Petoskey first saved us a lot of early morning BS traveling the day of the event.
It was an intense drive north through sections of zero visibility (which did NOT hinder Mark from passing all the slowskis, blinding them in the process I'm sure
). But, we made it in one piece, and had a great first night. After everyone was done licking their wounds, we once again loaded our crap into the truck, and set out for the event.
First stop, Parc Expose, where you get to see the cars up close, and can even talk with the drivers if you're willing to wait in line. We were not willing to do so, after all, we had missions to complete! Here are a few pics of the parc expose.
Ken Block's new whip (Ford Fiesta)
Pastrana and Mirra Subaru STi's (fanboi fap!)
Probably the hottest car there, GroupB Rally Audi Quattro
Group shot
Quick Note: Rally America prefers that all spectators go to the designated spectator areas for viewing each stage. These areas are fine, usually on good corners or high speed stretches. However, it takes forever to park, you then walk (sometimes upwards of a mile) only to stand with 800 other people blocking your picture attempts, etc.. I decided this was not acceptable for 2010, and created a series of maps intended to keep us off the beaten path. That it did, we didn't land at a single Des. Spec. area the entire weekend, awesome!
Quick Note 2: Tyler and our buddy Chris both brew their own beer, and they are GOOD at it! I believe the tally was 13 growlers of homebrew, UNF!
We arrived at our first stage area to find only two other vehicles that had made it back there (SUCCESS!). We geared up, grabbed a couple growlers of homebrew, and set off to find the perfect viewing spot. Chris and I had a surprise for Tyler this year (for those that missed last year's thread, Tyler smashed a growler of Founder's Breakfast Stout [nectar of the gods] before we even reached the first stage) He was trusted to carry it again this year, but we took precautions...
Last year:
Precautions taken for this year
Anyway, the first spot we found was a good one. Long, fairly straight entrance to an open S-Curve. This event is something that simply cannot be felt by viewing pictures and videos. In the words of our buddy Doug (who was one of two Sno*Drift newbs this year) "I knew it was going to be cool...but HOLY ****!"
The sound of a boxer motor grumbling grows near. You can see a white dual rooster tail rising up over a crest, and all of a sudden your staring down 2500lbs of automotive bliss ripping across the snow and ice at intense levels of speed. As they pass, you experience a light pelting of snow on your face, and the smell of race fuel burning; it's truly intoxicating. Enough babble, here are some pics..
We then headed to another stage, hungry for both more racing, and some freakin FOOD! We came prepared with sausage/cheese/cracker type stuff, smoked salmon, burgers, and chili. Unfortunately, we left the Chili in Petoskey :| but made do with what we had. No one thought to bring a spatula, so got all Bear Gribbs on that **** made our own.
Chris using Nature's Spatula
We didn't get any pictures at this stage. It was dark by the time the cars came through, and due to incredibly icy conditions coupled with a 90* turn, they were movin pretty slow. Not all was lost here, however. What does free time + testosterone = ? If your answer is "competition," than you my friend earned yourself one free internet.
"Let's see who can slide the furthest on their bellies down the hill!" (The following clip really shows just how icy it was out there, and yes, the cars did use that very stretch of road earlier in the day. One Subaru got after it too fast, and ended up backwards in the woods.
http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...t=MOV01899.flv
We watched a few cars roll through, got bored, and headed back out to the first place we chilled at, where the cars were all making their way back through in the opposite direction. It was dark and cold, but a full moon provided just enough light to provide some great visuals. Again, no pics, but there are a few video clips that I will post later.
Saturday held more of the same. Great times, lots of beer, and hunting for the best spots (yeah, we found em
) Some random pics from the first stage we visited that day. (The volunteers tried to tell us we had to leave, but they just wanted the spot all to themselves. Sorry dingleberries!) We decided to skip the Super Special Stage as it really wasn't all that exciting last year, and you had to pay to get in..EFF THAT! Skipping the SS meant we had a huge head start for the next stage. We were far enough ahead of time that we actually got to drive down the stage, and pull off wherever we saw fit.
Then, we found it, by far the best spot I'd seen in my three years of attendance. Here is a shot of the view where the cars came in
The other side was a straight away with another s-curve at the end of it. To put the seclusion into perspective, the ONLY other person back there was Travis Pastrana's personal videographer. A few shots..
Waiting on brats to cook up, enjoying good stogies, great beers, and even better friends
One of my favorite cars of the weekend, 1980 Volvo 242
Wagon <3
This ought to give you an idea on how close to the action you really are.
We then headed back to Petoskey for some more bar shenanigans, and home the next day.
CLIFF NOTES: LOTS OF AWESOME HAPPENED IN THE SNOWY REGIONS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN, TRUE STORY! If you ever get the chance to attend this event, do not pass it up!
Full set of pics can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47158990@N05/
I will update with the video once I've got it all put together, so keep an eye out for that.
#2
02-09-2010, 08:13 AM
thats effin sick, i would deffinently withstand the cold weather to see something like that. pictures are really great, and the idea of growing through woods to find your own spots was really clever. i cant wait for the videos. Got a room for another person next year? lol
#3
02-09-2010, 08:57 AM
kick ***! wish they had Rally's like that around here... I've seen the Integra on HT before, incredible car. That Audi looks like a beast
#6
02-10-2010, 08:30 AM
I was there!!! Of course it was my first year and even tho I live within 45 min of Atlanta I still was only able to navigate enough to go to the designated areas I may post pics later im not sure if I'll have time tho.
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