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‘Desert Storm 2006 deals another surprise’
Last year it was the fatality that cast a shadow over Desert Storm. In 2006, it was the rain.
After 6 years of basically fine weather at Suzuki Desert Storm, the rain finally caught up with us all. The Sunday of Desert Storm had to be cancelled which is hugely disappointing for all riders and Epic Events.
We would like to issue an apology to all riders who could not ride Sunday.
This report is not a traditional media release, rather is a story on this years Suzuki Desert Storm.
After the 2005 Desert Storm, a huge amount of time, effort and money was spent before Epic Events could gain the forestry permit to run the event in 2006. This work included over $25,000 worth of lawyers fees, risk management plan audits and increased security measures.
Sign On began for the first time on Friday night. Lots of people took advantage of the opportunity to mix and mingle and to get an early sign on done so they could sleep in and attack the day ahead with fully charged batteries. It was also the first time that the first 500 riders who pre entered could get a Suzuki bag filled with products from our sponsors Suzuki, Acerbis, Spectro and Kiwi Rider.
People chose to chill out the rest of the evening taking in some of the latest DVD’s, hanging out or socialising with friends.
We awoke at 4.30am early Saturday morning to draw back the curtains in the Sunbeam Motel to be greeted by a night full of stars which meant we looked forward to a fine day. So it was with this in mind that we set about the mammoth task of getting Suzuki Desert Storm 2006 underway.
At around 7am an endless stream of vehicles began to arrive at the base.
Sign On went smoothly for those who pre entered even though the queues were long.
With pre entry numbers at 1000, we knew it was going to be big, but we did not expect 1900 riders to sign on for Saturday.
The tracks opened at 9am without any hiccups. People were blasting on the trails and enjoying what was on offer. Riders were coming in after their first lap with grins from ear to ear and were keen to quickly refuel and to hit the trails again.
Unfortunately heavy rain came in from the East around lunch time and the tracks where starting to cut up rough around 1pm. The tracks changed instantly from being rideable to being impossible in places. Many riders struggled and became stuck in the upper pockets on the side of Mount Ruapehu.
We implemented our pre planned novice diversion options and cut the trails to the 2/3 and then the 1/3 option in an effort to keep people on their bikes and riding safely throughout Saturday. The recommendation to close to the 1/3 and 2/3 tracks came from very experienced riders including a multi NZ Enduro Champion.
Cold rain in an alpine environment can cause people to get hypothermia quickly so getting people out of the bush became the priority over every other aspect of the event at this stage. The Epic team was at full stretch escorting over 500 riders home.
It was not only on the trails that people were experiencing difficulty, in the base cars were sliding and being towed through knee deep mud in places. The base is muddy and frustrating when wet, but there are no other base options and it is not an option to place gravel roads in the paddock.
At 7pm that night we extracted the final riders back to base and often had to leave bikes in the forest to collect on Sunday. At this stage the weather was deteriorating further and showed no signs of letting up.
It was after the last recovered people were safely back at base that the management team made the tough call that the tracks were basically unrideable and the safety of riders and staff was paramount and that the ride on Sunday would be cancelled.
Thank goodness for the 12 bay shower unit which helped many people clean up and thaw out.
While we were extracting bikes and riders, crowds of people were focussing on the night’s entertainment - Barrel racing which was very impressive. With $500 up for grabs, many participants pushed the limits causing a few spills which kept the crowd amused.
We contacted as many of the people who had pre entered and were coming down for Sunday as possible. As you can imagine people were hugely disappointed. We understood and shared the disappointment of the riders as we were hoping for good weather too.
Regarding refunds.
Epic Event operates a no refunds policy. The no refund policy is clearly placed on the event regulations on the flyer/entry form. However our customers are important to us and we do feel for the riders who missed riding on Sunday. We are refunding the riders who pre entered to ride one day on Sunday only, who did not participate on Saturday. And we are offering all riders who paid for the weekend a one day ride credit at one of the following Trail Blazer trail rides – Sunday 11 June and Sunday 13 August. To obtain the ride credit, riders must email epicevents@xtra.co.nz We will be limiting the amount of riders who can attend each Trail Blazer to ensure that not too many people attend the Trail Blazer events.
To compare Desert Storm to other events. Most large outdoor sporting events offer a no refund policy, because outdoor sporting events are at the mercy of the weather and are therefore very financially risky to run. Take the NZ Ironman for example. People train all year and put their lives on hold to take on the race, travel from all over the world. In 2006, the waves were too high on Lake Taupo for the swim so the swim leg was cancelled and the bike and run distances halved. No refunds were given. If refunds were an option, Epic Events trail rides would not exist and your opportunity to ride in such awesome venues would not be possible.
We never thought that a Desert Storm day would have to be cancelled. We thought that Desert Storm could run in the rain using at least the 2/3 or at worst the 1/3 track options. These thoughts were based on the fact that it rained for the Saturday of Desert Storm 2005 and the tracks held up okay and people were able to ride the trails on both the Saturday and the Sunday.
We ask people to look beyond the disappointment of not riding Desert Storm Sunday and think of the big picture. The weather is bigger than us all. Epic Events has run 16 trail rides since 2000 involving over 28 days of high quality trail riding, one day of which had to be cancelled.
As event organisers we are continually striving to offer the best possible value and experience to customers. We have learnt many things as we do each year from Desert Storm. Some of the changes we will be making to next years event, if it goes ahead, will include limiting the ride to 1000 -1200 pre entered riders and alternative trails will be opened and infallible regardless of weather.
We would like to say a big thanks to those people who lent a hand to others around the base and in the forest. Many people will have their own tales to tell and yarns to spin.
We look forward to clear skies and good times next year.
