By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
More than 250 off-road vehicles including standard jeeps, souped-up off-road crawlers, modified 4-wheel drive trucks and rip-roarin’ canyon climbers among many others converged on Moapa Valley last weekend for the 30th Annual Hump N Bump off-road extravaganza.
Hosted by the Vegas Valley 4 Wheelers (VV4W) out of Las Vegas, the Hump N Bump was a two-day opportunity for those who like to drive off road vehicles to experience Southern Nevada at its rawest. Club members and anyone else who wanted to join in signed up and headed out into the Logandale Trails System to test their vehicles and off-road driving skills on a variety of different trails – some tough, some merely scenic.
There were four difficulty ratings of trails offered to the 4X4 enthusiasts including a 1, which was just a dusty drive in the desert to most drivers, to a 4 which almost guaranteed vehicle damage, according to Tammy O’Bremski, VV4W president.
O’Bremski said the annual Hump and Bump is the largest event involving the club, and is one of the best at giving members one of the best opportunities to enjoy their three passions, “eating, sleeping and wheeling.”
“This year’s event went really well,” O’Bremski said. “There was one incident where a vehicle went over upside down and ended up slamming into a rock with a locked-up accelerator, but there were no real injuries. Everybody just had a really good time.”
A highlight of this year’s Hump N Bump was special Friday night “Car Crawl” expo in which participants used off-road vehicles to drive up and over several wrecked cars. It’s a real spectator sport and Moapa Valley residents turned out in force to enjoy it.
Several drivers handily drove their big off-road rigs over the vans and trucks lined up for the purpose before disaster struck.
The night erupted with a loud “BANG” as Charles Davis of Las Vegas broke the rear drive shaft on his Chevy pickup after getting stuck trying to cross the crushed pile. All was well, however, and Davis was back on the road the next morning.
Local Partners In Conservation (PIC) hosted the Car Crawl which, in spite of Charles Davis, really went off without a hitch, according to Elise McAllister, PIC administrator.
Approximately $39,000 in prizes were raffled off during Hump N Bump with much of the proceeds going to support local organizations and interests including PIC, the Logandale Trails System, Tread Lightly and United Four Wheel Drivers.
