Outdoor adventure
The old-school Wrangler is still a rock star, writes David Linklater.
The old-school Wrangler is still a rock star.
Here are a couple of things you might not know about Jeep Jamboree (because we didn’t until now): it’s a brand and company completely separate to Jeep-themaker-of-off-road-vehicles, and it visited New Zealand for the first time ever this month, with an event in Mount Aspiring National Park.
Yes, there have been Jeep ‘‘jamborees’’ in NZ before. But Jeep Jamboree, based in Georgetown, California, has 65 years of history that’s inextricably linked with the nearby Rubicon Trail - the legendary place where Jeep goes to test many of its vehicles.
It’s also the place that lends its name to both a ‘‘Trail Rated’’ range of Jeep vehicles and the flagship Wrangler Rubicon.
The Trail was a county road right up until the 1920s, with mineral springs and a hotel - a real tourist attraction. But after the hotel burned down and the highway network was developed, the road was abandoned and decades of neglect/erosion made it impassable.
Jamboree founder Mark Smith was the first person to take an offroad vehicle through the Trail in the post-war era: in 1952 he managed to get an ex-military Willys along the route. In 1953 he held the first ‘‘Jeepers Jamboree’’, partly as an enthusiast outing and partly to boost tourism in Georgetown.
The really big step came in the 1980s when Smith approached Jeep to help take the Jamboree further afield. So while we often hear of Jeep ‘‘jamborees’’, an official Jeep Jamboree is one run by the company that Smith founded. The Jamboree celebrated its 65th anniversary in August this year.
What does all this have to do with Mount Aspiring in NZ?
Jamboree vice president Shawn Gulling explains: ‘‘ A Jamboree is for Jeep owners to come together; so next year, for example, we’ll have 35 different events in the US. We take you out on guided adventures, meals are provided, accommodation might be camping or it might be a hotel. But that’s our staple and that repeats from year to year.
‘‘The other side of what we do is why we’re here [in NZ] now. Jeep will hire us any time there’s a new vehicle launch. For the last three years, Jeep Jamboree has started expanding globally. Last year, I spent six months in Australia doing Jamboree-type stuff, we had a team at the new Jeep plant in Brazil building a test track and there’s the possibility of some work in China. Just this year, our boss went to India to help out with the new Compass.’’
Gulling and his team have been at Mount Aspiring National Park holding a long-lead global launch for the all-new JL Wrangler - a vehicle that we’ve seen in pictures but won’t make its first official appearance until the Los Angeles Auto Show at the end of
Appropriately, our Aspiring vehicles were Wrangler Rubicons, complete with detachable sway bars for the ultimate in offroad articulation.
November. Jeep NZ executives wouldn’t comment on the new car and nor did it come out to play during our visit, but the event was hardly top-secret: the cars have been visible around Wanaka and the entry to the event-site is down a public road and through a popular tramping site.
Our trip up the Jamboree offroad course was in a fleet of current-generation JK Wranglers - a model that will remain on sale for another year in NZ. Our drive cars were standard, although there were lead and chase cars kitted-out with up to $25,000 worth of off-road equipment. Just in case.
The course you can see for yourself in the pictures: a narrow, rock-strewn gully that looks pretty much impassable from many angles. It was negotiated Rubicon Trail/Jamboree-style, at walking pace (or slower) with guides on foot to help you through the most difficult spots.
Cheating? Maybe, but the challenge of this type of extreme off-roading is getting the vehicle from A-to-B, whatever help that may require. On the Trail, vehicles cover around 1.6km per hour in the trickiest parts of the 30km route. Yes, it’d be quicker to walk.
On-foot guides are used in a similar way over 50 spots along the Rubicon, says Gulling: ‘‘Ninety per cent of it is to mitigate damage, although there are a few places where you’re talking complete destruction if you get it wrong.’’
Appropriately, our Aspiring vehicles were Wrangler Rubicons, complete with detachable sway bars for the ultimate in off-road articulation. They were still working hard, ‘‘walking’’ over rocks and slip-sliding across steep banks. But it was hard not to be staggered by the places they could go in the hands of relative off-roadnovice drivers. With a little help from Jamboree guides, of course.
The Jamboree team rate offroad courses from 1-10 in terms of difficulty, using the Rubicon as the benchmark. How does this Aspiring route rate?
‘‘This would be a 7-8 for sure,’’ says Gulling. ‘‘It would be even higher if it was longer.’’