Day 2, Event 2: The Hill Climb
What it is: Like beaming parents, we're especially proud of our hill climb. It's approximately 600 feet of pure misery perched on a steep, slippery hillside that is surrounded by poison oak. We bring in a big excavator and dig out deep, off-camber holes, and we throw the loose dirt all over the place for good measure. We also incorporate some sweeping turns and dirt piles, too. This event rewards those who can think on-the-fly, and it punishes those who are thinking about what they had for lunch.

How it works: Fastest time to the top wins. Those who don't make it to the top are listed as DNF and ranked in order of how far they traveled. Competitors are not allowed to see the course in advance. Competitors can stop and restart as long as it doesn't exceed five seconds. If they exceed a five-second stop, they are listed as DNF at that point. If the inside of a tire breaks the outside plane of a cone, it's a DNF.

Finish Line Quotes
"They surprised me and I wasn't ready for it." -P.J. Hale
"If any one event, this was the one I was most nervous about. You can't see anything." -Joe Quichocho
"That was crazy. I mean that was absolutely insane. I mean that was nuts." -Mike Karwath

The Play-by-Play
Barker's Ranger: Did not run due to transmission damage.

Gray's Blazer: Second competitor. Rolled onto the driver-side in the first hole. It actually looked for a moment like he was going to make it through, but when the driver-side rear tire dropped into the hole, the rig flopped.

Hale's Willys buggy: First competitor. On his third attempt through the first hole, the rig rolled onto the driver-side as soon as the front driver-side tire entered the hole, ending his run.

Karwath's YJ buggy: Fast run with some incredible wheel lift in some of the holes.

King's Power Wagon: Ran with the adjustable chassis fully extended. Rolled in the first hole.

Knoche's Samurai buggy: After a quick repair session to fix the damage sustained in the Obstacle Course, the team came to the Hill Climb and made a quick, undramatic climb to the top of the hill.

Kuether's "Fat Girl" buggy: Fastest run of the competition. Co-driver used the rear steer to keep the rig from flopping over in one of the holes, and he shifted the transmission from time to time to help keep momentum.

Quichocho's CJ-7 buggy: Fast run with very little drama as the four-link suspension with Fox coilovers soaked up the bumps.

Simmons' Ford: Great run, but lost momentum and stopped just past the 284-foot mark. Broke the driver-side rear sway-bar link.

Sinkey's Bronco: While exiting a hole almost halfway up the hill, the rig did a pirouette and rolled onto the passenger-side. Driver-side engine cylinders loaded with oil.