Off the road in Bend Oregon

A 3-day off-road recovery course taught in the Deschutes National Forest by Bill Burke.

Northwest Overland offered a fantastic 3-day course focused off-road recovery and survival. The course was taught by off-road extraordinaire Bill Burke. Deschutes Forest was an ideal setting to get hands-on experience with winches, ropes, straps, ramps and a host of other tools that can help you get out of tough situations.

Our first task was to get Bill’s Range Rover un-stuck. Bill went to great lengths to ensure everyone got their hands dirty.

Variety of tools were used. Here Bill is explaining some of the finer points.

30 minutes later

Success! Then we used a chain to pull the log out of the way.

Very impressed with the Range Rover stock off-road capabilities. It’s powerful with good clearance and gearing.

Typically the sign says “STAY ON TRAIL”. I love this modificaiton.

Not your Dad’s VW.

Static straps, dynamic straps, winch extentions, shackles and more.

The Talon Superwinch was very nice. We did quite a bit of winching.

Nothing like learning out in the field.

Second night of camping had an amazing sunset.

An older model diesel Landcruiser had no problems crawling the lava rock.

Defender 90 and Range Rover peeking through the lava rock

Shiny but oh so capable.

Learning the ropes. There was alot of focus on proper rigging.

I couldn’t stop smiling. The trails delivered obstacle after obstacle. Volvo C303 handled it all with ease.

Heading home thanks to Gorilla tape.

Read more about the Volvo C303