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Nevada Passage shooting begins in Las Vegas
Taking a turn: Competitors practice driving their Land Rovers over an obstacle course at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Lake Las Vegas. Photo by Ryan Jerz.I’m in Las Vegas to follow and cover this year’s Nevada Passage adventure competition. The 2008 Nevada Passage is partnering with Land Rover’s G4 Challenge and serving as a qualifier event for Land Rover’s worldwide adventure challenge.
Today was the introduction of the athletes to the media and a practice session with the vehicles on a course Land Rover set up at Lake Las Vegas’s Ritz Carlton Hotel. As the media watched, competitors took the Land Rovers around a course testing it on rocks, driving over rugged terrain, and tilting the vehicles up to 30 degrees as they rounded a turn. The goal was to navigate the course without touching poles set up in a slalom fashion. And the poles were tight. Through the whole practice I saw just one of them get touched, and it was by he mirror of the Land Rover.
Media Day: Nevada Passage competitor Sarah McMahan of Incline Village, Nevada gives an interview to a television station. Photo by Ryan Jerz.The competition lasts until Friday with the competitors beginning early on Tuesday morning and heading out on the course. At this point, we don’t know exactly what they’ll be doing, but we do know the majority of the event will not be in Las Vegas, but in other towns in the area.
It should be a great competition, with a big emphasis placed on the driving skills of the athletes. That doesn’t mean that they’ll neglect the other talents these guys have. Each vehicle is equipped with a kayak and two mountain bikes. The athletes were also told that they’ll be basically living out of the Land Rovers for the next few days, with each team of two competitors setting up a campsite each night as we finish that day’s events.
The top two teams in this competition will go on the the national championship for the G4 Challenge, and from there a team will be set up to compete in the world championship.
Nevada Passage is set to air near the end of the summer.