Land Rover experience

[scotth]

While searching the web for clubs in my area I found a site for the Land Rover driving experience at Biltmore House in Asheville NC. I only live about an hour from there and was wondering if anyone has attended this. I am new to the world of offroading, I have had several 4 wheeldrives but have never really done much off roading. I know to most of you this would be like getting on a kiddy ride at the park but I was wondering if I would be wasting my money if I attended. They also have a team event Aug. the 5-7 that I am assuming would be like the G4 challenge but on a smaller scale. The price for the 3 day event is around $2100 and the driving school starts out at $195 up to I believe $795. Waste of money or not??

[Disco]

Don't waste your money! I would suggest you join a local Land Rover club if you have one. They do have driver training coarses over different surfaces, and it won't cost you anything, beside the annual fee, plus you get to meet like minded people and get to learn about your vehicle.

[SCSL]

I second Disco's advice. That's A LOT of dough. I'm sure you would get excellent instruction,,,but not better than you would get with your local Rover club. Depending on your level of experience, start easy & step it up each trip,,,they'll have a good combination of easy, moderate, & difficult trips each weekend. You'll be surprised how much less stressful it is to go wheelin' with a group of experienced hands who can coach you, spot you, recover you, and if necessary upright you. Plus, as Disco mentioned, you'll meet local Roverheads & make some friends. You'll also get a completely unbiased view of gear & mods: what works, what doesn't on your local terrain. Also, your local club can turn you on to swap meets, local indie shops, and other inexpensive sources of parts & tweaks. Plus, nothing in this world looks cooler than a caravan of Rovers on the way to the trailhead !

[SCSL]

PS, try this link. I'm sure there's a counterpart in SC

http://www.theoldnorthstate.org/history/hstart.html

[Stephen99D1]

Scott,

I'm a member of Old North State Land Rover Society (theoldnorthstate.org) and Carolina Rover Owners Club (carolinarovers.org), both of which predominantly reside in North Carolina, though we have members from all over the region, to include South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Check out ONSLRS web page and try to make it to an event. You'll find folks have all levels of skills and are willing to be patient with you as you learn. Bottomline, we all love our various Rovers.

As for the LR Experience, I wouldn't discount it so fast (no I don't work there, or have any ties to the company). I spent an afternoon at the school in January and loved it. Mostly mud and other soft terrain, not very heavy on rockcrawling. Lots of great instruction of off-road techniques. I enjoyed it because I'm not such a newbie that basic obstacles overtask me, but not so experienced that I couldn't learn a few things. The instructors will work with your level of experience and your goals for the training. I wanted more experience with a winch and got it. Another bonus is the time spent in a new Landy - the LR3 fared much better off-road than I had imagined... Just my opinion, though.

The team event in Aug is a bit pricey, but I'll admit that if I were in the States at the time, I'm sure I'd sign up for it. If you have a significant other, she might enjoy hanging around the Estate while you're at the driving school?

Hope to see you at the URE! in October.

[scotth]

Thanks for the replies and input. I would like to join a club and do some off roading. I have heard a lot about the Uwharrie National Park and have been wanting to go. I have not checked out the wedsite you have suggested yet but after I finish this post I will.

[HFsdisco]

Stephen99D1

What part of Carolina??? What events are there for beginers?

[rmuller]

If you're going to spend money on offroad training, spend it in the right place and go with Bill Burke at http://www.bb4wa.com/

[NCRover1]

I've done the Land Rover Experience in Asheville and it was a lot of fun but not worth the money.

[Muddy Oval]

For a noob, those schools are actually a pretty good intro. Be careful jumping into a group because there's a lot of bad info out there. Go to any event and you'll see people doing dangerous recoveries and stupid things. Bill Burke is always a good reference- maybe check out his DVD's.

[CaptainRuss]

A lot of "Handy-Dandy" info in the Bill Burke videos!

[rmuller]

Originally Posted by CaptainRuss

A lot of "Handy-Dandy" info in the Bill Burke videos!

drink.