-
JULY 2025 CLUB MEETING
Hi Guest: The next RS meeting will be Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: The meeting will be held at Cruisers and Company. Click here for details and directions.
⦿ If you are eligible for club membership, please fill out an application in advance of the meeting and bring it with you.
A new I4WDTA Certified Trainer in our midst
- Thread starter jps8460
- Start date
MtnAddict
Rising Sun Member
Nice work Daniel!! Congrats!
Inukshuk
Rising Sun Member
Thank you! Definitely harder than the bar exam. Lots more fun too.
I have so many people to thank - many of you here. Right now it’s rise and shine for a full day in the field so I’ll keep this brief.
Thank you. I’m humbled and honored.
I have so many people to thank - many of you here. Right now it’s rise and shine for a full day in the field so I’ll keep this brief.
Thank you. I’m humbled and honored.
FJCDan
Rising Sun Member
Congrats Daniel, well deserved
DanielChase
Rising Sun Member
Nice one D!
wesintl
Moderator
Congratulations, Daniel!!
Inukshuk
Rising Sun Member
The skills and personalities in this club are amazing. I am sure more Rising Sun Members have been through TFC than any other organization.
Robbie Antonson - @powderpig was long time ago.
Jackson Philby @jps8460 (Certified Trainer)
Paul Carrill @BritKLR (as an observer)
Jeff Hamilton (participated as his health permitted, may he Rest in Peace)
Matt Gaskins @mcgaskins (Now Tread Lightly!’s Executive Director)
Eric Ross, newer club member but longtime Forum member and former CO4x4 Rescue and Recovery President @fjcruzer
One more I know of planning it for 2025.
Forum and like a RS member Kurt Williams, @cruiseroutfit or Wasatch Cruisers and Cruiser Outfitters and good friend to many here.
TFC is HARD. Kurt is one of the rare pass-the-first-time Trainers.
Here is what I posted on FB. I would not be where i am today with this "hobby" without Rising Sun.
This past week with the I4WDTA - The International 4-Wheel Drive Trainers Association LLC Testing for Certification:
With passion, excitement, humility, and happiness, I have been welcomed into the professional community, and family, of the International Four Wheel Drive Trainers Association. This has been a difficult trail. A multi year route that challenged me at every level. Worth it at every obstacle.
Thank you. Bill Burke's 4-Wheeling America you set me on this path. Chris Cole you made sure I saw the big picture and chose well. Christopher Nelson you never wavered in firm support and friendship. Matt Balazs and John Marshall you gave some precision fine tuning. Kurt and Jackson you drank my beer and pretended to like my coffee
Thank you to the Cadre and all Candidates. Even if I am not saying it, gratitude is always present.
Thank you to all those I am forgetting to thank right now.
Yes, it took a community, but that's the point! I did not do this alone. I could not. And anyway, alone would be no fun.
For the past 25+ years, 4x4’s have been at the heart of my adventures. Starting with a 1982 Toyota Land Cruiser, a “For Sale” sign, and a Toyota 4x4 club called Rising Sun 4x4. Adventures have brought me best friends and bucket list experiences. Crisp mornings across the Rocky Mountain West. Hot days in Wyoming, Utah, Israel, Jordan, and Baja. Easy day trips. Hardcore rock crawling, battery welding, and recoveries at 12,000 feet. The Outlaw Trail, Snow in July. T-shirts in December. Beaches and canyons. Scorpion stings. Rattlesnakes and Tarantulas. Learning to change oil and swapping a V8 into a Land Cruiser stretch limousine. Racing in the Baja 1000. Pinch me.
At every step there have been guides, mentors and examples. Many good, many excellent. Some terrible. Danger and risk was always a managed presence.
Education, training, and experience, but most of all teamwork and companionship. The most basic mantra was “Don’t go alone.” For that I am so grateful to my Rising Sun family, Baja 1000 team, and 4x4 friends in Israel. Grateful to my Colorado F.E.A.T. and Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery community service organizations. Grateful to the countless ad-hoc communities that popped up from time to time, maybe lasting just one trail run or just one recovery.
As a Trainer Certified by the I4WDTA I will share this knowledge and experience through recreational and professional endeavors so my families, friends, and communities can experience this world in ways that light them up and make a better place for all.
Robbie Antonson - @powderpig was long time ago.
Jackson Philby @jps8460 (Certified Trainer)
Paul Carrill @BritKLR (as an observer)
Jeff Hamilton (participated as his health permitted, may he Rest in Peace)
Matt Gaskins @mcgaskins (Now Tread Lightly!’s Executive Director)
Eric Ross, newer club member but longtime Forum member and former CO4x4 Rescue and Recovery President @fjcruzer
One more I know of planning it for 2025.
Forum and like a RS member Kurt Williams, @cruiseroutfit or Wasatch Cruisers and Cruiser Outfitters and good friend to many here.
TFC is HARD. Kurt is one of the rare pass-the-first-time Trainers.
Here is what I posted on FB. I would not be where i am today with this "hobby" without Rising Sun.
This past week with the I4WDTA - The International 4-Wheel Drive Trainers Association LLC Testing for Certification:
With passion, excitement, humility, and happiness, I have been welcomed into the professional community, and family, of the International Four Wheel Drive Trainers Association. This has been a difficult trail. A multi year route that challenged me at every level. Worth it at every obstacle.
Thank you. Bill Burke's 4-Wheeling America you set me on this path. Chris Cole you made sure I saw the big picture and chose well. Christopher Nelson you never wavered in firm support and friendship. Matt Balazs and John Marshall you gave some precision fine tuning. Kurt and Jackson you drank my beer and pretended to like my coffee
Thank you to all those I am forgetting to thank right now.
Yes, it took a community, but that's the point! I did not do this alone. I could not. And anyway, alone would be no fun.
For the past 25+ years, 4x4’s have been at the heart of my adventures. Starting with a 1982 Toyota Land Cruiser, a “For Sale” sign, and a Toyota 4x4 club called Rising Sun 4x4. Adventures have brought me best friends and bucket list experiences. Crisp mornings across the Rocky Mountain West. Hot days in Wyoming, Utah, Israel, Jordan, and Baja. Easy day trips. Hardcore rock crawling, battery welding, and recoveries at 12,000 feet. The Outlaw Trail, Snow in July. T-shirts in December. Beaches and canyons. Scorpion stings. Rattlesnakes and Tarantulas. Learning to change oil and swapping a V8 into a Land Cruiser stretch limousine. Racing in the Baja 1000. Pinch me.
At every step there have been guides, mentors and examples. Many good, many excellent. Some terrible. Danger and risk was always a managed presence.
Education, training, and experience, but most of all teamwork and companionship. The most basic mantra was “Don’t go alone.” For that I am so grateful to my Rising Sun family, Baja 1000 team, and 4x4 friends in Israel. Grateful to my Colorado F.E.A.T. and Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery community service organizations. Grateful to the countless ad-hoc communities that popped up from time to time, maybe lasting just one trail run or just one recovery.
As a Trainer Certified by the I4WDTA I will share this knowledge and experience through recreational and professional endeavors so my families, friends, and communities can experience this world in ways that light them up and make a better place for all.
gr8fulabe
Rising Sun Member
Congrats Daniel! The fruits of your labor are always sweeter when the challenge was great!