My son and I really want to thank everyone for a wonderful time yesterday. The Switzerland snow run had 11 rigs and aside from Marco’s tire gash no major issues. Everyone had an opportunity to put their rigs to the test and see what they could do. The weather was great and the scenery fantastic. Marco and Bruce have great rigs which broke through the one big long snow drift that we encountered on the trail. Of course, a special thanks to everyone that fielded a shovel and lent a strap to us smaller vehicles that needed a small hand getting through the broken drift. Finally, thanks to Randy for the jump – everyone should remember to keep your engine running when running an air pump from your battery.
Here are some of the photos that I took during the day’s events. Our first shot is Martin and Randy going through the Rusty Old Toyota qualification inspection on Randy’s FJ40.
UB you convinced Matt to give it a go without chains. Randy also did not use his chains, but as you can see they were ready if needed.
Here is what 11 rigs, drives and passengers look like as they are ready to go.
The trail is basically a forest road and in the areas where the sun shines there is very little snow. The lack of snow makes for a nice drive.
The views are fantastic up there.
While it is very easy going where the sun shines, when you get to areas where it does not – the going gets tough. I wasn’t more than a few miles into the trail when we came up on a long, deep, hard packed drift that would be our significant challenge for the day. Marco and Bruce made great progress with Marco plowing forward and Bruce pulling him back when needed. Here is Marco much closer to the end of the drift than to the begining.
Even with the v8 horsepower, there came a point where shovels and winch were employed to continue progress.
The final portion of this drift was big and solid. As tough as the conditions were, the combination of v8 power, winch and shovel overcame and in short order the 1st rig was through. The following shots are in chronological sequence.
As the other rigs went through, some of the smaller amongst the group needed a little help. The bigger rigs were able to muscle on through without assistance. I’m a bit light on pictures from this time and would like to see the photos that others took as well. Here is HutHut getting some tips from Marco on rocking back and forth.
Just the other side of the drift there was a nice open area with sun shine so we all had some lunch. My FJ40 was glad to be on the other side of the drift.
On the sunny side of the hill a few people went out and did some exploring and on the shady side there was another big drift where everyone that wanted could put their rig to the test. It was in here that Marco found a rock that slashed his tire on the side. On the way out the trail was much easier.
We pulled over for a group shot. With 11 rigs and tight tree cover it was not possible to get all the rigs in one shot, these three photos show everyone in the group.
Finally, here is HutHut next to the FJ40. It was his first off road experience and a great time for him.
Thanks to all for a fun, safe and enjoyable run.
Heres to Matt/Subzali for leading a great run! It was as much fun as the snow & pizza trip and the weather was great.
Bummer that you ended up losing a tire for your effort.
, but still.....thanks, guys. 
