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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 1, 2006 Brent Bradshaw of Trail Tough in Medford demonstrates rock crawling at a new recreation site under construction at an off-highway vehicle park off Highway 140 near White City. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Rocky road for rock crawlers By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune David Ratty again tosses a stick a big black lab has retrieved from a nearby pond, but the teen’s eyes never leave a rock-filled crater. The South Medford High School student is watching his senior project — a rock crawl course at Hoover Ponds — come alive. "This is for everyone," says Ratty, 18. "This is for the daily driver guy with a lifted vehicle, rockers and bigger tires. Or for the professionals with their competition buggies." Rock crawling is a fast-growing recreation in which drivers and their spotters maneuver big-wheeled vehicles over an obstacle course of strategically placed rocks and boulders. Advertisement The county’s 12-acre off-highway vehicle park at Lake View Drive and Highway 140 near White City was perfect for Ratty’s project since it already caters to the same type of recreation, says Randy Hutton, Jackson County’s parks program director. A few of the park’s traditional users are feeling rocky about the new course being built in the middle of the recreation area. David Towe of Medford has been riding dirt bikes on the old gravel storage area since he was 6 years old, he says. Towe, 42, and his two pre-teen children use the park for family motorcycle jaunts, he says. "I’m not against the (additional) use," says Towe. "But I do think we should have been asked for our input about where it was placed." Ratty got hooked on rock crawling while visiting a friend in California. Since there was no local course, Ratty decided to build one for his senior project, he says. Brent Bradshaw, a professional rock crawl competitor and owner of Trail Tough Products, is helping Ratty build the course. "We’ve hauled in $1,600 of the blonde rock and 2 million pounds of the black rock," says Bradshaw. As Ratty and his friends watch from the edge of a rock-filled crater, motorcycle riders and quad runners race by the pit. Some voice anxiety about Ratty’s project. "I don’t want it here," says Jose Mena, 19. "It might bring in a lot of people, and we’re already crowded." Bradshaw’s Trail Tough shop in Medford offers after-market parts for Suzuki Samurais, as well as parts needed to convert most any vehicle to a rock-hopper. Bradshaw is hoping Mena is right about the course drawing crowds. His business recorded sales of $800,000 in 2003 on bumpers, engine adapters and suspension kits. Ratty can’t believe how fast his project has fallen into place, he says. He got the OK from Jackson County in only two weeks, he says. Bradshaw bought the rocks, and Hertz Equipment Rental has donated their heavy machinery to put them into place, he says. "And it just sparked from there," says Ratty. "I think we might be done in about two or two and a half more months. Next weekend we’ll have some courses up." Towe, a park user for 36 years, stresses the park’s users should have been consulted for such a unique use. "If you’re going to use public land for what is basically a private project, I think we should have had an opportunity to make some suggestions," says Towe. "Why weren’t we asked? Where were the public meetings?" Hutton says Ratty’s project was scrutinized from a safety and risk-management perspective. But since it did not represent a change to the park’s master plan, it did not require public meetings. "It is a designated OHV training site," says Hutton. "It has been open to the public for many years." Ratty’s course did not require an environmental impact study because it was simply an extension of the existing use, Hutton says. "We have had guard rails up where there are vernal pools stating there is not off-road riding in that area (near Southern Oregon Fields and Kershaw Road)," says Hutton. "The traditional users have been pretty good about staying out of there." Ratty’s father, Dan Ratty, is a board member of the Jackson County Parks and the Bureau of Land Management. "But he’s had nothing to do with this project," says Ratty. Ratty and his friends watch as Bradshaw’s "moon buggy" maneuvers into place amid the rocks and boulders. Inching toward the biggest obstacle in the center of the depression, the buggy’s wheels spin and slip as it tries to move up and over a massive black boulder. "It’s an adrenaline rush to get all twisted up around the rocks," says Ratty. The engine screams as the buggy’s tires fail to find traction. Bradshaw sticks his head out of the caged frame. He and his spotter, who is standing on top of the car-sized rocks with a walkie-talkie, are looking for a path over, Ratty says. At some bigger events, competitors can take up to six hours to complete a 1-mile professional course, says Ratty. "You go as slow as you can, but never stop," says Ratty. "Ooh," groans the small crowd as Bradshaw’s buggy bottoms out on the boulder. Then, with a cheer, the boys watch Bradshaw master the monster rock. Minutes later, Hutton arrives just in time to see one of the boulders eat Bradshaw’s red rig. "He ended up blowing his reverse (gear) and had to be towed out of there," says Hutton. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail Rocky road for rock crawlers ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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