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Following the
success of the US-borne Camp Jeeps, Europe now has its own, called
Euro Camp Jeep. This year’s third edition was held in La Thuile,
Italy. JeepClub International helped host the event and each participating
country was allowed a limited number of Jeeps to attend the event.
Because of the smaller number of Jeeps, the Euro Camp Jeep can be
organized somewhat differently than the US Camp Jeep.
We arrived Thursday
evening after a long drive from Belgium to Italy. With roughly
350 Jeeps we were divided into five groups and each group was
further divided into three different teams - somewhat grouped
together per country. We were part of the Orange Team 2.
After the registration,
we checked in to the hotel, parked our car at our designated parking
space and had a good evening dinner.
Day one for Orange
Team started with Jeep Obstacles. The team was divided into two
groups and we had to do an obstacle course against time, while
pulling a Wrangler over and through the obstacles with ropes.
Next was the Jeep Academy,
where we got a crash course in off-road driving, winching and
navigating. From there we had the chance do drive the first Euro
Rubicons. We did a track, guided by an instructor, specially made
to demonstrate the abilities of the Rubicon.
Afterward, the next
activity was the Jeep Khana - a race with a new Cherokee (Liberty
in the US) over different obstacles.
After the Khana finished
we were ready for lunch, during which, we talked mostly about
the new Rubicon we had driven. We were all glad that Europe finally
got it’s own Rubi and we were the first to drive them.
At three o’clock
in the afternoon, we were in our Jeep ready for the next activity.
We had the choose between Jeep Adventure, Jeep Rafting and Jeep
Cultural. Because I had never done any rafting, I chose it for
my activity.
We drove our Jeeps
out to the village of Morgex, where our instructor gave a brief
introduction to the art of rafting. The most imported lesson learned
was always listen to your guide.
Armed with a thermal
suit, safety vest, helmet and a paddle, we set off to do some
rafting on the Dora River. The water was quite cold because it
comes directly from a glacier, but the thermal suit did an amazing
job of protecting us against the cold.
After the first exciting
day and dinner there we closed the day with the evening ceremony
and a little party with an Italian cover group. We went to bed
early (around 1am) and slept well.
CONTINUED
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