Here's a quick look at what happened at Oktoberfest V . Video is 70MB, 20 minutes, but hosted on a fast connection.

(The original video has been replaced with a copy in WMV9 format, since so many people have had problems installing DivX at work.)

Nice video.

One observation though, when the X at about 14:50 in is being winched, I don't see and weights on the line and a lot of people standing around. If that line breaks, there will be a lot of hurt people there. Now if it's the synthetic line, nevermind.

Very good point Dana....and no real excuse for it other than negligence. I was there (or showed up shortly after this first attempt was made) and should have mandated that weight and audience clearances be adhered to.

But in defense....such that it is....the Xterra being winched was not stuck in the traditional sense. The main purpose of the winch line was to aid in in the prevention of the Xterra sliding back into the pond. The situation was such that the Xterra was on flat ground (it was not trying to climb a grade at all), with a slight sidehill lean into the pond's edge. At the point where the driver felt he needed winching, he would apply gas to start the forward motion but would instead slide sideways towards the water's edge with his rear wheels. Much of the X's forward momentum was done under it's own power after the winch line provided the static force necessary to allow the X to move forward without first sliding sideways. We actually attached another winch line at about a 45 degree angle off the back of the X to also prevent sidehill slippage.

But....I agree....we should have weighted the line and moved people back....regardless.

The x shouldnt have been there in the first place. I was back at camp watching beans blow up :rolleyes:

Yeah that was me… 2 other members of our group had driven through there just a few minutes prior. My first mistake was I second-guessed myself and stopped before the muddy part, as I was not sure I would make it through. After deciding I could probably make it I realized my Second mistake that was I was still in 4x2… When I hit the gas the back of the truck slid towards the lake. I put it in 4hi and tried again with the same result. It was at that point I got out to see how close I was to water and then opted to call for winch to stabilize my truck before I attempted to move again.

And with the winches came the majority of the club… yet no one wanted to walk through the mud to get my video camera to get better documentation. (That video was made with a digital camera, the picture variety)

Once I was pulled away from the lake I made it through the muddy ruts just fine, so if I had just kept going to start with I would not of had any problem!

That and the damn beans would not of exploded!

Here is a better view you can see my tire marks in the grassy part where I slid sideways the water is about 2 feet to the right of my tire.

Just a tip, when you leave pavement, put it in 4WD and leave it there.

Link doesn't work...

Sorry about that, I removed the low quality Divx version and replaced with a Windows Media version--just forgot to update the link. Too many complaints about DivX install problems, compatibility, etc.