GOX or goneOURAY ?

Should GOX be opened up to all Nissan model vehicles ?

I've had requests in the past to allow Frontiers, Pathfinders and other models of Nissan vehicles to attend GOX.

Is it time to change GOX to goneOURAY ?

Hmmmmmmmm, tough choice there. While I do like the idea of an Xterra exclusive event the main idea of these trips is to get together to have some fun and meet new people while wheeling. On top of that I think that the Nissan off road community needs all the exposure that it can get to help people (manufacurers) realize that we are out here and enjoy off roading just as much as they do.

Besides that do we really want to get into the same mindset as some of the Jeep guys? I.E. You don't drive a Jeep you don't even belong out on the trails.

Agreed tough choice. I think allowing all Nissans might make Nissan take better notice kinda like goneMoab so maybe it is worth a shot.

Just out of curiosity , are there any milder trails at GOX that would be accessable to the minivans? I would think that creating oportunities for the 2wders to participate in the "Gathering of Xterra" would open up a whole new segment of the ownership group that thus far has been alienated from these large events.

In light of the fact that greater than half of the Xs out there are 2wd it would be a large segement of the group that would be able to be included. With the fact that the ownership runs the spectrum of people that enjoy everything from challenging trails to parking and watching DVD's I think that it's would be great for the event if it was open to all X owners.

2WD Xterras, at 13,000 feet with no low range gearing equals nothing but spinning tires, dust and destruction of trails.

GOX (or goneOURAY if the event changes) will always be a 4 wheeling event.

What about open to any vehicle that supports Nissan or has a Nissan sticker on it? Can I bring the heep?

Actually, I'd like wheeling with anyone, I would however think that goneOURAY could get increadibly huge if all models of nissan were there. The one place with the quarter internet access ran out of biscuits and gravy way to early in the morning with just us Xterra owners there! You'd have to show up in line before the doors open to get them if more people showed up. Hell..just stay up all night!
John

GONE-Ouray... Sounds fine to me.
As others have said... it lets Nissan know the amount of dedication to their vehicles.

Anyway of making it in mid to late August?
Our daughter... like most kids... start school the day after Labor Day.

As far as the original GONE:

Anyway of making GONE-Moab the week AFTER E.J.S.?
Alot less stress and traffic to deal with.
We would lose some kids and gain others(different "Spring Breaks").
Motel rates would not be so high (got charged $50 and $75 for a normally $36 room). This would offset the higher rates payed in Ouray pre-Labor Day.
CALMINI/Full Traction could possibly stay a few days after E.J.S. to interact with the NISSAN's.

I like have GOX or goneOURAY start on Labor Day weekend. It saves me and others a day of vacation. I wouldn't mind seeing goneMOAB move to Memorial Day weekend for the same reason.

I like the idea of the Gone Ouray ... It's not a competition but let's compare notes and vehicles.

I also agree with John it gets busy already. This past year the moto bikes were there and places filled up quick, is that every year? I do not remember all of them the previous year.

Heck, if they get all the rooms than I guess it's back to KOA

I like GOX as an Xterra exclusive. There are already other events that include all Nissan makes.

It's nice to have one where you go and see nothing but Xterra's and can check out other people's rides and what they've done.

I think I might be less likely to attend if it were all Nissan- just because I could do Gone Moab which would be closer and more interesting trails.
Just my opinion. I'm not an elitist- I just hink it's cool to have 1 Xterra only event!

If there's that much interest from the Nissan community to make another event, go for it, more power to us.

Leave GOX an exclusive event.

Hey Steve... my thoughts... personal.
I am married with a 6 year old daughter.
Jacqueline(our daughter) went to GOX2 and GONE-Moab1 as a family(with my wife).

Jacqueline went to GOX3 with myself only(wife had to work because she had Labor Day week off for GOX2).

Our daughter is probably in the top 1% for being a Xterra Fanatic.

I went to GONE-Moab2 with Xtoolbox because
a)My daughter was in school an someone had to watch her.
b)My center link was screwed. I could have replaced it... but what was the point since I would have been traveling by myself.

Memorial Day, Labor Day and sometimes Fourth of July make great 3 day weekends to have great local runs with your local area club.

I live in Los Angeles... my idea of a vacation is not to travel long distances... only to be elbow to elbow with everyone else during a National Holiday.

If I am going to be in a crowd during a National Holiday... my only compensation is a few hours drive home instead of a day or two.

Just my personal thoughts.

I think GOX rolls off the tongue easier than goneOURAY does. Plus, as others have stated, there is something attractive about having only one particular vehicle model represented. One of the problems with having a generic "Nissan-oriented" event is that Nissan makes a wide range of vehicles, not just 4WDs. The Xterra is targeted toward a different market, which is one of the reasons why it has become so popular for off-roading and the impetus for the creation of XOC. Last July I did my own "mini-GOX" with 2 Xterras and my Pathfinder. It was really nice being in a smaller group while running trails, but it would have been cool to be part of a larger organized social event in the evenings.

If GOX transforms into a goneOURAY of sorts, perhaps the event would just take on a different flavor. It would be more of a social gathering (i.e. SHIFT_community) instead of a 4-wheeling event. goneOURAY (or even GOX) could have events such as:

* 2WD-friendly "family" run from Ouray to Silverton to Animas Forks and back. (4WD vehicles could continue north from Animas Forks to Ouray)

* other 2WD-friendly "family" events, such as BBQs, raffles, etc.

* stock 4x4 vehicle run over Engineer Pass (or other similar pass)

* modified 4x4 vehicle run on Poughkeepsie Gulch

* Xterra-only run to Yankee Boy Basin

* 10-vehicle run over Black Bear Pass and Imogene Pass; run this 3 or 4 times over the week, with different trail bosses each day. There's no reason why one person must be trail boss for 30-50 vehicles on every trail every day.

Just my 2 cents....er, I guess it's more like twenty...

But Jeep only makes 4WD vehicles. You don't see TJ owners getting bent out of shape because they see a YJ or ZJ on the trail. You can't compare Jeep to Nissan because Nissan doesn't make 4WDs exclusively; it would probably be appropriate for a 4WD Xterra owner to bemoan an Altima's presence on the trail.

Leave it GOX and allow other Nissan trucks to officially attend.

2WD or 4WD makes no difference. Just because a truck is 2Wd does not mean it will trash the trail at 13000 feet. The driver maybe. And a properly equipped Xterra or Frontier 2WD will do as well as a Murano...

So what is everyone going to do when a Murano shows up this August? Or at goneMOAB next year?

Muchless to see all of your faces when I see all of you at the top of Imogene in Volvo Stationwagon?

If I remember correctly---JEEP does make some 2WD versions of some of it's models...

LOGAN

Leaving it as GOX and allowing other Nissans to attend would make the name of the event pointless.

And there is a very detectable loss of power at that altitude. 2WD, coupled with only high transfer means you're gonna have a bad time. And the trail's gonna have a bad time. And groups, groups of people, they're gonna have a bad time.

I concur that low-range is mandatory. An aired-down 2WD vehicle could probably make it on many of the trails in the San Juans, if it weren't for the fact that 15% grades and low oxygen content at 10,000+ feet don't let the engine realize its full power potential (normally aspirated OR super/turbocharged). Many of the passes exceed 12,000 feet.

Vehicles without a low-range transfer case should not be present on 4WD trails, whether in the San Juans or in Moab. Logan- you might make it to Imogene Pass in your XC70, but I sure wouldn't want to be following behind you- up or down. You'll fry your tranny on the way up or your brakes on the way down. (And I can't believe you suggested that a Murano might consider attempting any trail in Moab!)

I say the more the merrier --> As long as it doesn't become a logistical nightmare for the organizers and drivers alike, open it to all Nissans.

Well i am looking at map and i see at least 2 trails near Silverton marked as "easy" meaning they are ok for 2WD.. Not that i am fighting for letting them go, but lets be fair - plenty of people are driving 2WD around these parts when weather permits.
(Add there huge chunk of old Hermosa Park Road thingy and you got third one. That is unless there will be serious rain. Then they probably couldnt even get off the 550 to the road 8))

Sergei,

I agree. Shoot, I've driven a (hang head in shame) RAV4 in that area. I should have been more clear. My comment was a reference to Logan saying: "Just because a truck is 2Wd does not mean it will trash the trail at 13000 feet."

The trails you reference aren't at 13K', nor do they entail loose, steep slopes.

Cary,
All your points are totally valid. I wasn't trying to stir up stuff, I just have a different perspective since I'm single without children and run through vacation hours as fast as I get them. I do understand how you feel, we have a couple teachers in our club that would like to go to GOX and haven't because their school district starts that week.

If it's going to move I would like to know soon for planning. Our club has an expensive trip planned late July and if GOX too close we will need to move or drop ours. Next year is no big deal, do it whenever, our club will plan around it and I'll scrape up the vacation.

Actually this year Jeep had a couple Rubicon only trail runs at EJS. The only non-Rubicon was the 2nd CJ-7 ever built.

Ah yeah, I was there for that run. Very great experience. It was a Rubicon only "rockcrawl" event that Jeep sponsered and sent invites in the mail. There was the #2 prototype CJ7 ever built and AEVs extended wrangler was there also. The driver was one of the Engineers that helped develop the Rubicon and the guy in the CJ is still an engineer with jeep and has been since the development of the CJ7.

OK, I'll grant you that. But the point is still that the "Rubicon-only" run occured during the overall EJS event. It's no different than having an Xterra-only run during a gone event. I don't see the two being mutually exclusive.

I like the Idea of all Xterras at one event. mybe there could be GOX one week and GoneOuray the weekend/week after.

There's no reason there can't be both a GOX AND a GoneOuray. But I think there should always be an Xterra only event.

As a 4X4 Frontier owner, I'd like to be able to join in on the fun. If I can't make it to goneMOAB (for whatever reason), then I have a second chance to make it to GOX/goneOURAY.

Leave it a Xterra only event. It creates a sense of community amongst the X owners. If you have a Pathy or Frontier nobody's stopping you from coming, it's public land! You're just not qulified for the drawings, etc...

If people want a goneOuray event, have someone organize it over 4th of July week or the like. This may help with the poor college students or school teachers who can't come for all of GOX.

... or anyone with kids in school. :rolleyes: :p

I was gonna stay out of this one but then things went weird. Trail rides are annoying enough with bad drivers like me slowing everyone down and ripping out their spare tires. If you let friggin 2wd's and muranos and such up there then it is gonna be a friggin nightmare. GOX is and should remain a 4wd Xterra event period. If you want to organize more gone events that is fine but don't ruin GOX. I guess to me it is just a sacred event and one that I look forward to every year. I have twice taken a week off school at the beginning of a tough semester to attend GOX. For anyone in upper division courses this amounts to shooting yourself in the foot and hobbling along trying to catch up the rest of the time. I make this sacrifice because this event is important to me. I truly feel for those who cannot attend due to the timing but there are other events to attend. Rather than taint an event that has become an institution let's organize another gone event at another time. There really is nothing going on in the summer. How about finding somewhere to go in california where there are plenty of trails. Or even better someplace near a lake or an ocean where it is warm.

Ivan has spoken. GOX it is, at least for another year.

Besides, I still have about 100 GOX stickers to give out.

Ahhh... the power of stickers....

Holy shit Ivan, for once somebody listened to you!

I hate to admit it but...what you wrote was very well thought out, well written, and made perfect sense. There's hope for you yet.

Between the GOX sticker and the Gone Moab sticker its at least 100hp.

i say xterra only - is there room for that many more people in ouray? plus there are the other events that let other nissans in. maybe two events a year in ouray?!

I always get in on the end of these posts. I like XOC, I think there will be alot of us just with the X's. Also more people doesnt mean cheaper rooms, if my years and years in the hospitality business taught me, high demand= rack rate. I just wish it was a week or two earlier I will be solo as the wife will be sending the boy to school that week.

That comment better be reviewed... As I remember I won last year but was not present to accept and lost the prize.... I was there... And I do not have an X But it would have worked nicely on my Fronty!

If it's going to be 4x4 Xterras only the MAKE it 4x4 Xterra's ONLY. Do not allow any Frontiers or Pathfinder or Murano or 2WD Xterra's to register. And if they do make sure they are clear that they will not be able to participate in any off-road or social event.

Heck....Make it by invitation only, since it's so exclusive anyway...

Actually that was nissan's drawing that you won something in and it was thier show and allowed family to register as well as drivers. The Calmini one was based on people who actually registered and checked in with Ian.

It is public land and no one can be stopped from arriving. Why is is so hard for everyone to understand it is for Xterras only. What is the big deal. I voted to open it up but it has been decided to leave it Xterra only. I am actually glad it is.

Can I bring a 'Rover?

There's an idea!

The whole reason I go is just to see the people I saw last year. On the other hand I meet alot of new people at each event that I like too. Of course that's always the weird ones that show up that you'd rather not have there. It's entertaining to watch them damage their X's out of stupidity but it makes the Xterra community look bad when they see X's abusing the environment.

I only registered and checked-in with Ian, not anyone or any others.

Xterras only... If we want to attend, we will drive the Acura out and ride with someone. It's all about the camaraderie anyway.

A common misunderstanding...

It's all about drinking

YES!

Ask any Russian what camaraderie means.... to get shitfaced with your comrades.. Vodka up the nostrils anyone?

Arf 8) At least we aint got sayings like "drunk as skunk" 8)
(got one about being drunk up to flooded eyes though...)

I agree and voted to keep it exclusive to Xterras. GOXII was fun and had more than enough vehicles to fill all the trips that were run.

That's gonna leave a mark.......

Chilli willie anyone.

Seriously the looks on the guys and gals who did this last year was enough of a reason to know it was not for me. :p

Ding Ding Ding! See, only GOXers know what "vodka up the nostrils" means!

"Bartender!!!"

Whatever the crazy guy that tore his X up was, had a perfect picture of my reaction, I just never was able to get it from him.

To be honest with you....I've tried to get friends here to do it since then. You get some odd looks trying it.
john

OUCH!!!

And we saw it happen. All those years of college gelling into coherent thought. Here, on XOC... Who would'a thunk..

WOW!
A picture of Ivan actually proped up and appearing sober!
Please send that picture to the Smithsonian, they'll be interested.

He only looks that way

Better that he's in a bar in that condition than going on a night run like that.

Well it's only scary when you're the passenger.

You can say that again.... I only made it half way to a set of tie-rods..
There was none left anyway..



{does shelling an image w/ a URL tage work here??}

-alfonse

And oh yeah, we DID go on a night run after that... up to yankee boy basin....

That Ivan sure is a trooper.....