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Ladoga 2006 with Chris Thomas
HI
my name is Chris. I have recently moved with my partner to Bulgaria from the south-west of England and we have formed Wildrovers, a company dedicated to off-roading. From talking to people at the Belogradchik off-road subor it seems you would like to hear about my experience of the Ladoga Trophy. So here goes! My navigator and I did Ladoga in 2006 in a Suzuki Jimny which I prepared especially for the event. Stage 1 - get your entry in early, they start taking entries around November and as you get closer to the start date the entry fee goes up rapidly. Stage 2 panic!!! as to how you are going to get yourself, your navigator and the vehicle ready for the off. Read the regulations VERY CAREFULLY and build your machine to the MAXIMUM your class allows. I also recommend you get a Panasonic toughbook laptop as well as a motorcycle GPS as they are waterproof. You will be given a road book every day and the organisers will download the route on to your laptop and GPS. Also a CB is compulsory but get the very biggest aerial and a burner (signal booster) as when you are in the forest the signal doesn’t get out very far, and if you are in need of rescuing or need medical assistance this could be a life saver. Stage 3 - sign in, get your vehicle scrutineered and give your fellow competitors the once over. Then go change your underwear as you now see what the Russians have been up to on those long cold winter nights.
At the start you get the full podium start with announcer and interviews for Russian television. Once you have been sent on your way don’t hang around to see the others off the podium. You have a set time to get the 100 or more kms to your first special stage. If you miss your time slot you will have to wait until everyone else has gone then you can go, after they have dug big ruts along the whole course which makes things a lot harder. Then when you have done your special stage you must keep going to the night camp which will be another 100ks or so. There you log in giving you a time for the day. As for terrain - there is a beach race which is fun and gives the TV and press a chance to interview everyone and take yet more photos. There is also a night navigation section, this is mayhem with lost and disorientated vehicles going in all directions. When I saw the fastest time I still don’t believe it was possible to go that far in that short a time. I think they have a set time to do the stage and the difference between that and the time you do it in is the time recorded. Other than that it is swamp SWAMP and more S-W-A-M-P vehicles do disappear in this, it seems bottomless. On one stage we were that deep in it that it was coming in the windows. It all ends with a really great beach party then a run in to St Petersburg the next day for the prize giving. Would I do it again? YES it's one of off-roadings truly great events. If anyone wants to talk about Ladoga in more detail reply on this forum or drop me an e-mail, I am always happy to talk about off-roading.
my name is Chris. I have recently moved with my partner to Bulgaria from the south-west of England and we have formed Wildrovers, a company dedicated to off-roading. From talking to people at the Belogradchik off-road subor it seems you would like to hear about my experience of the Ladoga Trophy. So here goes! My navigator and I did Ladoga in 2006 in a Suzuki Jimny which I prepared especially for the event. Stage 1 - get your entry in early, they start taking entries around November and as you get closer to the start date the entry fee goes up rapidly. Stage 2 panic!!! as to how you are going to get yourself, your navigator and the vehicle ready for the off. Read the regulations VERY CAREFULLY and build your machine to the MAXIMUM your class allows. I also recommend you get a Panasonic toughbook laptop as well as a motorcycle GPS as they are waterproof. You will be given a road book every day and the organisers will download the route on to your laptop and GPS. Also a CB is compulsory but get the very biggest aerial and a burner (signal booster) as when you are in the forest the signal doesn’t get out very far, and if you are in need of rescuing or need medical assistance this could be a life saver. Stage 3 - sign in, get your vehicle scrutineered and give your fellow competitors the once over. Then go change your underwear as you now see what the Russians have been up to on those long cold winter nights.
At the start you get the full podium start with announcer and interviews for Russian television. Once you have been sent on your way don’t hang around to see the others off the podium. You have a set time to get the 100 or more kms to your first special stage. If you miss your time slot you will have to wait until everyone else has gone then you can go, after they have dug big ruts along the whole course which makes things a lot harder. Then when you have done your special stage you must keep going to the night camp which will be another 100ks or so. There you log in giving you a time for the day. As for terrain - there is a beach race which is fun and gives the TV and press a chance to interview everyone and take yet more photos. There is also a night navigation section, this is mayhem with lost and disorientated vehicles going in all directions. When I saw the fastest time I still don’t believe it was possible to go that far in that short a time. I think they have a set time to do the stage and the difference between that and the time you do it in is the time recorded. Other than that it is swamp SWAMP and more S-W-A-M-P vehicles do disappear in this, it seems bottomless. On one stage we were that deep in it that it was coming in the windows. It all ends with a really great beach party then a run in to St Petersburg the next day for the prize giving. Would I do it again? YES it's one of off-roadings truly great events. If anyone wants to talk about Ladoga in more detail reply on this forum or drop me an e-mail, I am always happy to talk about off-roading.
and movies (if You have such
Hope to meet you properly sometime!
Don't forget the pics here as well... 
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