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Blazer Bash 2025

I'll chime in for whatever the experience of someone who's never been to Blazer Bash is worth (maybe nothing?). I run a free event that has a faithful following, but it's pretty small. At peak back in the day, there were probably 30 rigs, but now we're more often around 12. Webpage is gone and we just use a Facebook group, but things are still planned and organized. We stopped having raffles and vendor prizes, partly because nobody wants to carry all the extra crap on an overlanding trip and partly because that's not what people are traveling hundreds of miles for. Meanwhile in my back yard, an official event that charges hundreds of dollars has gotten really big. We offer more and better content in terms of trails, points of interest and overall variety, partly because they are tied to a campground ("overland themed" instead of real overlanding), but way more people show up for the big event. They have food trucks and a vendor midway and multiple outing options during the day. Those attendees prefer a bigger event to see more people/rigs/gadgets and I think the fee makes them more confident that everything is really going to come off (plus they like bathrooms, I guess).

Part of the reason we "went underground" was to avoid the legal issues where it's implied you charge people to travel across state/national forests. Part of it was to reduce online exposure of the good places. The more word gets out, the more places get trashed (idiots cutting down the trees for firewood, leaving garbage and the dreaded "white flowers") and then closed up. We still have fun and that's what matters.

I think a lot more people will commit the time-off and fuel budget to a "real" BB, knowing they'll meet a bunch of CK5ers. Things can change last minute, so there are almost always people dropping off and if the list is short to begin with, you don't know what you'll get. The perception can also be "crashing the party" to join a small group where everyone already knows each other, compared to a (semi-?) official event that seems more public. But it can be well-planned and run well by a single or multiple parties whether it's official or not.
 
My first BB was in '22 and Ill be honest, Im not sure Id have gone to Moab on my own if I didn't know there were some like minded folks that were also going to be there. I joined here, asked questions and every one was very helpful with trail choices, suggestions, etc. We are 100% returning to Moab in '25 we just need to determine a date so Ill be watching closely because I would love to go back as part of BB. For a lot of folks this is a big undertaking, time off work, money, traveling across the country, etc. I just wish the permitting process were more streamlined for the guys that put this on because its hard to commit to something when you aren't sure its going to happen until the night before. The county should be able to tell you by January of the following year if your event is approved or not especially if its the same date every year and you have never caused an issue.
 
I'm going to chime in to say that I agree with what Scott is (I think) saying. If you want anybody new to feel comfortable spending a ton of time, money, vacation days, and planning, it needs to be an actual event.

Of course that means it will cost money. I go to several offroad events each year, and BB was already the least expensive one I go to.

In order to keep the costs per person reasonable, you have to have sponsors. No sponsor is going to sign onto an event that is not well organized. Sponsors also want to see some return on their investment. That means trucks with their stickers on them, people wearing shirts with their logo on them, and more important these days, an online presence (social media).

Someone above mentioned that ORD showed up this year, even though it wasn't an "event". I think that is short-sighted. ORD gave us the benefit of a doubt that we would get our act together in time, because we always have, but BB is not the only event ORD has a relationship with. Their business it tied to Moab and offroading in a lot of ways, and they can't afford to get on the bad side of Moab by being associated with an event that is not playing by the rules.

Right now, BB has a long history that can be leveraged to bring in sponsors to help keep cost down (through raffles or outright payment), but it stops being an event, that goes away.

All of that means that some one, or some group has to put a lot of effort in trying to get sponsors, permits, insurance, etc and then have people complain that its too expensive anyway. It's a thankless job that pays nothing, and has chased away several people already.

I don't know what the answer is just yet, but I'd hate to lose BB.
 
ashman said:
I'm going to chime in to say that I agree with what Scott is (I think) saying. If you want anybody new to feel comfortable spending a ton of time, money, vacation days, and planning, it needs to be an actual event.

Of course that means it will cost money. I go to several offroad events each year, and BB was already the least expensive one I go to.

In order to keep the costs per person reasonable, you have to have sponsors. No sponsor is going to sign onto an event that is not well organized. Sponsors also want to see some return on their investment. That means trucks with their stickers on them, people wearing shirts with their logo on them, and more important these days, an online presence (social media).

Someone above mentioned that ORD showed up this year, even though it wasn't an "event". I think that is short-sighted. ORD gave us the benefit of a doubt that we would get our act together in time, because we always have, but BB is not the only event ORD has a relationship with. Their business it tied to Moab and offroading in a lot of ways, and they can't afford to get on the bad side of Moab by being associated with an event that is not playing by the rules.

Right now, BB has a long history that can be leveraged to bring in sponsors to help keep cost down (through raffles or outright payment), but it stops being an event, that goes away.

All of that means that some one, or some group has to put a lot of effort in trying to get sponsors, permits, insurance, etc and then have people complain that its too expensive anyway. It's a thankless job that pays nothing, and has chased away several people already.

I don't know what the answer is just yet, but I'd hate to lose BB.
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Well said Josh, I have helped out for a few years not and will continue.

I really want to hear from Rob on this, I tried poking him. :dunno:
 
The insurance company F'd us big time. Kept saying it is to early to apply for the policy, ( which I think is total BS) then at the last minute, literally the week of, they said no we're not writing the policy.
Grand County won't issue the permit w/o the the insurance policy. So we need a new insurance company, or nothing is going to happen
 
Wes Harden said:
The insurance company F'd us big time. Kept saying it is to early to apply for the policy, ( which I think is total BS) then at the last minute, literally the week of, they said no we're not writing the policy.
Grand County won't issue the permit w/o the the insurance policy. So we need a new insurance company, or nothing is going to happen
Click to expand...
So is anyone working on this insurance issue right now?? So we are not caught with out an event again.
 
Un sure, about the current insurance situation. I did ask how the Manx Club does the insurance for their events. Manx Club is a 501c non profit.
Membership dues pays for an annual year long policy that covers every event during the year. Also we sign some sort a wavier for organized runs, each event.
 
Our "agent" kept telling Zoo to wait, until closer to the event. Then last minute they said no we're not going to write motor sport event. Rob had to basically beg them to write it. All last minute. By then getting approval from our county event coordinator was impossible

Edit I believe we were told they won't write a policy for any more
 
Well, from the sounds of that, it's good news.
Grand county wasn't the issue, it was the insurance company, and that's easy to change.
 
I know when I was doing it, the underwriter wouldn't write the policy until 3 months before the event. I always wished I could get it sooner because the permits hinge on it. Luckily BLM and SITLA would approve the permits pending proof of insurance. It sure would have been nice piece of mind to have it out of the way much sooner!

Insurance has always been a challenge. Generally speaking, most companies hate covering motorized events. The best was when there was an agent there in Moab that knew the score on what was required for the permits. He would hand deliver the COI's to the BLM and SITLA for me. Then one year I almost didn't get insurance because that agent died unexpectedly. His office was in turmoil because of it so no one told what had happened. The agent that took over his accounts wasn't nearly as attentive as the original guy. Since we have a big business insurance policy for the sign shop, our agent here was motivated to help me out finding coverage even though it was out of his wheelhouse.
 
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