Scottish Forest Challenges
The toughest, trickiest, nastiest Winch Challenge in the UK

3 years ago, our very own Mr T decided that he could get a specially selected group of  idiots lunatics sadists together to set up a winch challenge in the beautiful surroundings of the Argyll Forest in the West of Scotland.  There are a few things that makes this area especially attractive for winch challenges; steep sided valleys, trees and rain.  The topology conspires with the rain and the forest to create mud.  Add all this together and you get an abundance of tight difficult sections with plenty of opportunity to test your skills, teamwork and the quality of your off road vehicle.

Make no mistake, this is not for the ill prepared or faint of heart, it is a full-on 100% strength sapping, brain twisting challenge.  The team that organises and sets up the competition are sick and twisted, released from local institutions on Day Passes to choose ever more warped ways for the competitors to get stuck in one of the most picturesque areas of Scotland.  Whatever is left after the slopes, trees, mud, rocks, cliffs and sea lochs have had their fun gets eaten by the notorious Scottish midge .

It has been suggested that we are bad people or that we choose sections based purely on their score on the AIS (Argyll Impossibility Scale) but this is simply untrue.  We have no choice as to where in the Forest we can go, we've been told that we must set up in the areas that are too rugged for machine based tree harvesting. Any implication that drivers need snorkels as well as the vehicles is untrue, you will be expected to hold your breath.

As the years have gone by we have found a dizzying array of obstacles, routes and sections, and some, for good reason, have fallen into folklore.  Such names as 'Dead Deer Drop' with it's 90 foot winch down to the start and the 'Cresta Run' that meanders down into a gorge until you're faced with either a 25' cliff climb to reach the punch or a 2 hour climb back to the start, evoke wonder, awe and incontinence in many. 2006 sees the addition of the 'Long Way Round', the 'never ending story' and 'So this is it, we're going to die'.

2007 brings us to new territory, with mountains, trees, rocks, stumps, less water and midges but still the same winning formula. Now called the Tay Forest Challenge, the 4th year has the Dream Team of the two Andies, Colin and Richard fighting with each over the hills overlooking Pitlochry, a lovely market town in Perthshire known a "the Gateway to the Highlands".  After 2 days of 'driving' through what we have planned for you, however, it may be better described as "the Gateway to the Hell-lands".  The trees may be a little further apart and the ground may be drier in places but you can still hope for serious climbs, nasty little turns and lots of deep mud holes.