The trip to Gradisca was a great weekend in itself. The OFF ROAD magazine reports about the event in the current issue and to my absolute delight I noticed that the offroad team of Expedition Anhängertechnik made it on the front page of the report.
Many thanks to OFF ROAD magazine for this great snapshot and inclusion in their report.
The report is superbly written and brings the sense and flair of the meeting perfectly to the point. The pictures give an insight into the varied route, culinary delights and the unique vehicles that took part.
The second and last part of the adventure weekend reports about the last off-road kilometres to Gradisca and especially about the roadbook and all the challenges we mastered with the Offroad Camping Trailer.
We spent the night at the holy mountain “Sveta gora” at the foot of the basilica in Nova Gorica. With the lighting on the trailer the awning and the kitchen was perfectly illuminated.
The next morning we had to pack up and go to Gradisca, but not the easy route…
… a quick look into the maps and we found one or another dirt road on our way to the border and went for it.
At arrival in Gradisca we could move into our booth, right next to the Jeep booth at the beginning of the starting grid. It was a great afternoon with many interested people who had a in depth look at the Offroad Camping Trailer.
The next morning after scrambled eggs with fried bacon from the trailer’s camping kitchen we started the roadbook at 8:30 AM.
After only a few kilometres we were already fully in the off-road business. The roads were very wet and muddy. The special sections were great. Here are some pictures from the rock course. With the air suspension almost at the highest setting, the trailer had more than enough ground clearance, slope and ramp angles.
Mud dominated the paths along the rivers and through the narrow forests of the region…
Lunch break and a short review of what we had already experienced. The trailer shows, by the thickness of the mud layer, quite well how much fun we already had – I think the Jeep needs mud flaps in the future. 😉
Everybody knows the wide riverbeds and the great river crossings along the route or at least has heard about them. On the gravel riverbed the quality of the specially tuned FOX shock absorbers pays off. The suspension absorbed all shocks and vibrations perfectly. On deep river crossings the trailer proved to be watertight, and even in the middle position of the suspension height the trailer with its unbeatable ground clearance often only got “wet feet”.
Navigating through the narrow, muddy woods was fun and presented no problems. The trailer meandered effortlessly through the trees. Due to the low construction we did not even have worry about branches and trees hanging in from the side of the road.
The first check after 130 off-road kilometres was the fridge – all the eggs in the fridge haven’t been broken and breakfast was saved.
All in all it was a fantastic off-road day. Congratulations to the organizers!
Our summary – 1061km driven 100% adventure and action
Facts about towing the Camping Trailer with our Jeep CJ7:
Fuel consumption on asphalt road is about 18-19l/100km (16-18l/100km without trailer). Fuel consumption off-road is naturally higher – 25-29l/100km with the trailer. Without trailer the Jeep uses 23l/100km off-road anyway so again, not the serious increase in fuel consumption.
Conclusion:
The lightweight construction and air-suspended independent suspension with high-end shock absorbers pay off.
No loss of fun off-road and on long distances no significant loss in fuel consumption.
The trip to the 34th International Offroad gathering in the beautiful city of Gradisca d’Isonzo does not have to be boring.
We set off two days before the start of the event. Best weather and fantastic mountain passes on- and off-road are waiting for us. We headed out with beautiful sunshine and made our way towards the mountains.
Shortly before the Predil pass is the old mining village Raibl situated. After passing Lago del Predil it goes in only a few steep hairpin bends on the narrow road to the top of the pass. Arriving at 1156m there is still some snow at the roadside and a breathtaking view in front of us.
From the Predil down through a few small towns our next destination is mount Stol. The way over the Stol leads us from north to south on a very coarse gravel forest road further towards our destination. On such roads I sometimes wish in my 41 year old Jeep, that I had a silky soft suspension like the X-Ant trailer does. At the top of mount Stol we were rewarded with a breathtaking view. And everything that goes up….
…. must also go down again. In the case of mount Stol this means to tackle some narrow serpentines with steep drops. However the trailer had no problem at all. Only once we had to reverse to get arround the switchback.
After the challenge of mount Stol our way leads us along the old border ridge road along the border between Slovenia and Italy. Along the route there are numerous memorials and sites of the 1st World War. If you keep your eyes open, you can discover the remains of the war everywhere scattered along the way and some of them can be explored as well.
The old border crossing from Slovenia into Italy.
The rest of the way to our campsite was idyllic and we headed off towards sunset. After an exciting day on the road we prepared dinner in the kitchen of the camping trailer. Thanks to the unique suspension, nothing was broken on the partly very rough track – but the real endurance test for the offroad camping trailer is still to come…. Look forward to the next post when we show you the final sprint to Gradisca and impressions from the day of the event.
I am very proud to report that the product the X-Ant camping trailer “BALI” won 2nd prize in the categoty “Technology & Design”. The technical implementation and the succesful concept of the trailer convinced the jury.
The gala for the presentation of the craft awards took place on Thursday 7.11.2019 in Wels at the exhibition grounds. Many thanks to the organizer, the Upper Austria chamber of commerce and all sponsors for a very succesful evening.
The link to the brochure of the Austrian Federal Economic Chammber can be found here: Broschüre 2019 Link to the Homepage of the Chamber of Commerce – this also contains the videos for the individual categories – www.wko.at/ooe/handwerkspre
Good news! This year Expedition Anhängertechnik takes part in the 34th international 4×4 meeting in Gradisca, Italy. Of course the offroad camping trailer is in tow. I am already looking forward to three exciting days of camping and offroad.
For more information about the event visit the homepage www.gradisca4x4.com or watch the teaser video of this year’s meeting on Facebook – search for Gradisca4x4.
This year I want some offroad feeling on the way to Gradisca. I’ll pick some nice roads that bring us to the event. Contact me if you are interesseted in joining me. Let’s go to the meeting together! Start and meeting point is Klagenfurt am Wörthersee on Friday 6th of December around 8:30am. Tell me either here in the comments or directly by mail if youare interested to join us. Details will be announced directly to the participants by mail. See you in Gradisca!
Tischlerei Schmölzer not only produces extraordinary furniture for your home, but also the impressively compact kitchen in the off-road trailers of Expedition Anhängertechnik. The precise and clean workmanship and robust construction characterize the workpieces of the joinery Schmölzer. I am already looking forward to the next kitchen for a proud customer or even a special interieur work to customer’s wishes. www.tischlerei-schmoelzer.at
Thanks to the company Autocamp, Expedition Anhängertechnik e.U. 2019 exhibited for the first time at the Abenteuer & Allrad in Bad Kissingen. We equip our trailers with the “Family 190” model of the company Autocamp – the perfect tent for the offroad camping trailer.
The fair was a great success. The rush at the stand was overwhelming. The visitors could see the trailer in detail and see the technology and high-quality equipment up close.
Welcome to the official homepage of my company Expedition Anhängertechnik e.U.
Here in the blog section I will post all innovations, new dates and events or reports on the homepage. You can find the respective detailed information in the dedicated section on the homepage.
