DirtFish, the ultimate way to have fun in the dirt!
 

There are only a few schools in the country which specializes in the increasing popular sports of rally driving which has for years been popular overseas. Events such as the WRC, Paris-Dakar, etc all illustrates the extreme popularity of these motorsport events. It wasn't until recently that rally sports has taken off thanks to celebrities such as Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and a few notable others.

It was much to my surprise and joy when I first heard that a local group was planning to start a rally school right here in the Northwest! I thought, "where do I sign up!" I was lucky enough to have been asked to participate in their "beta one day" program where a small group of participants could join in a "test class" to see how things would operate for their future classes. This is where it all began for me. I'd been to their Old Mill facility a number of times in the past for photo shoots so I was familiar with the area. I knew that there was potential for massive amounts of adrenaline pumping fun coupled with getting very dirty in the right ways.

DirtFish, in a sense is one of the few schools in the country which offers courses in educating participants about the ways to slide around corners, trail-brake, perform pendulum maneuvers, learn about the different types of speeds in how you take a corner, judge the level of grip in a corner, and most of all, to have an crazy amount of fun going fast over loose surfaces! I have to say that after having taken both their 1 day introductory and 3 day ultimate rally course that I have come away absolutely HOOKED! I never knew that it was possible to have this much fun in a rally car even though I enviously watched Ken Block perform his usual crazy antics over the past few years.

These are pictures that I've taken at their 3 day course. This is the first thing you see before things begin.
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The helmets we used complete with a microphone/headphone system
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The tires they use on their rally cars
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Forest, one of the instructors and a very cool dude.
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Even the bathroom signs was cool
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The Old Mill facility. This used to be one of the largest depot for Weyerhaeuser
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The central base where all the rally cars would be fixed, cleaned, serviced and so forth. It amazes me that each car would have to be thoroughly cleaned with the wheels off, on the lift and each and every bolt checked and retorqued at the end of each day. These guys are thorough!
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Our transport of choice carrying us around the grounds
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These cars were one of the two sets of cars we would be using. Look how clean it is, but this would not last for long
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We're already off to a good start! I was driving around the skid course learning to get comfortable with wagging my tail out!
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Don is one of the other instructors and the one I worked with throughout my time with DirtFish. A very cool dude!
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Each partipant would first ride around the course with an instructor as he demonstrates how a maneveur is performed and then we would switch places and it would be our turns! These cars have a full rollcage and 4 point harness system so getting into these cars can be a bit tight.
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Wheeeeeee! This was me going around the 3 point triangle course learning the techniques to properly bring the rear end out in a controlled manner while keeping the momentum going! Not an easy thing to do for those new to the sport!
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I was having way too much fun!
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We went around and around the course multiple times. I'm amazed that these instructors never got sick at least as far as I could tell.
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These cars were affectionately referred to as "car 1, car 2," and so forth.
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Going through the slalom course is an exercise in finding the proper timing techniques. We'd go, lift, turn & brake, over and over again.
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This is one of the long corners where if done properly, we'd go around "sideways" at speed!
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Each section had its own name such as "The Link," "The Boneyard," "The Wedge," etc. The best part was when we'd combine a few of them to make a 3 mile long course in one direction on the last day.
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Getting a car dirty was never this much fun!
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This is just getting things started.
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On sunny days, they have this pump tank truck to get the courses properly "wet" enough but on rainy days, it's absolutely balls of fun!
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Time to slide!
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I approve!
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Don, explaining how to drive through one of the courses before taking off. Each car was modified to spec.
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It really does get muddy out there!
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These wheels are gold but it sort of looks brownish to me. I was truly amazed how well these performed even with all that dirt on it.
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Switchover taking place
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Now the car is starting to get really dirty
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By the second half of the 2nd day, we were now ready to make the switch to these Group N rully prepped rally cars. These cars are in a sense the same types of cars used in professional rally courses by Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, etc. These are serious machines with full 5 point race harness, bucket seats, shift systems with super short throws, hand brake systems, fire supressant systems, etc. These are the REAL deal!
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I first used these cars during the 1 day introductory course but I still had forgotten just how capable they truly were. There was an adjustment period as each of us including myself learned how these cars would perform. There was more power, less slop in how it would handle and an "extreme" reaction in using the braking system! These cars are FAST machines!
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It of course didn't take very long for them to get dirty. This is DirtFish after all.
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Getting dirty has never been so much fun!
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Many cones would get knocked over throughout the day but later on we would be good at NOT knocking them over.
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I pity the poor soul that has to wash these cars every time.
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This was a well prepared facility with equipment to prepare each course for our use between sessions.
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I love these machines
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As you can see, the tires leave these deep impressions in the dirt but it barely gives you much grip around these tight muddy corners!
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Can you see those lights?
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Serious machines for seriously fun times!
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Going through the mud at 50 mph has never been so much fun!
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Between sessions, giving the thumbs up!
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It was MUDDY! If you didn't enter the corner at the right place using the right technique you'd end up finding yourself getting bogged down in the deep stuff losing speed. So it was often important to come through these corners at just the right angle using the right technique to get the rear out just long enough to keep the car moving.
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I was coming through one of the many roads in the Wedge area. It was there where it was important to remember that these were TREES not cones. We couldn't hit any of them! I don't think they would have let us drive here if they didn't think we were ready. I was definitely READY!
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Notice how I'm coming around the corner just past the muddy puddle. I was going FAST here! It was important to avoid the puddle because we'd just end up losing lots of speed otherwise. Clearly I was doing a good job here because Don was all smiles!
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I had having a GREAT time!
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Going through huge mud puddles was an exercise in learning to be prepared for the unknown because there's truly no way to tell how deep they were and what would happen to our cars when going through. Often times the rear end would come loose and we'd have to be prepared to react when and if they did.
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Muddy muddy and muddy!
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Even the engine bay got DIRTY!
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It was surprisingly clean here, they must have taken the time to clean it up a bit between sessions.
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Time to get dirty again!
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Ah that's more like it!
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Love these!
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Full roll cage systems!
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The Wedge, one of my favorite places to play in!
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Coming through one section, it's important to remember everything you learned otherwise you could get into some real trouble in some of these corners.
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Coming through the slalom course!
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The participants and their instructors at the end of the day!
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Time to wash the cars
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All cleaned up!
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I REALLY had fun!
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Jason, that looks like an absolute blast! I've heard a lot of good things about DirtFish and it looks like something I may need to try someday.

What a freakin blast!!!!

I saw this on King 5 news. It sure looks like a ton of fun!

awesome awesome awesome!!

Something I'm going to have to do some day

excellent write up - train winter get together

How cool is that??? I wanna try it!

WHAT a great thread, thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful pictures and great story with us! This is definitely something that needs to be added to my bucket list!