It has become an annual tradition.
For the last 15 years, in some form, the Battenfelder family has been hosting an off highway vehicle (OHV) event. On Sept. 22 to 25, the family held its latest version of what is now called affectionately, the Henry Battenfelder Memorial ATV Rodeo at the Batt Traps Recreational Area near Camp Creek.
Mike Battenfelder, organizer of the event, said his parents, Henry and Marg, started the event in 2001 to give ATVers and other OHV enthusiasts a competitive outlet.
“Before then the ATV riders in the area really didn’t have a place they could go and take part in a friendly competition,” he said.
The rodeo has four different team events — a two-wheel-drive ATV cross-country race, the drag and pull, the chariot race and the open category cross-country race. In the drag and pull competition, each team of four riders are required to connect their quads to a bucket with ropes connecting to one common drag bar. The teams must then pull the bucket through an obstacle course.
For the chariot race one ATV is attached to an empty chariot and leads the other three quads around the course, which is marked by large metal oil barrels. The remaining three quads, called outriders, have to pick up the mail (a small board with a rope attached) to complete the course. After they do that they must then follow the chariot once again through the course, and return the mail to the barrel. After returning the mail, the three outriders then help the chariot back into its own individual corral before racing, on foot, and touching the fence.
In the cross-country event, racers compete in a timed event over a large course that includes a number of different types of terrain.
The racers start by going through a mud pit before they go into the bush, with over two kilometres of trail with 57 different corners before going through another mud pit and the finish line.
The last day of competition is reserved for the drag race.
