2016 Axialfest: Bigger Than Ever [PHOTO GALLERY]

Axial’s John Schultz headed the drivers meeting before competitors started the grueling Ultra 5K Enduro competition.

The calm before the store. The Ultra Enduro cars lined for the start of the race. Transponders were used this year to precisely keep track of the race and award the winner of the race and the winner of the single hot lap.

Gentlemen, start your engines…or uh flip on your switches!

Some Ultra Enduro competitors worked as a team with matching helmets using working intercoms.

Hello Charlie Suangka! Now with Hobbywing, Charlie not only competed, but was also on site to help anyone with product support.

The 15 and under Rock Racers were eager to get their race started.

Seemed simple at first glance, but the log section on the rock racing course claimed many victims.

Many Axialfest participants not only ran Axial’s new Bomber, but could also get up and close to the full sized Bomber that was on site.

Sleep is overrated. The adventurist trails were open to the wee hours of the morning and many took advantage of it setting out for night time crawling.

What’s better than full sized camping? Scale sized camping of course. A replica of the Cisco Campgrounds was available for check in where you could park your rig and set up your campsite.

The riverbank rocks were a popular section of the “D” trail that provided some of the most challenging natural terrain features available.

A Jurrasic Park Jeep Wrangler was on alert incase you needed to flee from Velociraptors or T-Rexes.

With 300 more participants than last year, the 2016 Axialfest packed in over 900 individual hard-core crawlers and scalers, you won’t find multiple entries from one person here.

A-Main was one of the principal sponsors of Axialfest and were raffling off huge prices all weekend long.

The singing of the National Anthem started off each day of trailing and competition.

Each of the 150-gate adventure trails were marked with a color coded start gate.

There is only one reason to have friends, to help you with a tow up a difficult section of course.

Pristine Tahoe forest was the setting for the 2016 Axialfest.

Traffic jams will happen, especially at difficult sections that deny your every attempt to surpass it.

Technical sections, some navigate them successfully and some don’t.

One of the many bridges at Axialfest. They were difficult to navigate because they were narrow and slippery.

I’m not going to go to my first Axialfest and not participate. Here is my Axial Wraith Spawn fitted with Duratrax’s new Deep Woods crawler tires getting some action.

That’s a one long bridge! Navigating the narrow, almost 100 feet of combined bridge was nerve racking during the daytime multiplied by way more at nighttime!

A drone view of the rock racing course. Racers ran two qualifiers and one main.

It was a full house at the awards ceremony to wrap up the event.