I picked up the local newspaper today (Snoqualmie Valley Record) and the frontpage had a big photo of a couple of guys standing in the abandoned Weyerhauser Mill yard at Snoqualmie Falls (WA) and I said, "I know that guy."

Sure enough. There was old rally guy Greg Lund and his business partner Bob Morris. Seems they're confident enough to announce intentions to used the 280 acre mill site for a new business venture: "The Ultimate Rally Experience".

The article says they "envision a driver training center, rally course and film location". "Besides the driving experience business, envisioned uses include teen safety driver training, corporate entertainment and team buildingprograms, new model launch events, and a possible television or movie filming location." The Snoqualmie Mayor is on-board with the plan.

None of these activities are my kind of thing, but I truly wish them well in their new venture. And I really appreciate that they also envision a very low impact operation, without much development, and without grandstands.

Good luck Greg,

Rich Smith
Still breathin' 5-miles out of North Bend

Sounds like it could be a great location for testing and driver training classes!

Hey the way most "ORV" type places are being shutdown, this can't be anything but a good thing

---

-Jason

Greg Lund........
I cannot see any long term good coming from this....
not with him involved.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Here's the link to the story
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/svr/news/89030467.html

Lots of questionable statements. How can 700-2000 visitors a year bring in 2.5 million in tourist dollars?

looks like no plans for us to be able to test there either

"tourist dollars" is a loose term. The location could be collecting tourist dollars by collecting between $1250-3571.43 per person. That's not too high compared to the cometition is it? Team O'Niel...

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Greg Lund........
> I cannot see any long term good coming from
> this....
> not with him involved.
>

Explanation?

---

-Tom
DemonRallyTeam | Fine Tuning | CTS Turbo & RP Turbos | RalleyTuned | JRM | Meister Autowerks
Spitfire EFI | Product Apparel | JVAB Imports | NLS | AP Tuning | USRT

Add us on Facebook | Next Event: 2013 Olympus Rally June 22-23 Olympia, WA

My read of it is that it will be more like Bridgestone Winter Driving School (BWDS) than like Tim O'Neil's or CORE.
At BWDS, they have different 'levels' of courses that people take. Instructors are people like Matthew Johnson, Forest Duplessis, Dave Kern, Tanner Foust (well, not anymore, but he was there for years), and others. Once you do one of their full day courses, you can rent the track for private use in the mornings for $45 per half hour. I took one of their full day courses last year and can't wait to do pre-Sno Drift testing as well as enjoy some of the epic Steamboat snowboarding next winter.

---

Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At BWDS, they have different 'levels' of courses
> that people take. Once you do one of their
> full day courses, you can rent the track for
> private use in the mornings for $45 per half hour.
> I took one of their full day courses last year
> and can't wait to do pre-Sno Drift testing as well
> as enjoy some of the epic Steamboat snowboarding
> next winter.
>
> Grant Hughes


At BWDS, once you've taken any class (full day, half day, or performance), you can do the track rentals. Or...you can come up with any number of car clubs that rent out the track for a day, just be prepared for delays when someone puts their car all the way thru a snow bank. Definately not "CORE" type daily fees, but it takes alot of man hours to make the track, and keep it going throughout the season.

I'm looking forward to some RWD lapping out there for sure....turbo no traction vs. non-turbo no traction. Get those sandbags ready!

Dave

From the article it sounds like it will be a school only, no competition, run in production cars like the Festiva, only during the week.

Hard to get overly excited about it.

krisdahl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the article it sounds like it will be a
> school only, no competition, run in production
> cars like the Festiva, only during the week.
>
> Hard to get overly excited about it.


WAIT, WHAT ???? festiva?? awesome, carburated or FI festi's? 1.6 turbos or 1.8 NA swaps? festiva fo life yo.

festiva's are awesome.

My bad.

Fiesta.

new fiesta or old fiesta, the new ones are kinda hot

12xalt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> new fiesta or old fiesta, the new ones are kinda
> hot

I have a sneaking suspicion that the old ones are funerer to drive, seeing as how the new ones weigh only a few pounds less than a Focus, which in its own right is a big fat pig for its size...

---

Pure mathematics is the enemy of every truly creative man -- Sir Alec

so then, I suppose the example of "fiesta" or "festiva" wasn't a very good one as the conclusion seems to be that both are pretty cool cars. The old ones anyway, the new one just looks good (though it was cool on that Top Gear episode).

sooo... wonder if there's been any local fallout with this "private facility, not a racetrack, no grandstands, etc."