Enlightenment - Mahindra Global Explorer Course Experience

The key to becoming a good off-roader is understanding the terrain, understanding the vehicle and of course developing your off-road driving skill. There are many ways to do this: 1) You or someone you know owns a large enough patch of land where you learn this art through the years, 2) You join an off-road club in your area/city/district and drive/ be the co-driver and learn over the course of some off-road days, or 3) Attend the courses at the Mahindra Adventure Off-Road Training Academy in Igatpuri, Maharashtra.

Of the three options, the third one ensures the danger to life, property and equipment (that Mahindra Thar that you hold very dear) is minimised, while also ensuring you learn the most - if you are willing to listen and practise. The setting is perfect: the Academy is spread over 28 acres of rolling hills with 13 somewhat permanent obstacles. There are two highly skilled, knowledgeable and slightly crazy instructors - Manish Sarser and Selvin Jose - who set the course and guide you. There is also an 8-man strong, hard-working support crew who make sure everything keeps going smoothly and let you concentrate on the task at hand. Best of all, the academy has a fleet of off-road-prepped, almost-stock Mahindra Thars which can take the abuse instead of your own vehicle.

The Academy offers three courses based on a participant's experience. Rookies can go for the day-long ‘Getting Dirty’ course to get a basic introduction. The intermediate ‘Trail Survivor’ two-day course lets you go more in depth, with a more hands-on approach and constant instructions. Completing the Trail Survivor course is necessary to attend the top-rung ‘Global Explorer’ course unless the Academy invites you based on your skill. The three-day (three nights in our case) course takes the difficulty to level max and that’s what we experienced over a rainy and foggy weekend at Igatpuri.

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I have been fortunate enough to visit the Mahindra Adventure Off-Road Training Academy before, almost exactly a year before - trying out off-roading for the first time during the Trail Survivor course. I own two road-going cars and work forces me to stick to road cars more than off-roaders, but the experience and feedback from the previous outing made me fight with my colleagues to attend this course. A weekend driving highly capable SUVs over challenging terrain with like-minded enthusiasts - sounds like a good time, doesn’t it?

Be prepared. Three days of off-roading in wet weather over mostly muddy terrain should automatically trigger the mode in which you pack multiple change of clothes and footwear. It’s very easy to get dirty, even without people pranking you (I’m looking at you, Selvin). At least two pairs of shoes and at least a pair of clothes per day is recommended. Being mostly covered can help keep the muck off you but make sure you get a pair of long pants which can take the abuse of getting in and out of SUVs with no side steps on them. When it rains in Igatpuri, it rains like the apocalypse is coming - raincoats are recommended.

Be prepared. To unlearn everything you know about normal on-road driving. Off-road driving requires you to rewire your brain on how cars move. A smooth momentum is what keeps you moving rather than outright pedal-to-metal driving. Torque multiplication, thanks to the use of low ratio gearing and the wonders of 4x4 grip, means starting off in higher gears (2nd or 3rd for example) is possible; small inputs of the throttle and brake are enough to make big changes in momentum. Understanding gravity, its effects on a high-from-the-ground vehicle and the effects of the weight of the vehicle on the terrain is important to prevent potential toppling situations.

It was a small group of participants, most of whom had previous off-road experience and at least two of whom were preparing to take a plunge into the world of competitive off-roading. The drives were limited to the second half of all days. Many of the obstacles - say the Zig Zag or SUV challenge - are difficult during bright sunlit dry days, but add rain, fog and darkness which reduces the effectiveness of even the brightest of LED lightbars and you have got obstacles which attain new levels of difficulty. This added challenge made every bit of time spent at the Academy important, you could learn from everyone present - even other participants. To spice things up even more, a competition would be held on the final day/night.

The course included a proper theoretical test, where both knowledge and attentiveness were tested. I thought I had understood most of the 14-page manual on the Thar and off-road driving techniques, but intelligently structured questions set by Manish made sure I was punished for being less attentive while answering them.

A big point, at least for me, were the supplementary practical lessons: the first aid lessons made me fear death more and also gave me a basic rundown of steps to take to potentially save someone’s life in emergencies.

Basic vehicle repairs/rescue techniques from the technicians at the Academy taught me the weak points of the Thar (it is not an invincible SUV, unlike what many may assume), take them into account while driving it off-road and how to repair at least some of them if things did go wrong.

Winching taught us both a reliable method to recover vehicles and also a method to tackle obstacles. Building temporary bridges with ratchet-strapped logs was fun, but there was not enough time to put that into use for the lack of time.

Writing about each of the obstacles we faced would make this story even longer, and most probably would not do justice to how it actually feels being there. What I can tell you is that each challenge taught us something new about the terrain, the ideal route to take, how the Thar would react and how our driving was making things better/worse.

The inclines with a mix of soft mud underlaid sometimes with hard rock taught us the importance of momentum, choosing the right gear and throttle modulation. Managing the entry speed, putting your faith in engine braking and judicious inputs on the brake pedal and steering was important while coming down an incline. Using the terrain to one's advantage would not just make it easy to go over obstacle, but also make it safer for both the driver and the vehicle.

Not giving up was encouraged, but realising the limits and trying again was important too. If an obstacle could not be overcome in multiple attempts, maybe it was time to check another line or angle or gear. Maybe abandoning it altogether and towing the SUV out was the best option rather than damaging parts and make the trails deeper. The multiple obstacle courses were marked by cones which needed to be collected, but it was necessary to decide your route to score the most points; while picking up the cones was important, the time limit and course limits had to be adhered to at the same time. Being greedy could mean you spent too much time at an obstacle and loose out on overall time, taking the easy way out could mean your score was not good enough.

Believing in your own skills was the biggest takeaway for me, especially when the instructors later told me that I could have been fighting for the win. There were instances when listening to others (including the instructors themselves sometimes!) would make the obstacles more difficult than if I had followed my own instincts, being calm and listening to all your sense including that ‘butt-feeling’ over all the cacophony around you is important.

At the end of the day, what I realised is that this is the best way to become a better off-roader, especially if you are starting out. The certificates and the mementoes are not the most important part, it is the experience that you gain from it. An asking price of Rs 25,000 which includes stay (double shared room), refreshments, the vehicles, the fuel and the personnel and also a visit to the Sula vineyard (because why not?) may seem a bit high if looked at in isolation - but believe me, it is worth every single paisa.