The Great Escape

We are often stuck in the concrete jungle, not able to move out of our daily grind. All this time, the fun SUV that you bought for your weekend adventures is either sniffing bumpers or lying untouched in your garage. All you and your beloved SUV need is an escape, the one like the Mahindra’s Great Escape.

Getting out of the bed early on a Saturday morning needed a lot of effort and so did the drive to Lonavla in the typical Mumbai downpour. The fog was dense and it took us quite a bit of time to reach 19 Degrees North in Amby Valley. But once I reached there, the cold breeze, the passing showers and the Mahindra Thar set the mood for the day.

For those who had two-wheel drive SUVs, the 139th Mahindra Great Escape had a special course. The long trail through the scenic Sahyadri range was enchanting. The four-wheel drive SUVs also had a special course laid for them. It was slightly tougher with slush pits, water crossings and a few slipper climbs. We had a bunch of Scorpios and XUVs but the crowd was dominated by the off-roaders’ favourite – the Thar.

The Great Escape is a good platform if you want to learn and enter the world of off-roading. The 2WD and 4WD trails had quite a few challenges that will teach you the basics of off-roading while helping you tap the off-road potential of your SUVs. But if you are a seasoned off-roader, you will not be disappointed.

The Great Escape also had a competitive trophy where the participants could bring their cars, stock or modified, and compete through obstacles. The marking system included points for flags that the driver had to pull out without leaving the car and points for safety. The long list of penalties was also read out at the drivers’ briefing for it to be a fair competition.

The challenges turned out to be a handful even for the most seasoned of the off-roaders. We had a couple of cars amongst us built to international competition standards but the obstacles had them on their knees as well. The obstacles required precision and deftness instead of pure heft to manoeuvre the obstacles.

The intermittent showers kept on making things interesting and after helping each other navigate through the tough obstacles, both the cars and the teams were tired but happy.