A Swift Current father-daughter duo have won the Great Beater Challenge for the second year in a row.
Dustin and Hayley Vipond spent two days touring nearly a thousand kilometres of Alberta, tracking down landmarks and unravelling clues on where to go next. With Dustin driving and Hayley scouring the map, the pair made sure to get every single point they could during their scramble.
Carrying through this adventure was a 1985 Mercury Colony Park wagon, which they styled after National Lampoon's Vacation 'The Truckster', which is the car driven by the film's protagonists, the Griswold family.
Before they could begin, they immediately ran into a spot of trouble, not even an hour outside of Swift Current on their way to Calgary for the start of the event.
"We snuck into the Co-op in Gull Lake and grabbed a big bottle of CLR and did kind of a highway flush on it," said Dustin. "And then we ended up cutting some vent holes in the hood to try and get some of the heat out of the engine bay. It seemed to be just enough to get it there."
With some new hood vents and a fresh clean and clear of the cooling system, they were up and running again. Dustin managed to get the car to Calgary, where they arrived in time for the 'World's Worst Car Show'.
"It's a sight to behold for sure," said Dustin. "There was some pretty neat stuff."
One participant actually was pulled over by the local police in Calgary. His vehicle's decorations ended up causing a bit of a problem, and they were forced to dress down their beater in order to keep travelling.
The Viponds took off on Saturday, rushing as fast as they could to find as many objectives as they could. Some of them were as simple as making it to a landmark, while others required a bit more creativity. In total, there were 69 challenges.
"One of the special points was just kind of a line from Twister," said Dustin. "All it said was 'Julia, we got cows', so we kind of stewed on that the whole way, and we ended up making a little bit of a mini movie down in Dorothy, Alberta. They've got a grain elevator there and we managed to tie in three tornado references to it, so I'm pretty sure that's the sole thing that put us over the top (for points)."
Another check mark on the list required the Viponds to think outside the box.
"You either had to get a picture of your junk getting air over these really rough train tracks, or a picture with the train," said Dustin. "When we came across, there was no train, of course. With the issues we had already had, I wasn't willing to sacrifice the car and jump it."
In order to make this mark on their list, they proceeded to write 'Air' on a cardboard box, place it on the train tracks, and run it over while blasting a train horn.
"We got full points for that," said Dustin. "Sometimes you've got to think outside of the box, literally."
The Mercury tried its best to stay reliable during the whole venture. However, just as they resolved their overheating problem, the car started to lose fuel pickup anytime they got up to 1,800 RPMs.
Another issue they ran into with fuel was running out. At one point, they thought they could fill up in the next town over when low on fuel. However, upon arrival, they found the local gas station in (town) boarded up and closed. When they tried to continue on their way, they then proceeded to go 40 kilometres in the wrong direction, forcing them to backtrack.
"It was at the worst possible time," said Dustin. "We were extremely limited on fuel range this year."
Prior to this, it was discovered that their backup fuel jerry can had leaked out all over their stuff.
"Turns out the jerry can that I brought is the only one out of 30 that I own that has a hole in it," said Dustin.
They ended up getting to refuel, but not without pushing the Colony to the edge of fumes. This lesson would be one they learned from, if only in part. On the second day, they proceeded to again take a wrong turn and backtrack, again.
After the second day, they head back to Calgary with most of their checklist marked off. In the end, it came down to the wire as competition for first place was fierce.
"I think there was probably only 300 points separating first place through third place," said Dustin. "It was really a tight finish, and a pile of fun."
What pushed the Vipond team up on top of the podium was their dedication to the customization of their vehicle. The Colony was compliant with a number of point earning modifications, including a coffee can exhaust and crazy carpet fender flares.
"We were somewhere over 5,000 total points," said Dustin. "They haven't published them yet, but I believe it's an all-time high for the 10 years they've been doing it."
Finally, the Viponds were handed their second Golden Hammer, officially giving them the victory.
Throughout their trip, the father and daughter team were flagged down by hundreds of people for photos, thumbs up, and plenty of waving. Hayley originally kept a tally of everyone who gave them a thumbs up, but gave up after marking down 100.
"I'm getting stuff sent to me all the time now," said Dustin. "Everywhere we went, there was people taking pictures and honking, and there was more than a few looks of bewilderment."
Dustin thought it was pretty entertaining when they were travelling through Calgary, and a gentleman driving a Bentley proceeded to pull up beside them and take a video while cheering for their Griswold-inspired car.
They were even spotted by folks in Medicine Hat and have since gone viral in a local post on Facebook. People can follow all things great, beater, and challenge by following the Great Beater challenge on Facebook.
If anyone sees Dustin or Hayley, feel free to give them a wave and ask about their experience to get a full retelling of their adventure.