St. George duo preps for national off-road Rebelle Rally, invites public to support, watch

ST. GEORGE —Two local off-road drivers will represent Southern Utah’s Dixie at the seventh annual two-team Rebelle Rally – an eight-day, women’s only off-road navigation competition – and they’re inviting the community to watch them compete live.

Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson pose with the Jeep they will be competing in, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News
Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson pose with the Jeep they will be competing in, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News

“It’s actually the longest off-road navigation rally in the U.S. and one of the more extreme ones out there,” Tara Thompson, driver in the team competition, said.

Avis Cook, the navigator for the Southern Utah Team 101, said the Rebelle Rally actually considers the competition to be a team of three: one navigator, one driver and the vehicle itself. The driver and navigator will off-road through 2,500 kilometers in the Nevada desert, roughly 1,553 miles in just eight days. 

The Rebelle Rally is a map and compass navigation competition that prohibits the use of any electronics, including phones. Each morning teams receive maps that contain latitude and longitude coordinates that lead to checkpoints worth points. Each day, teams will navigate from base camp through the checkpoints, some of which are clearly marked and some with no markings at all.

“It could be in the middle of a field with nothing in sight,” Cook said about the checkpoints. “But you have to figure it out with your map and compass. Everything has a point and value to it, and whoever has the highest points wins. That’s the goal, to find these checkpoints and drive to them.”

Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rob Cook, St. George News
Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rob Cook, St. George News

The pair hopes the community will rally together to show their support by watching the live stream of the competition, which can be seen here. 

“You can actually see our dot in real-time,” Cook said. “They do a really good job with the standings and point updates. They have a live show with commentators that walk you through the whole thing and we want people to experience it with us.”

The Rebelle Rally will take place Oct. 6-15, with a tech inspection and check-in on the first day and an awards gala on the final day. The Rebelle Rally will begin at North Lake Tahoe and end at the Imperial Sand Dunes.

Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News
Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News

“We basically go all through the whole Nevada desert and if you’ve ever driven through Nevada, that’s a lot of ground,” Thompson said .

Each team will meet back at the event’s base camp each night, where they will lock up their vehicles in the Rebelle Rally’s impound. Cook said there will be five-star chefs serving breakfast and dinner each day, and shower trailers will be provided.

“The rest of it is gonna be rough, but the food will be good,” Thompson said.

Team 101 will be competing in a 2022 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 With a 6.4 liter Hemi V8 Engine, sponsored by Dixie 4 Wheel Drive, which Thompson said will provide them more power in the sand dunes. Each vehicle that enters must meet certain requirements such as tire height and also prohibits specific modifications in order to meet eligibility requirements. 

“More of it is getting the inside of the Jeep set up because if you think about it, you’re basically packing to camp and be on the road for 10 days straight,” she said.

Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News
Teammates Avis Cook and Tara Thompson prepare for the upcoming Rebelle Rally, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News

The team seeks donations for the purchase of a media package. With media personnel scattered throughout the event route, they’ll receive photography and videography of the event. To purchase a gift certificate that goes directly towards the team’s media package, click here. Use the email taralinthompson@gmail.com when purchasing and reference Team 101 in the comment section.

“You can’t have your phone so you’re in lockdown from outside communication the entire time,” Cook said. “That’s the only way we can keep stuff going out and have access to let our families know what’s going on, so the media package is huge.”

Since both members of Team 101 have never competed in the Rebelle Rally, they’re considered a rookie team, which qualifies them for the Rookie of the Year award and is their top goal.

“Being a new team we’re kind of piecing everything together and talking to different people that have done it in order to gauge what’s going to happen. But until you do it you just don’t really know what you don’t know,” Thompson said.

Avis Cook takes a photo with her husband, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rob Cook, St. George News
Avis Cook takes a photo with her husband, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Rob Cook, St. George News

While they’ve never competed in the Rebelle Rally, Both Cook and Thompson aren’t new to off-roading. Cook said she’s always been adventurous and did extensive offroading and rock climbing while she and her husband lived on the east coast.

The couple decided they were ready to do less rock climbing and “breaking vehicles,” so they transitioned into Overlanding – self-reliant adventure travel to remote destinations where the journey is the primary goal. She has wanted to compete in the Rebelle Rally for years since she first heard about it on YouTube, and later attended an event that featured Emily Miller, founder of Rebelle Rally, as a key speaker.

“I wanted to be local with somebody,” Cook said about moving to St. George. “I was never able to nail anyone down on the east coast to do it with me. I felt like somebody here has got to want to do this with me.” 

Upon arriving in Southern Utah, the couple began going to Dixie 4 Wheel Drive for their off-road needs, which is where she first met Thompson. Cook walked into her office and asked if she had ever heard of the event and if she would be interested in competing with her. Thompson quickly agreed and they secured their spot that same day.

Thompson said has been part of the off-roading community since she was born. Her father is the owner and founder of Dixie 4 Wheel Drive and she spent her days jeeping, off-roading and exploring back country roads with her family.

Tara Thompson takes a photo with her baby outdoors, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News
Tara Thompson takes a photo with her baby outdoors, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tara Thompson, St. George News

“We grew up driving every dirt road in Washington County, pretty much. That was our hobby,” Thompson said.

As she got older, Thompson said she wanted to nothing to do with the off-road life. That was, until eight years ago when she moved back to St. George and took over the Dixie 4 Wheel Drive shop, which she runs to this day. Previously considering the Rebelle Rally competition, she is excited to check it off her list.

Entering the Rebelle Rally comes with a hefty price tag of $15,000 per team, which does not cover the cost of fuel, the mandatory satellite tracker, the offroad vehicle, equipment or anything else required to complete the route.

“It’s a pretty big investment to participate,” Thompson said. “Luckily, Dixie 4 Wheel Drive sponsored quite a bit of our entry fees and the vehicle. “They’ve worked hard to get the vehicle prepared for us and anything we ask of them, they seem to knock it out of the park for us,” Cook added.

Instead of monetary grand prizes for the winners, Rebelle Rally will donate money to the winning team’s charity of choice as well as provide credit towards the following year’s entry fees. Some event sponsors will give cash prizes.

“We just want to let everyone know that the event exists and they can follow us and support us online,” Cook said. “We hope that people really enjoy it and maybe we find more interest and another team that would like to join next year.”

Find Thompson on Instagram @taradixie4wheeldrive, and Cook @overland_wife. For more information on the Rebelle Rally, visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for daily event posts and updates. Download the YB Races App to follow live.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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