Fair Winds Bring New Friends

Today we drove the new 2018/19 Range Rover HSE Td6 to one of our favorite locations for some filming: Keechelus Lake just off I-90 in Snoqualmie. This is a pristine lake surrounded by epic mountains. It was a location we felt matched up well with our subject. 

To start, we needed to knock out my introduction and some "posed" shots. For this we drove the Range Rover to the top of a pile of rocks that resembled a natural plinth overlooking the lake. Sully handled the Canon 1DXM2, while I worked on nailing my lines. 

Once we had completed this portion we moved on to driving shots. This is when I deliver driving impressions to camera, while navigating all sorts of obstacles. At the same time, Sully shoots the accompanying exteriors with long lens.

For the interior camera setup, we kept it simple this time: Just a GoPro6 pointed towards me, a Tascam voice recorder in my pocket and a lavalier mic. I also had a GoPro pointed at the rear wheel for some extra close-up B-Roll. 

In the midst of delivering my lines, I ventured rather far off from Sully's line of sight. I was having so much fun with the various off-road modes and the constantly-changing terrain, it took me several minutes before I noticed. 

By the time I returned to where Sully was standing, he had struck up a conversation with some local hang gliders. The group had just planted their landing strip flags and were preparing for the trek up the mountain, where they would launch. 

Trouble was, they didn't have a driver. Sure, one of the pilots could drive the rig up and down the mountain, but it's clear that they would all prefer to fly down, rather then drive down. They were asking Sully if we could drive their vehicles down for them. I suggested we should take the Range Rover HSE.

Of course, the Range Rover didn't have a massive rack to carry six hang gliders on top of it. But that was okay. One of the pilots had a classic Land Rover that was all racked up. He would carry the gliders, and I could carry the other pilots in the new Range Rover. Then, when we got to the top, Sully would drive the old Land Rover and I would drive the new one down. It seemed like a perfect plan. 

Now, a note about the roads to get to the launch point. They were... rustic. With overgrowth creeping from the sides, boulders in inconvenient locations and a sheer drop down one thousand feet in places, it definitely wasn't for the faint of heart. 

To see how this episode turned out, subscribe to our Driving Sports TV channel on YouTube. The episode should be available at the end of September, 2018. 

 

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