Each year Yamaha invites select members of the press to ride its new special edition model sport ATVs at the legendary Imperial Sand Dunes, better known as Glamis. I was lucky enough to get the call to represent Off-Road.com this year for the three-day riding event.

Glamis has always been a dream-riding destination of mine. With what seems like endless sand dunes as far as your eye can see, it’s a paradise for ATV riders. My trip would begin like any ordinary trip by packing my bags. With this trip I had to keep in mind that I would have a box of brand new Shift Riding gear waiting for me at the hotel once I landed in California. That made packing just a bit different, as I had to pack light on the trip out west so that my new gear would meet the weight limit required when flying back east.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

I met up with Yamaha and the other media types at the hotel for dinner and entertainment. Knowing we had to wake up early for a three-hour drive out to Glamis the next day, I headed back to my room fairly early to get some much needed sleep.

The drive from the hotel (which was conveniently located right next door to the Yamaha Headquarters in Cypress, Calif.) to the Glamis Sand Dunes is unlike any drive where I’m from in the Midwest. Instead of cornfields in every direction, the scenery is so much more varied with snowcapped mountains and ocean views. There are numerous changes in scenery and elevation and you don’t know what you’re going to see next. One minute we would be winding through the mountains and the next we would be driving in between two ranges filled with windmills. The drive out to Glamis is an experience in itself.

After the three-hour drive we reached our campsite where Yamaha had prepared a caravan of Weekend Warrior Campers for us to call home. Not everybody who comes to Glamis gets such luxurious accommodations, but we were thrilled to have all the amenities, including a shower.

As we were getting settled into camp the wind starting to pick up. It was all you could do to block the sand from getting in your eyes. Some members of the press took out their riding goggles and wore them around camp to help deflect the raging sand. After getting settled in, the wind started to die down and we were able to take off our sand blockers. Even though the wind was being a nuisance in the beginning, it made for some great riding conditions after it died down.

Being on a press launch means you usually get to ride the latest and greatest machines and this was certainly no exception. Yamaha had a fleet of YFZ450R SE and Raptor 700R SE ATVs we could use to shred the sand. After a brief walk around both models Yamaha set us loose in the sand so see how we liked the new 2011 special edition sport ATV models. I have always have been a big fan of the Yamaha YFZ450R so I jumped on the closet one I could find and headed out in the dunes with video producer extraordinaire Michael Nardi to get some action shots and interviews out in the dunes.

Unlike last year, when the dunes could be described as very large rolling hills, the dunes this year were peaked everywhere. I was a little bummed last year that I couldn’t catch any major air as I saw so many times growing up watching ATV movies like the Huevos series from Hbomb Films. With the dunes being peaked this year, it was easy to find jumps to air out both YFZ450R and Raptor 700R. As the video will attest, we jumped just about everything we could find.

As the sun set on the first day of riding, each member of the press headed back to their Weekend Warrior camper to change out of their riding gear, take a shower, and get into some casual clothes to meet around the campfire for dinner. It’s surprising how well we ate out in the dunes this year. A camping gear company called Camp Chef was on hand each day to cook our meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As you might have guessed, Camp Chief specializes in camp cooking gear. They make anything from grills to ovens to smokers that are light and portable for taking anywhere. They fixed up some of the best food I have ever tasted.

Each day we would get up at sunrise and only stop riding to fuel up our ATVs with gas and grab a bite to eat. It’s not often we get the opportunity to ride like this so we got as much out of the experience as possible.

Yamaha’s two powerful sport quads did their part to enhance our Glamis experience. The sport tuned handing of the YFZ450R made it awesome for carving the dunes and kicking up huge sand roosts. There were plenty of spots that we found to catch some air on both the YFZ450R and the Raptor 700R. It’s truly amazing how well rounded the Raptor 700R is for the dunes. Even though the Yamaha YFZ450R would be my preference in other riding conditions, the Raptor 700R was my weapon of choice out in the sand. With its tremendous amount of torque, Cadillac like suspension, plush seat, and reverse gear, the Raptor 700R is a true dune performer.

I had a blast, as always, with the whole Yamaha crew and a big thanks goes out for inviting us out to spend three days putting the YFZ450R SE and Raptor 700R SE to the test. We would also like to thank Camp Chef for cooking our delicious meals everyday. If you’d like to get a more in depth report on the Yamaha ATVs we were riding, check out the links below.

Related Reading
2011 Yamaha Raptor 700R & YFZ450R Special Edition Review [Video]
2011 Yamaha Raptor 700R Review