Competition Description

Alaska Motors is a new kind of Sketch Competition from Local Motors open to members 13 years of age and older. Contrary to most competitions, the winning design WILL NOT be considered by Local Motors for a future vehicle-- instead this competition aims to  push the skills of community members to their limits and is highly conceptual. You will be responsible for designing a vehicle for the Wrangell Mountain Extreme Challenge using traditional sketching and light rendering techniques. Because of the conceptual nature of this competition, we feel that the hand sketch/ digital rough techniques are better for showing more organic forms and conceptual designs. We encourage the use of pencils (colored or normal) and pens on paper, and allow marker, pastel, and water-color renderings. SketchBook Pro and rough photoshop renderings will also be permitted.

This is Alaska Motors!

"We are looking at a massive storm that seemingly has no end in sight to move in and cover the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve and surrounding areas over the next several days. This means record breaking snow fall, the current estimate is between 80 to 100 inches (200-250cm)  to be dropped in just the first 3-4 days of this storm. If we continue to roll the model, this amount of snow fall looks like it will continue for at least another 7 days. This is going to be a lot like the record breaking storms we have witnessed over the past few years. And while it will surely shut down route 1 and route 4, I am sure that this is exactly what the organizers of the Wrangell Mountain Extreme Challenge were hoping for. With snow levels like these, this is going to surely be an unprecedented race! Bob, back to you..."

It's 2013. The skies above Alaska are dark grey, full of freezing precipitation blowing in from the ocean, about to dump huge amounts of snow as this storm slams into the Wrangell Mountain range. For the previous few years these types of storms have covered parts of Alaska in record setting amounts of snow that literally "Freeze" the life in Alaska; roads are shut down, and transportation is extremely difficult to certain parts of the state. The challenges that this kind of situation creates, as well as the the increased occurrence of these kinds of storms motivated a group of car buffs from the north pole to put together the Wrangell Mountain Extreme Challenge, a 113 mile ( 182km ) race that would push builders to create the most capable snow machines possible, and then race them over extreme terrain to prove their viability. Scientists have predicted that this type of weather will become worse as time goes on. Thus there will soon be a need for capable, high speed, snow-traversing machines for transportation to remote areas during storms like these.

In a race like this, the stakes are very high. Several teams are clamoring to design and build their vehicles in record time, utilizing the newest, cleanest, and most advanced technology that they can get their hands on. These vehicles have to be able to work in the extreme cold and traverse multiple environmental challenges such as ice, wind  berms, crevasses, rocks, water, and mud, all while keeping the pilot and passenger warm and carrying a small amount of required items (extra parts and tools in case of a break down, mandatory back-up heater/generator/fuel, First Aid Kit, Ice picks, shovel, blanket, and 500ft (150m) of rope, food and water supplies). In addition to these requirements, the organizers have mandated that these vehicles use more sustainable materials and have a minimal impact on the environment they will be used in.

The race will take place in The Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve – the largest wilderness area in the United States at over 20,587 square miles (53,321 Square Kilometers) in size. This area was chosen because it could consistently be monitored, and provided the multitudes of conditions these vehicles would need to endure. The goal of the race is to try and source winning designs to create vehicles that could, in the future, be used for search and rescue missions, rapid transport, and research operations in some of the harshest conditions in the world.

Now it is your turn to design one of these vehicles.
 

Because of the nature of this competition, we highly recommend using the checkup feature to get feedback before the final submission deadline. Over 75% of winners used the checkup feature in the past and were able to work community feedback into their design before the final submission. This is your place to submit your first idea and improve it, and post updated designs that will gain much more exposure than and updated design in the small comments on the competition page. The Local Motors Team monitors the website very closely and thus knows which designs/ concepts belong to which community members, so posting your idea early is not giving away your ideas; instead it is allowing other members to help you improve your design -- in other words, you have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain by using the checkup feature.


So get your pens ready, and brace yourselves for Alaska Motors.

Important Note:
Because this is the first competition open to community members 13 years of age and older, it should be noted winners 17 years old  and under will retain the rights to their designs.