I stood in the windy desert of Nevada watching one vehicle after the next launch out of the inflatable arch and into the sand ahead. Cheers and engine blips marked each exit from the Rebelle Rally base camp. These women were heading out into the unknown with nothing more than a map and a pencil to guide them. It was pretty badass.
The Rebelle Rally takes place every fall. Unlike most rallies, it’s not about catching epic air in the sand or screaming past crowds of fans at breakneck speeds. The Rebelle is all about navigation and time management. Getting from one point to the next as accurately as possible without missing any points in between. Based purely on a compass and map. No GPS, no apps. All while traversing some of the most unforgiving terrain in the western United States.
I went to see the 2025 Rebelle Rally launch to find out what goes on behind the scenes to make this competition happen. The logistics are unfathomable. Unless your name is Emily Miller. She has a firm grip on it and she’s the one who started the Rebelle 10 years ago. She’s the one who has assembled a team to figure it all out. Emily juggles a thousand different things to make this competition one of the greatest rallies in the world.
“We’ve found the right people,” Miller told me. “They came just at the right time and exactly when they were needed. Most of us have been here since this started 10 years ago.”
This year’s Rebelle started on Mammoth Mountain in California and then went into the Nevada desert, turning south. It's over 2,500 km (1,553 miles) of don’t-turn-there-or-you’ll-get-stuck driving as teams compete for points. The points come from hitting checkpoints: some with flags, some with small markers, and some with nothing at all. There are even some fakes just to play mind games with competitors.
Over the eight-day competition, Rebelle teams climb and descend dunes, mountains, scrubland, rocks, and dry lakes, all while plotting their route with just map and compass, using navigation techniques that haven’t changed much since horse and wagon were the fastest modes of transport. The rally, which is a women’s-only competition, draws manufacturers and independents in large numbers. This year, 67 teams of two took the field, most in unmodified vehicles.
Ford Broncos, Jeeps, and Land Rover models were the most common, but a smattering of Honda, Subaru, and other makes were also present. The competition has three categories, with two four-wheel drive and one all-wheel drive set. The 4WD sets are divided by team experience and past event scoring, with those with a stronger history in the Rebelle getting the tougher checkpoints of the two.
Behind the scenes, though, technology is everywhere. While competitors are out there with pencils and paper maps, those putting on the rally are behind computer screens and utilizing satellites and advanced communications. It’s best pictured as a movie-style military field tent with screens and digital maps and people calling out random-sounding numbers to one another. Except this isn't Hollywood.
“We had to figure out how to score it,” Miller said. “We couldn't do it manually. We wanted to make sure that there was not a human bias that would impact the score.” This eventually led to sponsorship from Iridium, whose satellites and communications are key to the rally’s scoring and tracking.
Iridium’s team showed me how this works. Tracking happens on several levels, with redundancy. Each vehicle has two ways to be tracked and are pinged roughly every two minutes to get location readings. This is primarily for safety and is passive from the competitors’ perspective. Each team also has a satellite phone for emergency use to call the Rebelle organizers. Using those two things allows emergency response to pinpoint the vehicle’s location and send responders immediately. This can range from medical to mechanical. These GPS locators send three to four thousand data points daily during the competition. According to Iridium, the Rebelle uses more types of satellite equipment than even the U.S. military.
Competitors use hand-held tracking devices to send in checkpoints. When the team thinks it’s on the right checkpoint, they click a button on their satellite communicator. It immediately pinpoints their exact coordinates and sends that to the scoring system. The team receives a notification on the device that their transmission was received and then continues on. The whole process takes seconds.
The mapping data from team check-ins is collated in a database and scored based on how close to the actual checkpoint the team was. The closer the check-in to the actual GPS coordinates, the higher the score. Some checkpoints, usually the ones with large green flags, are easy to find and may also include information for the teams regarding things to look for on the upcoming portion of the course – such as changes in terrain due to weather.
Courses are different each year, so although the Rebelle Rally is often in the same areas of California and Nevada, where competitors go is not repetitive. This is thanks to the oddly map-focused brain of course director Jimmy Lewis, affectionately called the JPS or Jimmy Positioning System. He designs the course each year using an uncanny ability to recall every track and hidden route across California and Nevada. Miller works with him to refine the routes, placing checkpoints that are both fair and fiendish.
“Some of them are easy because they need to be," Miller said, pointing to a nearby green flag. "Those are usually green ones. But sometimes, those green flags, like this one aren’t really checkpoints. If the teams are paying attention, they’ll know that and keep driving. If they’re lazy, though, they might click on this and receive a negative score. The real one is over there,” she says pointing to a rock with just a tip of a green flag showing over it.
Blue checkpoints are harder to find, but are still marked. They have small blue stakes in the ground where they’re located. Most aren’t visible until the competitors are very close. And then there are the Black Diamond checkpoints. These have nothing marking them or indicating their existence. They exist purely on the maps of the competitors, who received coordinates for them and must rely on their skills to find them. These Black Diamond spots are worth a lot of points, but take the most time to locate.
“This competition is mostly about time management,” said Becky Brophy of Toyota, who has competed in the Rebelle and was there this year as support. “There are only so many hours in the day to complete your run. Most of the time out there [for the teams] is spent figuring out how much time they have and whether it’s worth trying to get those few extra points and run the risk of coming in late.”
Teams launch in the mornings based on their scores the day before. Higher scores mean an earlier start, which means a higher chance of a higher score again. A later return time means a lower score for the final checkpoint. Most days consist of around 150 miles (241 km) of roads and trails. Often at speeds of less than 13 mph (20 km/h). Toyota, one of the more active manufacturers sponsoring teams this year, includes its own teams that consist of engineers and race team members who combine to make “dream teams” in the rally. Brophy was one of those. Teams this year included vehicles like the 4Runner, Sequoia, and more.
Micaela (Mica) Rionda, of Toyota’s Team KaiZen, summed up the reason the manufacturer sponsors so heavily in the event: “I'm an executive at Toyota and we've been advocating for our women to join this activity as a leadership-building activity. And personally, I've seen the women come back [from the Rebelle], and they are more confident, they are more articulate. They are able to express their work-related concerns and presentations in a more confident manner after coming back from an event like this.”
This sentiment was echoed by other manufacturers at the event, like Ineos, Jeep, and Ford.
One of the Ford teams was in their fourth year together as a Rebelle duo and their second year as a Ford-sponsored team. Karisa Haydon and Trista Smith, together known as Team Velocity, entered their first year of the Rebelle in Karisa’s Ford Bronco Sport. After being named Rookies of the Year, the team returned for another go. Then Ford approached about a sponsorship and moving them into the 4x4 category. The team agreed. In this 2025 Rebelle Rally, they were in a Ford Ranger Raptor.
“The course is much ... it's gnarlier if you're in the 4x4 category,” said Haydon. “So I remember seeing these ridge lines and things that we didn't have to go to.”
Much of the Rebelle competition boils down to the team, not the vehicle. I asked several teams about the relationship in the cab and that eight grueling days of maybe getting on each other’s nerves.
“So as far as, like, getting on each other's nerves,” Smith said, “there's not really.. there's never been an issue, which is good. I think that's why we're still so strong four years in a row.”
Hayden agreed. “You know, when we get the chance to talk to rookie teams or people who are thinking about this, and we're like, oh, your team selection is so important. Your vehicle's likely going to be fine and make it. It's likely not your vehicle that's going to be problematic. It's most likely the relationship in the car that's going to be problematic.”
Factory teams also get the chance to see the vehicles up close and personal in a less controlled environment. “As an engineer, sometimes you get in the old vehicle, and you're looking at the layout and maybe making proposals for the next one,” said Rionda. “But again, you're in it for a few hours, maybe. You drive it around a test track somewhere. It's always very controlled, because that's how you test, right? But this environment, you have no idea what you're going to run into. So the results of how the vehicle performs in these unknown situations, I think, is a really unique experience. It's great that these engineers are able to explain” things not noticed on a shorter drive.
Behind the scenes, organized chaos is the norm at the Rebelle Rally. While the competitors are pitching tents, mapping, and checking gear, team members for the Rebelle are cooking food, setting up and tearing down base camps, and driving a semi-truck-load of water. Every evening, after the Rebelles enter camp for the night, technicians and coordinators are analyzing data and verifying scores. During dinner, competitors eagerly await the score postings to see where they’ll be starting the next day. And many unpack their phones which have been locked away all day to check messages and send “Did well today!” messages to family.
Throughout dinner, the term “badass” was used constantly to describe participants and organizers. It’s basically everyone involved’s nickname. And it fits. This is especially apparent in the mornings when teams receive their checkpoint coordinates and begin mapping.
As navigators pore over maps and plot points, drivers tear down tents and pack their vehicles. Most of the modifications made to vehicles, Brophy told me, center on storage. Teams carry everything they need, and sometimes camp unsupported for days.
The vehicles themselves are mostly factory stock. Tires and safety equipment change, of course, but for the most part, the manufacturers and independents fielding vehicles are not making major changes to them. The majority of competitors are independent, fielding personal vehicles and finding their own sponsorships. One such team is Beyond the Pavement, made up of Lynn Kliem and Toni Crites in a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Retired nurses, the team is purely in it for the challenge.
“Lynn and I have been friends for over 30 years,” said Crites. “We saw the EPCOT presentation featuring the Gazelle Rally in Morocco. Lynn said she thought that would be fun. Then Google led us to the Rebelle Rally website.”
Throughout the eight days, competitors are allowed to help one another, but outsiders must remain hands off. Rebelles often help one another get out of sticky situations, hold down tents in the wind as stakes are driven in, and so on. Rebelle organizers and staff are only allowed to intervene for safety reasons or when specifically requested. In the latter case, that will usually cost the team points or time. Out on the course, teams are responsible for tire changes and most other mechanical issues. Unlike speed-based competitions, however, most flat tires or broken equipment in the Rebelle Rally are due to environmental hazards rather than harsh punishment.
“For most Rebelles,” Miller said, “their shovels are their most-used tool while they’re out there.”
So where’s the speed in the Rebelle? It’s all in the brains of its participants. The women who compete in this rally must make rapid decisions, relying on their skills, and be confident in their choices once made. Miller said that it’s easy to second-guess a checkpoint’s location if you’re overthinking. “The best competitors are confident," she says. "They don’t question whether their plot points are accurate. They know they are.”
That’s how Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit (title photo) once again took first place this year. And why Haydon and Smith took second. Most of the top 10 Rebelle Rally scores for 2025 were in unmodified vehicles from the Stock class. The Rebelle had a whole roster of badasses.
