What are they like?

Never been to one yet.

I am going to one in a couple weeks for the 1/24 scale trucks.

They use RCMCCA rules.  

I have a Deadbolt that is prob class 2, and a mostly stock Gladiator that is class 1.

I've never competed with 1/24 but been doing 1/10 off and on for years.  Class 2 mostly but I did class 1 some.  SORRCA has become a pain in the ass.  The local guys here abandoned their rules this year and were running the Crawlapalooza rule set.  It is much more relaxed and focuses more on driver skill and vehicle capability instead of adding a bunch of handicap points for gluing doo dads to the body.  One of them has mentioned going back to SORRCA rules next year.  Not sure which rule set the other is going to use.

I didnt have time to do a ground up C2 build this year so I bought an SCX10 Pro.  I've been doing good with it.  Usually on the podium with a couple first place finishes.  Several of the courses here favor portals since they're man made with lots of baseball/softball sized rocks poking up ready to hang up axles.  I'm about to start a couple new builds based off Vanquish F9 portal axles.  The C1 will be pretty basic but the C2 will be tricked out.

I guess to answer your question on what they're like is it varies.  Find out what rule set they are using for the 1/10 and make sure your truck is within spec.  If you're new they will usually cut you a little bit of slack on minor things.  Lately all the comp series I have been using make a winch pretty much mandatory.  I'd definitely go for a servo winch over a scale winch.  They're faster, stronger, and dont screw up your approach angle since you dont need your bumper sticking way out.  Get a big winch hook too.  Some places don't have a winch stick and the little scale hooks dont hook on rock.  Its common to cut the points/barb off a double fishing hook and use that since it is versatile and cheap.

Walk the courses before you run and try to figure out the lines for each gate.  Think how you are going to set yourself up for the next gate.  Reverses cost a point so sometimes it is better to just go a bit out of your way and turn around in a large area instead of backing up.  Sometimes reversing through a gate will set you up for the next gate better than pulling in forward.  Pick a good driver and watch them run.  A bad driver can screw you up.  If the course is loose, it is usually beneficial to run early before the course gets too torn up.  Sometimes that can be the opposite though as obstacles may get knocked out of the way.  

Watching some people run is probably a good idea, thanks.

I also noticed the rules for the 1/24 allow reversing with no penalty, unlike the 1/10 world.

Winching is becoming a thing for the 1/24 world, I don't have one yet. I see no other way to do those but a servo winch, but there's some 1/24 self contained winches out there too...

I havent been able to get into 1/24 stuff.  I've owned a few of them and they all sucked pretty bad stock.  My scx24 esc/rx crapped out after just a few packs driving around in the house.  I couldnt make myself dump a couple hunded bucks on an rx, esc, and motor so its sitting on the shelf.

I have had three minis. I've heard of the ESC issues, Horizon is supposed the warranty it I thought...

My yard and work are much better suited to the minis than the 1/10 I had. I used to have an indoor store with a track but they closed so I ended up selling the SCX 10.2.

Started with an Element, the pumpkins were too friggin big otherwise it was pretty good aside from the stock bodies being hideously garish. Nothing broke ever.

First SCX 24 (a Deadbolt) has a lot of packs through it. Burned a motor out the second pack, nothing else has gone on it in the year since. Should have warrantied it but wanted to get driving so I just bought another motor. Modified extensively with stuff I print and some stuff I bought.

Got my second SCX 24 (JT) last weekend. It has one pack through it, and a few mods already.

I want to get an AX24 next, the 4WS looks fun.

I think the bigger trucks are better for trails and natural terrain, the little ones can turn average landscapes into hours of entertainment. If you scale the obstacles realistically, there's a lot less flops and rolls.

My Deadbolt has about 10g of lead wrapped around the inside of each wheel but no other added weight, seems to do all right. The JT has nothing but the RC4WD wheels and better tires, the electronics in the newer ones like the JT, the 2nd gen JLUs, and the Bronco have a much more controllable ESC. The length of the JT seems to make it more stable too.

I think the most important thing you can do to the SCX 24 is replace the tires. The stock ones are analogous to stock Glock sights: functional but very easily improved. The Pro Line Hyrax tires I have on the Deadbolt are very good in both dirt and rock, the RC4WD Milestars came off the Deadbolt onto the JT and are great on rock.

It broke over a year ago so I doubt Horizon would do anything about it.  A couple locals have mentioned competing with them so maybe at some point I'll actually work on it or just build a new one.  I bought a Betty body just in case that happens.  I have one of the commemorative 1/24 Betty RTRs still sealed in the box but I dont ever plan on opening it.  My first crawler kit was an original AX-10 that I preordered so its kind of a sentimental thing.

The 1/10 stuff really is only fun if you have decent terrain to run it.  I took mine to Oklahoma City several times and the spots the locals said were awesome were...very underwhelming.  We have some pretty good terrain at several spots ~1 hour from home.  I'm still new to the area so I still havent been to all of their spots yet.  The comp this weekend is at a place I've been to a couple times so maybe I'll at least do better than last time.

AAR:

Event was a lot of fun. Was there for about 5 hours. Structure was 3 courses for each class. Each course has 10 gates and a couple bonus gates. You have 6" to run the course, it is also possible to penalty out of a course. Unlike 1/10, reversing is not penalized. Penalties are given for touching gates, vehicle touches, winching, etc. For winching, there's a rubber tipped stick with a retractor fitted a few inches from the bottom of the stick with an aluminum hook that nicely goes around the axle. The spring in the retractor won't lift the vehicle dead but provides enough tension to help to you ascend or descend on the wheels.

I don't think there were any two vehicles alike, everyone has their own take regardless of class 1, 2, or 3. That was really cool, and unique to any competition I have ever been to in my life.

I was entered in class 1 and 2.

My class 1 truck was a lightly modded SCX24 Gladiator. It did everything with aplomb aside from a couple gnarly bonus gates. The course seemed appropriate to the vehicle type. The tires I selected (RC4WD Milestar Patagonia M/T) were excellent. The two things I will change on the truck: add some weight to the wheels, and change the front bumper. The rules state the bumper must be wider than the frame rails, I have a printed full width Mopar style bumper that looks very cool. I need a narrower one, you need at least a good part of the corner of a front tire exposed to more easily climb some of the obstacles.

I'll add class 2 later today...

Class 2 was much harder. I DNFed the first two courses through penalties (including breaking my printed bumper and damaging a shock mount). The third I liberally used the "winch" and I managed to finish with a few seconds left. I'm going to say that for class 2 your rig better be able to climb/descend a 60 deg slope unaided, and mount a 4" ledge.

I never went over to check out the class 3 stuff, but it must be gnarly...

All in all a good experience. Not sure if I'll stay in crawling, but I recommend anyone interested give it a try.

The competition side isn't for everyone.  At times it can get pretty heated.  The "Recon G6" style runs are my favorite, especially if you have some friends to run them with.

What all you got done to your class 2?  Still on stock axles and chassis?

There was a little more talk about doing some 1/24 comps here so it got me to work on mine.  Turns out the motor is what is bad on my JLU, not the esc.  I ordered an Injora motor with mount off Amazon.  It should be here tomorrow.  I'm thinking about either giving this one to my son and doing a ground up build for myself or upgrading the heck out of this one and getting him a Gladiator.