Another lesson learned
An off-road recovery story.
No matter how much we know, there is always something more to learn. Last weekend, I was reminded of this again.
I took my family and a small group of friends up into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest for our annual Christmas tree snow run. All in all it was a great day, but there were some tense moments that had me seriously worrying about my personal safety and the safety of others that I had brought along. I’m writing this story primarily to get it out of my head, but also to share with others so as to engage in discussions on best practices and dissect what I did right and wrong.
Our plan was to get up above 4000' (or at least as high as the snow depth would let us) to find Noble Firs which begin growing at that elevation. I planned out a couple of different route options, plotted them in the GAIA mapping software that I use and double-checked the FS Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) that the roads we planned to travel were not impacted by seasonal closures. I checked that the weather was going to be clear and checked in on current conditions with local 4x4 enthusiasts on multiple Facebook groups. It had snowed over a week ago and then had warmed to rain above 6k’ so I wasn’t even sure we’d hit snow by 4k’, but everything looked great and we were a ‘Go.’
Our morning went off well. We rendezvoused at a coffee shop, made sure we had our tree permits, were all on the same HAM radio channel and then headed into the hills with six well built rigs. My primary off-road rig is down at the moment (being re-geared after breaking the ring and pinion in the front differential on a recent run in deep snow), so I was in my higher mileage LC 100 series with less recovery gear on-board and equipped with older AT tires.
Once we hit snow, we stopped to air down and let the dogs run for a few minutes. I went down to 12 psi and asked everyone else to do the same. We decided that we would stop and air down further if conditions warranted.
We quickly climbed up to 4000' near Cougar Rock and found Noble Firs. Only three of us needed a tree, so we made short work of selecting trees that were close to the road, cut them down and secured them to the roof.
It was still early. We had a few hours of daylight left and weren’t finished adventuring in the snow yet, so we continued along our route to check out potential future camp spots that I had previously marked. We stopped at a popular camp spot, took a few pictures and launched the drone. My 100 Series with the two trees on the roof was still leading so it was catching the brunt of snow being knocked off low hanging branches.
Once we had the drone in the air, we quickly backtracked a quarter of a mile to the access road that leads to the summit of Lookout Mountain (orange circle in route profile below). I was leading and we were happily chugging up the mountain along an exposed shelf road. My wife doesn’t do well with exposure so I had put her in the backseat on the uphill side and had asked my boys to not tease Mom so that I could concentrate on driving.
So, we were happily chugging along up a decent grade. …and then we weren’t. I had already locked my Center Differential Lock (CDL) on a steep bit earlier in the day and had the truck in 4-Lo and 3rd gear and had great traction and then all of a sudden I had almost no traction. I lost forward momentum, stopped, backed up a couple of feet and then tried to go forward again but only spun the tires. This surprised me because we were only in a few inches of snow. I got on the radio and told the crew that forward movement didn’t look good and that I was going to get out and walk the road a bit to observe conditions.
Walking the road, I realized that the snow was crunchier up here and was really slick once compacted. There also seemed to be a layer of ice below the snow. I quickly gave up on the idea that my truck was going to be able to make it the last quarter mile or so to the summit, and since there was no room to pass, we were not going to be able to attempt to get a rig with better tires to break trail. I got back on the radio and let everyone know the conditions and asked them to look for a wide spot to try to turn around or consider backing down to the last intersection. The rear three vehicles immediately started backing down and had less issues because they hadn’t climbed as high. The lead three slowly started to reverse, but all three immediately began to slip out of our own ruts towards the edge. This wasn’t a sheer cliff, but it was a steep and mostly open scree field. If a vehicle went over, it wasn’t going to stop sliding and tumbling until it hit the trees fifteen hundred feet below. As soon as my truck first slid, I knew it was time to get the family out and have them hike down the road to join the safety of the rear vehicles below. I wanted them safe and I wanted them far enough away that they wouldn’t see me should I happen to slide over the edge.
Scouting the road below us, we discussed whether there was any area wide enough so that we might be able to get ourselves turned around. I identified a spot that I was moderately confident that I could get the Jeep into as long as I backed the Jeep towards the edge and used the advantage of the great approach angle on the Jeep to its advantage. I thought the same strategy could be possible with the LC, but I would likely need to nose the front end into the hill and not be concerned about potential damage to the front fender. The Tacoma owner didn’t think he wanted to try it and was too worried about the condition of the edge of the road along the precipice so he made up his mind that he would back down but that he would wait until we got the upper two vehicles turned around.
We started to get the Jeep backed down towards the wide spot. It would start to slip towards the edge every few feet and this was making Paolo nervous. I had him drop his windows so that he could hear me clearly as I was spotting him and made sure that he could see me clearly in either his rear view mirror or directly next to his window. Knowing that Paolo is new to off-road activities, I made a point to be calm, clear and concise with simple spotting terminology. I backed him out to within three feet of the edge and we had him do a multi-point turn as best we could. Every time the vehicle shifted it’s weight, it would slide and create slippery ruts. I realized that I was going to have a challenge trying to stay out of the slippery mess we had just created. I also realized that since the Jeep was a four-door Rubicon JL, its wheelbase wasn’t that different than my Land Cruiser.
Getting back into my vehicle, I inched back in reverse and then almost immediately began to slide. After a couple of 3–4' long slides towards the edge, I was starting to freak myself out and picture myself going over. I had thoughts of trying to leap from the cab as the rig slid over the edge and cartwheeled into the trees below. So I put the rig in Park, and got out to collect myself, reassess the situation again and discuss the options with the other two drivers.
There’s an acronym used in Bob Wohler’s off-road driving education courses called STOPA which refers to his Stuck Assessment and Recovery Plan Checklist. I remember it described in his seminar as STOP and get your ASS out of the seat to assess your options before formulating a recovery plan. I’m going to revisit his book (and I’ve included a link to it at the end of this article).
Thinking through my options, I was first angry at myself for not bringing the cable-chains that I do have for this vehicle (cables are the only thing that clear the upper control arms on the 100 series’ IFS front end). They are not rated for off-road use, but they would have been better than nothing. I quickly got past that thought as there’s nothing you can do when the right tool isn’t at hand. I ruled out the winches on the other two vehicles below me because there really wasn’t a tree strong enough to connect to within a hundred feet above the road. I even contemplated linking to the vehicle below me but I was concerned that the LC could pull the Jeep over with it since it was heavier, and would be starting above it if it slipped over. I quickly decided I had three tools to draw from. I could gain more traction by further lowering the air pressure in the tires. I could have the other drivers assist by placing Maxtrax traction boards on the downhill side of the truck over and over again until I got down to reasonable traction, or we could break out shovels and start trying to dig a trench in the icy ground on the uphill side to lock the wheels into in order to prevent slipping. Discussing the options, we elected for the first two and I aired my tires down from 12 psi to 8 psi while Randy and his son Michael fetched the traction boards from his Tacoma. We realized that of the three vehicles left together, only one had recovery boards. My Maxtrax were in my other 100 Series LC in the shop and the owner of the Jeep didn’t have any quite yet. This meant that we’d be using Randy’s two boards over and over again.
AND IT WORKED! We backed me slowly the 150'-200' or so to the wide spot and slowly got me turned perpendicular to the slope. The length of the truck and the proximity to the edge was no longer an issue because of the stability the recovery boards provided. They also kept me from sliding in the ruts that we had made getting the Jeep turned around.
Once we had the Jeep and LC facing forward, we got all three trucks underway with the agreement that if any of the rigs needed help, we’d stop all three and get out and spot. We still managed to slip and slide a bit as we slowly descended the last mile back to the other trucks waiting for us in the intersection below. As always, there is much more control going forward than reverse so I was able to keep slipping to a minimum by crawling in first gear, only lightly feathering the brakes and trying my best to stay on fresh snow instead of in the tracks of the other rigs.
Once we rejoined the group, it was evident looking at the crew that we were finished for the day. We had had a stressful, unplanned hour slipping and sliding a bit too close to disaster and it was time to call it a day and head to a favorite brewery in Carson for pizza and beer.
I’ve been playing these events in my mind at night over the last week and (as I mentioned earlier) decided to write this piece so that I could put it past me and so that I could pick apart what I did right, what mistakes I made and what I simply could have done differently.
I don’t know if you’ve been keeping track, but the mistakes I know I made are these:
- Not taking more stock in the condition and ability of my tires. The Toyo AT tires are good tires, but they have less than 50% of their tread life left, so I should have been more cautious driving into slippery conditions in unknown terrain. A smarter option would have been simply not attempting the summit or leaving my vehicle at the intersection and distributing my family among the other vehicles that had better tires.
- I could have asked all of the vehicles to air down to 5–8 psi before we tried to summit or as soon as I initially lost traction. Getting everybody up to the top and then turned around so they could crawl down pointed forward would have been nice. …but not knowing the conditions further up the hill and assuming they only got worse, it’s safe to say that that decision could have easily have put us in a worse situation.
- Leaving my dog in the kennel in the back of the LC. If I had gone over and somehow managed to jump clear, I still would have had to climb down to retrieve my likely injured or dead dog and bring him back to my family. In hindsight, I should have evacuated him at the same time as I did the family. That was stupid and uncaring.
What I know I did right:
- Keeping my wits about me.
- Stopping to assess the situation multiple times. Getting out to walk an obstacle and assess risks is critical for me. This isn’t popular with many in the wheeling crowd, but that doesn’t matter to me.
- Evacuating my vehicle for passenger safety but also for weight reduction. I briefly considered further shedding weight by removing the trees and snow on the roof and dumping the contents of the vehicle. I frequently remove the 2nd and 3rd row seats on long solo trips so the thought of dragging those down the trail on a tarp occurred to me.
- Building trust and clearly communicating my initial concerns and then eventual plan with the other drivers. Randy shared with me this week: “The part that has stuck out for me was when you said ‘I don’t feel safe’. I knew right then that we were in a different mode…no longer a blazing adventure …but time to immediately stop, assess, and have a safety plan. Those words carried a TON of meaning for me.”
- Using the available tools at hand. My friend Dan Griffin of Three Amigos Offroad tells me “You don’t always have what you want..but you do always have what you need.” I don’t know where he stole that nugget from but I’m using it from here on out.
The only thing that I have thought about doing different (aside from the things mentioned as mistakes above) would be:
- Simply not bringing my family out into an environment that possibly be dangerous. But then again, I refuse to live in fear of the unknown and I’m raising my boys to be confident, self-aware and armed with knowledge. My family loves recreating in the outdoors and we look forward to this outing every year. It’s become a cherished tradition for my family.
- I could have asked everyone to air down for additional traction as soon as I made my initial Stuck Assessment.
- We could have turned to the recovery boards earlier and had everyone use them. I’m pretty sure we had 3–4 sets among the group.
- We could have all brought chains along and used them. Chains seem to be less and less popular as the quality of off road tires increase. …and then there’s the debate on airing down and floating over the snow vs digging through it with chains. In the conditions we encountered, it’s clear that chains would have been a big help. It may have been an annoyance to mount chains for 2–3 miles of travel but it would have negated the dangerous situation we encountered. My LC has the same challenge with chains that all IFS vehicles do. I’m going to need to run wheel spacers in order to mount proper off road rated chains in the future.
In closing, I hope this simple story helps others be more thoughtful of themselves, their passengers, their pets, and their friends with them out in the trail. Remembering that even small increases in the amount of snow or change in grade can drastically increase traction. If you have suggestions on what I may have missed in my assessment, please leave a comment, or feel free to send me a private message.
Thanks for reading.
Here are the links to Bob Wohler’s book that I mentioned previously and to the recovery boards that saved my bacon. …and here’s a link to my larger set of gear lists on Kit.co.
UPDATE 12/21: I sent Bob Wohlers a note about my story and remembering to use the STOPA concept. Here’s his response:
Good read Matthew… Many (MANY) lessons in your piece. Thanks for the link to my book. By my count and experience, snow has about 5 characters — crunchy, slushy, dry powdery, wet/heavy, icy. Each has to be driven differently in my opinion. When I travel to the type of trail you describe, I ALWAYS carry two pairs of chains; one for EACH tire. I don’t carry heavy chains (like V-Bar); I don’t think they are needed off-road (unless you are driving a trail like the Dalton Hwy above the Arctic Circle). I use the Diamond Chains from TireChain.Com off-road. They go on without moving the vehicle; very important when in the conditions you describe. Also, you should only use chains off-road with completely aired up tires. And yes, depending on the vehicle, you may need tire spacers to make room for chains. My 2 cents.
Bob is an excellent off-road instructor. I have come across many in my years of exploring and off road driving and I enjoy both refreshing my memory and learning new things whenever the opportunity arises. I encourage all to take a course on occasion or help teach a ‘basics’ course to ‘newbies.’ When you prepare yourself to teach others, you ingrain information deeper into your memory.
I’ve now got both wheel spacers and two sets of rugged chains on order to correctly outfit future outings in the snow.
Content credits:
Photos: Aaron Underahl, Paolo Polla, Meagan Mangus, Matthew Mangus, Shahin Alvandi
Video: Aaron Underahl
About the Author: Matthew Mangus is an accomplished outdoorsman with almost 50 years of experience exploring and recreating in the outdoors but is still learning new things every day. Matthew serves as the Creative Director for mangai.rollin, an experiential and content marketing agency that works and plays in the automotive, outdoor and vices industries.
