Danny, I'm glad to hear you made it down safely both times and that we haven't scared you off. I'm sorry we didn't make it over the hill to help you out last night, but with all the trouble you guys had going down, it sounds like it may be a good thing. George is the hero of the day!!
Xmas Tree Run
- Thread starter pappy
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
The trail was indeed rutted and eroded worse than I had ever seen it. Once we got past the spot where the FJ Cruiser was jammed up (and by then frozen in) we made smooth sailing over the pass to Rory's rig. After trying one thing after another, we decided to start down the mountain at about 4:30. Other than a mud bog at the bottom, we did pretty well. Ali and Rory made a good "trail pulling the dead 80" team. I just got home a few minutes ago. Rory, Ali and Onur were still at Walatowa waiting on a tow truck.
Thanks for everybody's help - here's a link on it:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=193157
Thanks for everybody's help - here's a link on it:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=193157
- Thread starter
- #103
We are starting to trickle into our homes. Epic, ya, Graham, that's the word.
I must say that Danny is a trooper. We all need to thank him for giving us this opportunity to practice some serious extraction skills. You can join us any time. And Danny, I mean this in only the nicest way ...
Welcome to MUD!
Da' Snow'Rat
I must say that Danny is a trooper. We all need to thank him for giving us this opportunity to practice some serious extraction skills. You can join us any time. And Danny, I mean this in only the nicest way ...
Welcome to MUD!
Da' Snow'Rat
- Thread starter
- #104
A few pics.
Just got back. Drained, cold and tired.
But it was a great day with great people!
Rory's truck is at Walatowa for a tow tomorrow. Rory did an incredible job guiding the 80 down with no power steering (though he has serious 40 experience....;p ) and him and I both worked the e-brake to slow the truck down and to use it to get around corners and over the berms.
Ali lead the truck back and did an epic job keeping a good pace and getting us through that massive mud mess at the end of the trail before we hit the pavement.
Going to bed. More tomorrow.
-o-
But it was a great day with great people!
Rory's truck is at Walatowa for a tow tomorrow. Rory did an incredible job guiding the 80 down with no power steering (though he has serious 40 experience....;p ) and him and I both worked the e-brake to slow the truck down and to use it to get around corners and over the berms.
Ali lead the truck back and did an epic job keeping a good pace and getting us through that massive mud mess at the end of the trail before we hit the pavement.
Going to bed. More tomorrow.
-o-
I wish I had the energy to feed Graham's curiosity. The short: Power steering is what makes the long wheel base of the 80 manageable. And heat is even better. I am still fighting a head cold, and all this is very foggy at best.
Big thanks to Mike and Evan for involving themselves with this. Jon and Steve deserve another big thanks for knowing what waited for us but they still answered the call.
and to think my introduction the HDC was the Wheels Museum Event...
Big thanks to Mike and Evan for involving themselves with this. Jon and Steve deserve another big thanks for knowing what waited for us but they still answered the call.
and to think my introduction the HDC was the Wheels Museum Event...
- Thread starter
- #108
Damn, that is funny.
I have some pics from the extractions on Sunday but it might be tonight before I get time to post them.
-Mike-
alia176
SILVER Star
This turned out to be a well orchestrated, educational recovery operation. Safety was foremost on everyone's mind and communication was excellent between all of us. A good job to everyone for a job well done. I think we learned quite a bit from this recovery operation as well as the whole event and I'm predicting some changes on how we proceed forward for these types of snow runs in the future. Let's leave that discussion for another thread!
The day started out at 6am when I received a phone message from Graham stating the impending recovery operation. After hitting "replay" on the machine for about five times, I went over to this thread and understood what has happened. Onur and I talked on the phone and I asked him to be the single source of communication for all of us. He did a great job with this and kept everyone informed via phone/text and this thread. Kudos to Onur who was running on few hours of sleep if any!
By 10am we parted the North Portal with four vehicles and enough comm and rescue equipment to rescue the entire Swedish bikini team (all 14 of them) if they were to have crashed on the Jemez The wife made me three thermos of sweet tea, water, four sandwiches, packed a bottle of Advil, snacks and water to last us the entire day.
We got to the trail head and the weather was fantastic; quite different from yesterday!
After airing down and chaining up,
We headed up the hill to find this poor, cold and somewhat scared FJC stuck in a crevasse
Yes, it was a crevasse
She was listing on the passenger side, resting primarily on the sliders which saved the body sans a scratch on the bumper.
In order to pull her out downhill, she'd have to go on a narrow path. Just for insurance, we decided to fill in the huge rut on the driver side of the path by pulling out an old stump.
Then we found a 35' fallen down tree that was delimbed and pulled into the rut
using my tug vehicle with Onur manning the winch cable rewinding operation and giving me signals
Since the log was frozen, it had to be dislodged
then it was winched and rolled into position
The day started out at 6am when I received a phone message from Graham stating the impending recovery operation. After hitting "replay" on the machine for about five times, I went over to this thread and understood what has happened. Onur and I talked on the phone and I asked him to be the single source of communication for all of us. He did a great job with this and kept everyone informed via phone/text and this thread. Kudos to Onur who was running on few hours of sleep if any!
By 10am we parted the North Portal with four vehicles and enough comm and rescue equipment to rescue the entire Swedish bikini team (all 14 of them) if they were to have crashed on the Jemez
The wife made me three thermos of sweet tea, water, four sandwiches, packed a bottle of Advil, snacks and water to last us the entire day.We got to the trail head and the weather was fantastic; quite different from yesterday!
After airing down and chaining up,
We headed up the hill to find this poor, cold and somewhat scared FJC stuck in a crevasse
Yes, it was a crevasse
She was listing on the passenger side, resting primarily on the sliders which saved the body sans a scratch on the bumper.
In order to pull her out downhill, she'd have to go on a narrow path. Just for insurance, we decided to fill in the huge rut on the driver side of the path by pulling out an old stump.
Then we found a 35' fallen down tree that was delimbed and pulled into the rut
using my tug vehicle with Onur manning the winch cable rewinding operation and giving me signals
Since the log was frozen, it had to be dislodged
then it was winched and rolled into position
alia176
SILVER Star
continues:
Afterward, the FJC was winched out of the hole and it was guided down carefully. Danny did a great job to listening his spotter. Sorry no pic!
This was the hole that Danny fell into
Evan helped Danny off the mountain and headed home while we headed up the hill to Rory's stranded 80 about 1.5 miles away.
I went up the hill the first then guided Mike up the same narrow path
When we arrived, we saw this cold, hungry and a lonely 80 covered in snow (but the wipers were raised up to prevent freezing to the windshield!).
Triage
Onur trying to emulate his mentor by posing similarly under the hood (Cruise moab joke)
This is where my pics end and hopefully someone else can post some more.
Afterward, the FJC was winched out of the hole and it was guided down carefully. Danny did a great job to listening his spotter. Sorry no pic!
This was the hole that Danny fell into
Evan helped Danny off the mountain and headed home while we headed up the hill to Rory's stranded 80 about 1.5 miles away.
I went up the hill the first then guided Mike up the same narrow path
When we arrived, we saw this cold, hungry and a lonely 80 covered in snow (but the wipers were raised up to prevent freezing to the windshield!).
Triage
Onur trying to emulate his mentor by posing similarly under the hood (Cruise moab joke)
This is where my pics end and hopefully someone else can post some more.
- Thread starter
- #112
It was nice having the fresh meat out there ... though I know Mike and Onur were up as late as the rest of us the night before. We could not have had more capable vehicles out there ... three 80's with 35's, winches, lockers, and one on chains.
Last edited:
And to give this image some scale, Onur stands 6'5" in his bare feet. He was wearing boots in this picture.
-Mike-
-Mike-
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #114
I must admit that yesterday could not have gone any smoother. Every decission we made was right on. No vehicle damage occured during the extractions or recovery. Nobody was seriously hurt. Everybody had a great time.
and 
to the rescue team!
P.S. - I ordered tire chains this morning. They made a significant difference. Thanks Steve!
and to the rescue team!P.S. - I ordered tire chains this morning. They made a significant difference. Thanks Steve!
Here are some pictures from the good part of the run. Not sure if it was covered yet, but we had a total of ten vehicles.
four 40's (David, George, Steve and Ben)
one 4Runner (Jon)
one Tacoma (Dave)
two 80's (Dan and Rory)
one 100 (Ron)
one FJ (Danny)
The day started out with no expectation of snow. It was cold but no moisture. That changed as we progressed towards the higher elevations. Soon there was snow everywhere. It was a fun trail run with obstacles that were entertaining but not too scary.
four 40's (David, George, Steve and Ben)
one 4Runner (Jon)
one Tacoma (Dave)
two 80's (Dan and Rory)
one 100 (Ron)
one FJ (Danny)
The day started out with no expectation of snow. It was cold but no moisture. That changed as we progressed towards the higher elevations. Soon there was snow everywhere. It was a fun trail run with obstacles that were entertaining but not too scary.
Everyone knows that I tend to make jokes about just about everything. Now, I would like to be serious for a few minutes.
I agree that everyone involved with these 2 extractions did a great job and really stepped up. That being said, I really, really appreciate Onur's efforts last weekend. He got the first call from me after Dan called me around 11PM. Onur was still at work when I called. Once the situation became a little more clear, Onur really took the bull by the horns. He was over at Dan's until 2:30AM Sunday morning, went home to grab a couple of hours sleep and was back making phone calls and organizing everyone around 6AM. He told each of us what to bring, who to pick up, where to be, and when to be there. He was probably the last one to get home last night. Amazing. No food all day. Caffine and cigarettes seemed to keep him going strong. Pure adrenaline. :tipofthehat:
Dan was behind the scenes, yet still actively participating all day. There were probably others because the cell phones were all being used once we got back in cell phone range. Evan gave up most of his birthday to help. Jon, Steve, & Rory were there all day on Saturday and back again on Sunday. Ali has a well prepared truck and he seemed to have everything (EVERYTHING!) handy when it was needed.
Danny will be a great addition to the club and I really hope he is serious when he says he wants to join. I promised him that most club outings will be less dramatic. He seemed disappointed when I told him that. (Had to inject a little humour... )
-Mike-
- Thread starter
- #117
Who? You? Kid around?
Onur did a great job with coordination. I am grateful that you told him not to call until 7am. Oh, and Mike is not kidding. None of us had lunch, and Onur was fueled by cigarettes.
I guess Ali kept it a secret that Michele packed him four sandwiches and snacks.
And doesn't Onur normally function on cigarettes and caffeine?
i'm a believer
This was only my third run with the group (with the other two being fun, but uneventful trips to the Puerco), and I have only attended two meetings since I joined the group in September. This trip definitely affirmed that I made a great choice joining this group.
The "no man left behind" attitude on Saturday and yesterday's adventure is amazing. All of you joining in to go help not Danny, even though no one had even met him until Saturday morning was outstanding. Helping Rory was great too (don't want to leave that out), but a little more "expected" considering he's already a close friend.
I figured we would be back around 4/5ish, and had relayed this to Yvette when I would be home. Up until about 2, when Dan got stuck, this seemed about accurate, however, this ended up being when all the "fun" started. At first she was a little mad that I was late, then it turned to worry since I hadn't called in to tell her I was ok. By 9, she had called the Jemez Pueblo police to notify someone to keep a look out for us. She even posted a few posts here on the forum to see if anyone "was in the know." I finally reached her around 10am when we got back to pavement, and she called the Jemez police to notifying them we were ok. I get the feeling, that if by midnight, she hadn't received an all clear, we would have been local TV stars like Onur.
So, what did we learn?
1.) Although she will worry next time I am late, I don't think it will be to the extent as at was this time, knowing I am in good hands with the group.
2.) I should have asked Dan to relay a message when he got back to town.
3.) HAM!!!! I think I may have convinced Yvette that she should get a Ham license, and we can get some new ham gear (home station for her, and the mobile in the cruiser for me) for reliable communication.
4.) I need sliders. Ok, I already knew this, but re-affirmed it (see pics in next post).
5.) I really love my cruiser. I know it will take me anywhere I am willing to go. Even more so when I have more protection, and a greater "feel" for it.
This was only my third run with the group (with the other two being fun, but uneventful trips to the Puerco), and I have only attended two meetings since I joined the group in September. This trip definitely affirmed that I made a great choice joining this group.
The "no man left behind" attitude on Saturday and yesterday's adventure is amazing. All of you joining in to go help not Danny, even though no one had even met him until Saturday morning was outstanding. Helping Rory was great too (don't want to leave that out), but a little more "expected" considering he's already a close friend.
I figured we would be back around 4/5ish, and had relayed this to Yvette when I would be home. Up until about 2, when Dan got stuck, this seemed about accurate, however, this ended up being when all the "fun" started. At first she was a little mad that I was late, then it turned to worry since I hadn't called in to tell her I was ok. By 9, she had called the Jemez Pueblo police to notify someone to keep a look out for us. She even posted a few posts here on the forum to see if anyone "was in the know." I finally reached her around 10am when we got back to pavement, and she called the Jemez police to notifying them we were ok. I get the feeling, that if by midnight, she hadn't received an all clear, we would have been local TV stars like Onur.
So, what did we learn?
1.) Although she will worry next time I am late, I don't think it will be to the extent as at was this time, knowing I am in good hands with the group.
2.) I should have asked Dan to relay a message when he got back to town.
3.) HAM!!!! I think I may have convinced Yvette that she should get a Ham license, and we can get some new ham gear (home station for her, and the mobile in the cruiser for me) for reliable communication.
4.) I need sliders. Ok, I already knew this, but re-affirmed it (see pics in next post).
5.) I really love my cruiser. I know it will take me anywhere I am willing to go. Even more so when I have more protection, and a greater "feel" for it.
- Thread starter
- #120
It wasn't because we didn't have food ... we were all prepared. We just didn't take the time to eat.
