Freeride
Well-Known Member
Saturday we headed up Beckler River Road out of Skykomish. We took the Johnson Ridge trail and started up into the white stuff. The snow was really nice and powdery and the weather was clear and cold.
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Near the top of the ridge was this enormous snow bowl that dropped steeply hundreds of feet down to the road below. Here a group of guys caught up to us and took the plunge, driving their rigs straight over the edge and down into the bowl! Kirk in his S&N buggy went first, followed by Brian in his built TJ, and then another guy in his nice TJ. It was pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen off-road!
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Here's a real nice TJ/buggy thing at the bottom of the bowl. Later in the day he rolled it down the bowl and tweaked it pretty bad. No injuries though thankfully.
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Here's as far as we got. I wasn't able to push the last 100 yards to the end of the trail, but Kirk in his buggy blasted through to the end.
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Here's the view of the bowl from the bottom. I estimate it was 300-500' vertical elevation change.
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Coming back down off the mountian, things got a little interesting near the bottom. I was clipping along in 4H probably around 25 mph. We came around a corner and I started to slide and managed to come to a stop halfway down off the road on a little embankment. Rather than wait for a strap to steady me, I opted to attempt to drive out and promptly flopped it over the embankment on it's side. :redneck: It felt like it landed hard, but everything was secured inside and we were belted in tightly. We dangled until I managed to unbuckle myself and help my wife unbuckle and climb out. We had a pretty good laugh as no one was hurt, and the TJ came through largely unscathed.
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While we were asessing the situation, Will and Devon came walking down the road (no Jeep in sight). They had slid off the road just a few corners back, but their situation was much worse. They slid off and over a steep edge 60-75' down the side of the mountain and rolled into the trees below. Thankfully they didn't have a scratch on them. We hurried to get my Jeep back on tires so we could go back to Will's Jeep. Josh and Drew hooked winches and straps to my frame and pulled me back onto tires. The Jeep was only on it's side for a few minutes, so after a quick check, I fired it and cooked all the oil out of the cylinders.
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We got to Will's YJ and it was WAY down in the trees laying on it's side, with the nose pointing downhill. It looked awful.
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I ran my cable down and swung it around so that it was pointing uphill. Then Josh ran his cable down from the side and flipped the Jeep back on tires. There was a huge log blocking Will's Jeep from being winched uphill and out. Drew ran his cable down an dragged the log sideways out of the way. After pulling the plugs and cranking the oil out of the cylinders, and tearing the fan shroud out of the way Will fired his Jeep and got it running.
I anchored the rear of my Jeep to a huge tree and double-lined my 8274 down to Will's Jeep, through a snatchblock and back up to my Jeep. We started pulling and pulled it up and out without a hitch. I love my 8274 and will never run any other winch. That thing pulls HARD and never gave up.
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Safe recovery accomplished. Considering as bad as it could have been, the whole recovery process couldn't have gone smoother. Will's Jeep checked out mechanically fine and he drove it home with the smashed in hood and fenders.
Anyone have a YJ hood? We'll take just about anything, just needs to be CHEAP!
Near the top of the ridge was this enormous snow bowl that dropped steeply hundreds of feet down to the road below. Here a group of guys caught up to us and took the plunge, driving their rigs straight over the edge and down into the bowl! Kirk in his S&N buggy went first, followed by Brian in his built TJ, and then another guy in his nice TJ. It was pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen off-road!
Here's a real nice TJ/buggy thing at the bottom of the bowl. Later in the day he rolled it down the bowl and tweaked it pretty bad. No injuries though thankfully.
Here's as far as we got. I wasn't able to push the last 100 yards to the end of the trail, but Kirk in his buggy blasted through to the end.
Here's the view of the bowl from the bottom. I estimate it was 300-500' vertical elevation change.
Coming back down off the mountian, things got a little interesting near the bottom. I was clipping along in 4H probably around 25 mph. We came around a corner and I started to slide and managed to come to a stop halfway down off the road on a little embankment. Rather than wait for a strap to steady me, I opted to attempt to drive out and promptly flopped it over the embankment on it's side. :redneck: It felt like it landed hard, but everything was secured inside and we were belted in tightly. We dangled until I managed to unbuckle myself and help my wife unbuckle and climb out. We had a pretty good laugh as no one was hurt, and the TJ came through largely unscathed.
While we were asessing the situation, Will and Devon came walking down the road (no Jeep in sight). They had slid off the road just a few corners back, but their situation was much worse. They slid off and over a steep edge 60-75' down the side of the mountain and rolled into the trees below. Thankfully they didn't have a scratch on them. We hurried to get my Jeep back on tires so we could go back to Will's Jeep. Josh and Drew hooked winches and straps to my frame and pulled me back onto tires. The Jeep was only on it's side for a few minutes, so after a quick check, I fired it and cooked all the oil out of the cylinders.
We got to Will's YJ and it was WAY down in the trees laying on it's side, with the nose pointing downhill. It looked awful.
I ran my cable down and swung it around so that it was pointing uphill. Then Josh ran his cable down from the side and flipped the Jeep back on tires. There was a huge log blocking Will's Jeep from being winched uphill and out. Drew ran his cable down an dragged the log sideways out of the way. After pulling the plugs and cranking the oil out of the cylinders, and tearing the fan shroud out of the way Will fired his Jeep and got it running.
I anchored the rear of my Jeep to a huge tree and double-lined my 8274 down to Will's Jeep, through a snatchblock and back up to my Jeep. We started pulling and pulled it up and out without a hitch. I love my 8274 and will never run any other winch. That thing pulls HARD and never gave up.
Safe recovery accomplished. Considering as bad as it could have been, the whole recovery process couldn't have gone smoother. Will's Jeep checked out mechanically fine and he drove it home with the smashed in hood and fenders.
Anyone have a YJ hood? We'll take just about anything, just needs to be CHEAP!
