well on wednesday my girlfriend and i decided to go have fun up in the new powder. there was about 3 feet of fresh snow, and it was still snowing. thinking to myself "i wont get stuck, i have a winch" i started down a forest road, plowing the snow away with the bumper. i made it about 250 yards before the snow in front of me piled up so much that i couldnt go any further, so we got out and had fun in the snow.


of course when we tried to leave, i was stuck. so im happy because i get to use the winch. i run the cable under the truck like ive done a few times before to pull myself backwards, but this time the cable snapped.



so no winch, 250 yards of road with 3 feet of snow on it, and its getting dark and snowing more. we cant dig it out with the puny fold up shovel i have, so we call my friend with a reciever winch. an hour later he shows up, but slides off the road before he can even get to me. he starts to freak out and we give up on my rig and spend the next 4 hours getting him out of there. i figured i wouldnt be seeing my 4runner til spring with the way the storms are supposed to be dumping snow for the next week. this was the last i saw it that night.

so the next morning a couple of my friends and i headed up in my friends dodge cummins 2500 with shovels, a come-along, chain and tow straps. when they saw where the 4runner was they thought it was a lost cause, but i was determined to get it out.


after 7 hours of constant digging, we made it to the road. we had to get the dodge to pull me once we got close to it, then he managed to get stuck and we had to call up another friend to pull him out.
the lesson learned from this: NEVER completely rely on your winch!!!

 

Nice pics....that definitely could have turned out worse, coulda' been better too.

awesome amount of snow too...I like the 1st 2 pics that you "plowed".

 

Lol that picture of your truck in the snow just sitting there before you guys started digging must've been such a sad moment... hey atleast you got out, so thats good. I would've felt so damn guilty for leaving my truck in the snow :/ haha winching from under your truck is also not the safest thing... going from the front allllll the way out the back is a very bad pulling angle, which resulted in your cable breaking heh

Did you get the winch cable fixed?

 

haha yeah it was so cool plowing through that stuff, im just glad everything turned out the way it did.
yep winching underneath isnt the best thing to do, but it was my only hope lol. not yet the cable is on a winch at the offroad shop, theyre gonna put the winch on the jeep then take off all the wire and put synthetic rope on it. so i gotta wait until they do that.
oh and thanks so much mike for offering to come up and help dig that thing out. if something like that ever happens to you ill be there to help! same goes to you dark fariytales and 85toy and whoever else wanted to help!

 

haha no biggie. All I have is a shovel though. Keith ( dark_fairytailes ) would've been a much better help since he has the tires to deal with snow... im still on slicks. We all just didn't want you leaving your truck out there for a month

 

lol i would have been so pissed, i would be driving my moms rav4 for so long haha. i bet theres another 2 feet of snow there by now, the dang thing would have been almost buried

 

I was getting preped. if i got a pm to come south to pull you out. Its good to see you succeeded. how much digging did you have to do?

I noticed when i read the thead, where you said you could not go any further due to plowing the snow. then you mentioned at the point you decided to get out and enjoy the snow. you should have backed up so the now did not freeze to your bumper suspension or frame. it was at that point where you let the snow freeze to your runner that you became stuck, lol.

WE ALL HAVE LEARNED LESSONS THE HARD WAY. IT MAKES US BETTER PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE.

 

might try airing down all 4 tires next time? Might of gotten out on your own accord ?

 

one reason i rather have my winch on portable cradle

 

wow, that's is a butt load of snow! See if you'd had three or four of other rigs with you...

 

wow man , that is alot of snow your lucky to have been able to get some people out there ..
and now i think i need to carry some long chain to use with the high lift ..

 

All I can say is DAMN!!! That is some deep snow! I'm glad you all got out ok and got back to the rig to rescue it. That first pic of your lady in the snow is a great one.

 

is that up in long barn? I am in sonora as well and the snow was great this last week.

 

dude it was a ton of digging...amost 200 yards of digging out 3 feet of snow. i was exausted! but if it wasnt for that it would probably still be there, i dont think i would be able to even find it it would just be a little bump under the snow.

I aired down my tires when i got it out of there. im stupid for not trying that in the first place...well im stupid for going down there in the first place lol

yep about 5 minutes up the hill from long barn. the snow was so good i just couldnt resist going out in it

 

Sweet, last winter a guy in an Isuzu got his junk stuck getting a xmas tree, he got stuck right before the big snow started falling. NW Wheelers mounted a rescue. took several buggies but they got it out. Glad you go out.

 

dude that sucks but man thats a lot of snow and glad you got out and didnt get eaten by the Abominable SnowMonster ha ha jk

 

I also enjoy solo winter wheeling, and I don't have a winch. I don't bash real deep snow, but I still get stuck from time to time, especially in off-camber situations where one or both downhill tires start sliding off the trial, and the more I try to drive back up onto the trial, the farther I slide into deeper and deeper snow. Since I don't have a winch and often have no cell service to call a willing buddy, I need to have a backup plan which no one in this thread has mentioned yet.

I carry a set of Rud Grip 4X4 chains. These chains are so thick and rugged, that I don't drive over 10 miles per hour with them on. When I'm solo, I try not to use the chains UNTIL I get stuck, so I always have them as the backup. These chains have a diamond pattern and are installed right where the rig sits, mired in four holes. Sometimes a little digging is necessary to clear some space for the chain around the bottom part of the tire. Once the chains are installed (20-30 minutes for all four tires), I drive out of the stuck like a little tank. (NOTE: The owner's manual says not use chains on the front end, so do so at your own discretion.)

My backup to the backup plan is a set of snowshoes and a pack with winter survival gear, which I haven't had to use yet, except by choice.

 

The last time I got stuck I was about to chain up when a couple of fully chained and locked toyota pickups came cruising down a side road. They pulled me out and I decided to take the long way home which was about a half mile further. I always carry a full set of chains for winter wheeling. Sand or kitty litter works too if you get enough piled up to get swept under the tires as they spin. Branches and brush work too.