Subaru Outback stuck in snow

Friday, March 28th, 2025, at 10:54 a.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Oregon. The requester, Leah Tucker, submitted the following information: “I’m stuck in some old snow/ice. I’m kind of high-centered on a chunk of ice. The trail is muddy. I’m in a Subaru Outback with AWD but the back tires won’t engage and the front ones can’t get traction. I think a good tug from the rear should set it free. There’s a trail off of the main road and I’m just a little ways down that. / I’m with the vehicle / I can help cover the cost of fuel.”

Our administrator, Al Fontan, contacted the requester and verified the contact information provided, GPS location, and current situation before sending the request to local volunteers. In this particular recovery, we contacted volunteers within a 10-mile radius.

From the group of contact volunteers we had John Stone taking over the recovery. John is a pretty active volunteer in the area with a lot of experience.

He drove to the scene, and by 3 p.m. the vehicle was free. We didn’t get any photos on this recovery, but based on the lobby notes, this recovery was a bit of a challenge, specially since John didn’t have the vehicle he usually drives, a Chevy Colorado, but rather this time he was on a Chevy 2500 HD Silverado Crew Cab, a much heavier and longer vehicle. Regardless of that John managed to recovery Leah.

John notes:

She went in the night before when the ground was nice and frozen, and her car went right over everything. When she tried to leave in the morning her car sunk in. I got her loose with toe strap, and she put the metal down and got herself the rest of the way out.

We want to thank John for such an amazing job with this offroad recovery in Oregon. We truly appreciate his help in this area.

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