Saturday, January 24th, 2026, at 9:25 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Oregon. The requester, Ethan Jerram, submitted the following information: “Got stuck in a bank almost up Mount Defiance (NF 2821000) in a 5th Gen Toyota 4Runner. Sunk into a bank trying to back down from the peak. A couple quads tried to recover with winches, but need a bigger winch and rig with more weight. Left it overnight as it was getting too dark and cold to safely recover tonight. Snow on the drive up was not very deep, but got stuck in a bank on an incline and need to be winched uphill as there are trees directly behind me. Hoping to recover tomorrow (Sunday, January 25). Will give more details on location and best way up / I’m not 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.
Ethan, contacted us around half hour after midnight, he requested we organize the search for volunteers for early in the morning but he also told us he already place a request with a local group.
In the morning, he let me know he found a couple volunteers from this group who offered help. For this reason we didn’t get to share this with our volunteers, but stayed in touch with Ethan to make sure he got out.
He later sent us a few photos of the recovery and also the names of the volunteers who helped him. The two volunteers involved were Conrad Faganello and Zaquary Lane. Awesome job guys!.
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