Stuck in 2-5 feet of snow

On Tuesday, January 14th, 2025, at 9:13 a.m. (PT), We received a request for assistance with an off-road recovery in Oregon. The requester, Tim Sullivan, provided the following information: “I am currently stuck in 2 to 5 feet of snow with one vehicle. There are three vehicles in total: a Tundra 4WD located a mile before the Opine Mountain Observatory, and a Ford F-150 4WD and a Jeep at the observatory viewpoint. I am with the vehicle.”

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 25-mile radius.

No more than five minutes after releasing the request to local volunteers, we had two step up to assist: Jacob Carson and John Stone.

The recovery was scheduled for the afternoon when both volunteers were available. At that time, John Stone reached out to the requester to confirm their situation. Upon learning they still needed help, he and Jacob mobilized immediately.

By 7:30 p.m., John reported that the recovery was successfully completed—a total of six vehicles were recovered. Jacob and John also shared a few photos and notes, which we include below.

From John

“I arrived at the scene to find the Tundra halfway off the road. I let everyone know the plan and what I expected from them to keep the recovery safe. We set up a strap and ratchet jack on the front so that when I pulled the truck backward, the front would be lifted onto the road instead of sliding down further. We successfully got the Tundra out and backed it down the road far enough so Jacob or anyone else could drive past.

By the time I returned to the spot where the Tundra had been stuck, the F-250— which wasn’t originally stuck— was now in an even worse position. One wheel was nearly off the ground, and the entire front end was off the road, pointing downhill. I decided to wait for Jacob to arrive before attempting to recover the newly stuck white F-250.

We headed a couple of miles up the road, where the F-150 and Jeep Cherokee were stuck. I pulled the F-150 onto the road, unhooked, and within just a few feet, he was stuck again. I gave him a few pointers, and we managed to get him back down the road a little. Next was the Jeep, which was about 10 feet off the road in 3–4 feet of deep snow. I pulled him backward about 20 feet, but the angle was off, and gravity wouldn’t let us get him up onto the road. Thankfully, this was when Jacob arrived with the winch. Using a tree to get the right angle, he was able to pull the Jeep onto the road.

We then caravanned down to the F-250. Jacob buried himself as an anchor to winch it backward. The front anchor wasn’t needed again, so the recovery took a bit longer. We had to back the trucks down the hill because their tires couldn’t find traction once they left the packed ruts. A couple of times, we had to pull the reversing trucks back onto the road. Once we had enough room, Jacob used his winch to turn the trucks around.”

From Jacob

“I only managed to snap a couple of photos at the end, but it was quite the adventure!

A good tip for anyone heading into the snow—lower your air pressure for better traction.

This was really just a case of people being unprepared and going places they shouldn’t. From what I could tell, one person got stuck alone, and the others ended up in trouble while trying to help. A few tugs and some winching later, and everyone was back on track.

Luckily, another guy got there first, and he knew what he was doing, so I let him take the lead. Everything worked out fine in the end!

Oh, and if you’re writing about this, feel free to mention that I’m a member of the Deschutes County 4 Wheelers!“

We want to thank both John and Jacob—you were amazing! Fantastic job, both of you!

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