Because we can all use some good news and a happy-ending, here is this week’s: the Jeep Wrangler that ended up stuck on a mountain ridge in California, on a narrow dirtbike / hiking trail has been rescued.
The recovery mission was as insane as what it must’ve been to get it up there in the first place.
The mostly-stock Jeep Wrangler is probably the most famous car on the internet this week, after photos of its predicament were posted to several offroading Facebook groups earlier this week. No one knew what the driver had in mind when he dared cross the Razor Ridge outside of Loma Linda in California, but one thing was clear: halfway on the trail, he abandoned the vehicle after it became stuck, halfway hanging off into a deep ravine.
At the time the photos came out, theories about how this may have started were wild. Many believed the Wrangler must’ve been stolen or had been taken there for insurance fraud. Most just laughed off the driver’s foolishness and recklessness, and joked about the costs he will incur getting a helicopter to rescue the vehicle.
No chopper was needed after all. A local Jeep group, Jalados 4x4, offered to get the Wrangler out, and the result was an insane 20-minute rescue that involved heavy manpower, winches, straps and a lot of hey-ho-ing – and a very brave man to get behind the wheel and follow the team’s exact instructions until he was able to back it up again to solid (and less narrow) ground.
You can see the tense, insane recovery in the video at the bottom of the page. Of note is the fact that the person involved in the recovery is the same one who first posted the photos of the stuck Wrangler to Facebook (Jun Castro).
And here’s another, very interesting layer to the story: according to The Drive, before the SoCal rescue group came into the picture, Ford contacted the owner of the Jeep, identified as one Ricky Barba, to offer recovery free of charge. “We offered to help, and are glad the owner was able to safely recover their vehicle from the trail,” a Ford spokesperson confirms for the media outlet.
Apparently, Ford wanted to send in a helicopter and was planning to foot the bill for the job. Barba confirms for The Drive that Ford was in contact, with the media outlet speculating Ford might have had plans to turn this into an advert-style short film for the Bronco. Because the chance to rescue a Jeep with a helicopter and Broncos would have been marketing heaven.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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