Getting a wrecked Jeep up 400 feet of cliffs and crazy terrain. 

If it was a Toyota Hilux it probably would.

@@ssgoblin Agreed

Watching the video this was my first thought on those ledges.

We had the conversation a couple of times. Ultimately we were concerned we'd end up with the same problem with the exposed roll-bars if we flipped it. Fortunately the geology on the canyon walls becomes more forgiving as you climb higher...more sand/rock that has some give to it.

It is an amazing place. Enjoy the trip!

Thank you! We agree….plenty of learning all around

Thank you. Merus is fortunate to be supported by such an exceptional community

Thanks. We love the community here. Even folks from a visiting offroad club brought food down for dinner.

Thinking about mounting one of the doors in the rec center!

This was the third Jeep he sent off a cliff this month.

@@C0braChicken2 dang

The whole dash was smashed in and we couldn’t get to the override pull. We got the 4 low lever into neutral but it wouldn’t release the gears. Must have been damaged in the wreck.

North Texas...sadly (as the insurance company found out) there aren't two two truck operators willing to do this kind of work

I wondered the same thing.

Yes...discussed but ultimately discarded out of concern for how dry the area around the vehicle was. A fire down there would have been devastating. Too far into the process we also thought about dropping the driveshafts to free the wheels up. In hindsight we should have while we had it on the ground

Steel cable loads energy, synthetic doesn’t. Much much safer with synthetic. That’s why you don’t see steel cable being marketed anymore and most parks, like us, don’t allow steel cable to be used for recoveries. Yes the abrasion is hard on the synthetic and there’s gear that needs to be replaced but it’s still the way to go for safety.

The synthetic ropes and straps actually came out of it in pretty good shape. The strap that broke was one of dubious origin and age something we pressed into service that clearly wasn't up to the task. Personally I'd rather risk an abraded synthetic rope than a steel cable whipping through the air. I'll also acknowledge that most of our recoveries in the canyon aren't this extreme.

@@merusadventurenot allowing steel cable in a situation where the line will be rubbing against abrasive surfaces is flat out stupid. I’m a huge fan of synthetic, but steel still has its place.

@@CaseyLaDelle Agreed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. All that synthetic line with zero chafe gear dragging over the edge of that cliff should be replaced or there could be big problems the next time it is used.

Still working on it....the debris field must be 400 yards long.

Yes luck played a part in people not getting hurt on this one

@@jasonrshi Yes lucky we were smart enough to run multiple lines to different rigging points so no single (or even multiple) failure would cause a catastrophic accident. Just pure dumb luck we spent hours planning it

We’ve got this really cool 50 year old farm truck sitting in a field….some day we’ll put it back to work

You’re right. It is easy to armchair quarterback and you’re quite good at it. Cheers

@@merusadventure learn some lessons before you get someone hurt. There was a lot of stupid in this video

We learned a lot in this process. Cheers armchair.

The insurance company did want it back and they did pay for the recovery. We are pretty adamant about preserving the natural habitat in the park. You won't come here and find trash, unauthorized roads or people's left over junk. You will find some of the most amazing dispersed camping in the country along with fantastic herds of aoudad sheep and deer.

There was not....not one that would come out to the ranch at least.

Trash is more important. The geology of the canyon is both amazingly restorative and destructive all in one. Meaning, after this weekends thunderstorms you won’t be able to tell there was a recovery

Hahaha, nothing about this was staged. We did the sit down interviews after the job was done and yes we showed off our branding. I’m guess you want a shirt 😀

I have to agree with you @michics100 about how dangerous this was. I know everyone has to start somewhere on a recovery like this and wants to make a heck of a RU-vid channel. But to be honest an even bigger video with more exposure could have been made trying to get Matt with mattsoffroad recovery Rory Irish with the trail mater and heavy d sparks involved. They have don’t recoveries like this that we’re way safer.

I was wondering why a team of professionals wasn’t called in the first video. Seems like that should have been the first call.

We are professionals. There isn't a guide or instructor at Merus who has not been doing this for less than 20 years. Amongst us are 10's of thousands of miles off-roading and hundreds of recoveries - some that are even more extreme than this. The only poor decision would have been to wait for someone to come to the rescue....folks in rural Texas learned long ago to sort out their own problems.

Professional is a word, but I wouldn’t apply it in this scenario.

No….ego, really? Not only are we exceptionally well trained and experienced - our team has decades of experience in recoveries, personally, I’ve been doing this more than 30 years, but we also own this park and ultimately, we are responsible. Amongst us we’ve done hundreds of recoveries in the military and the civilian world. The one thing we have all learned…it’s not rocket science. You don’t need super fancy rigs meant for picking up tanks or your own helicopter. You do have to do the math, collect the right kit, then have patience. Ultimately, every time you pass the job to someone else to do for you, you lose the opportunity to learn from it and more importantly you lose the opportunity to learn to take care of yourself. (Passing the job to someone else, assumes that there is someone more skilled or able) Insurance involved? The insurance company spent 4 days looking and couldn’t find anyone to take the job - which is par for the course in rural Texas. Ranchers here learned a long time ago nobody is coming to save them when things go sideways. Environmental damage….Palo Duro Canyon is a destructive environment. We will clear the debris field, but one good thunderstorm will remove any sign of the recovery on the cliffs. It is easy to watch a video and critique. However, rather than judge people you’ve never met, come visit the park and see for yourself. It’s an amazing place supported by a fantastic community that is not only highly trained and experienced, but also super conscientious of preserving and protecting our land.

I would of called Hevy D.

It’s a wrangler 4XE. It’s marketed as a wrangler 4XE.

@@kc5vgw Exactly. A 4XE “4-BY-E”. Just like every Jeep is marketed as a 4X4 “4BY4”. Watch any actual Jeep marketing and they refer to it as a “4 BY E”. Unless we are going to start calling all Jeeps and off roaders 4 Ex 4’s we need to align that in off roaders the stand alone “X” is said with “By”.

​@@kc5vgw it's a 4xE, pronounced 4 by E

True statement. However, we can put a gas fire out. Not so with an EV. So while the chances of a fire are low, the catastrophic risk is pretty high. If there is one thing we are skittish about in the canyon, its fires....making note of the 1.5M acres that just burned north of Amarillo. That said, I was really impressed with how well the battery box was protected.