Oh ok...so this is a true story:
The best story I can think of about my Grand Cherokee, and it's capabilities, took place in beggining 2004. My dog Jake and I were heading up to do some snowshoeing towards Lonesome Lake, in the Greenwater, Washington area. The mountains had experienced a much lighter than normal snowfall for January/February, but the area had been hit with a snowstorm, followed by rain, then another snowstorm. Needless to say, it was pretty messy.
When we pulled off of the paved road, the driver of a VW Touareg flagged us down. He explained that it was too icy to go much further, and that he just about slid off the road trying to turn around. Never one to back down from a challenge,
Now, I am certainly not going to do something that could put me, my dog or my Grand Cherokee in danger, but there are things a man needs to know for himself. Like, how icy is "too" icy. I thanked him for the warning, and was preparing to attempt the climb. Not an overly steep climb, but a long, steady, winding climb nonetheless.
As I started to pull away, I heard sirens. A Greenwater Aide truck was moving pretty fast up the road behind me. As it passed us, I turned to the driver of the Touareg, and said "He's 2wd, he's not going to make it much farther without chains". Right about then I could hear his tires start spinning on the icy road. With the tires still spinning forward, the vehicle started sliding back at us. I yelled at the VW guy to move, and I jumped on the gas to get out of the way. The front end grabbed, and I was able to move just before he came barreling through where I had been sitting. The aide car hit the ditch and embankment where I was sitting so hard, the front wheels came off the ground a few inches.
We ran over to make sure the driver and passenger were okay. They were fine. A little shaky, but fine. At that point a Wa. State Patrolman pulled up in his Chevy Caprice with studs on all four wheels. He explained that a truck had gone over the edge toward the top, and knew that there was at least one injury, maybe more. I offered to drive him up to the scene, and before he could answer me a "good ol' boy" pulled up in an old Willys Jeep, chained up on all four wheels. He told the State Patrolman that there was no way I would be able to get up that road since I didn't have studs or chains. The Patrolman kind of rolled his eyes and said "I better ride with him, he's got chains". I agreed, as it was a sure way to get up the mountain.
We packed as much gear as we could in that old Willys. Back boards, collars and first aid kits. Anything you could think of. When they pulled away, we started to try and figure out how to get the aide car out of the ditch it was in. A few minutes into that process, the Patrolman radioed down asking if the guy with the Grand Cherokee Jeep was still there. They said I was, and he asked if I'd be willing to meet Medic One at the main road, and bring up a Paramedic/Firefighter and more gear. Turns out there were two men injured in the accident. Of course, I got in my Grand Cherokee and headed down towards the main road.
I picked up Paul, the Paramedic/Firefighter at the main road, we loaded up a ton more gear, and headed up the mountain. On the way up, we passed four other trucks that had either slid off the road into the ditch, or worse yet, one had slid off the road into trees keeping them from going over the side. They all seemed to be making progress in getting freed, so we kept moving up. We didn't talk much, except for when Paul told me to quit "white knuckling" the steering wheel. We both had a nervous laugh as we pulled up to the scene.
When the State Patrolman saw us pull up, he smiled and said, "glad to see you could make it." I got out, looked at the "good ol' boy" with the chained up Willys and smiled. Paul headed over to where the Nissan Pathfinder had backed off the edge, and flipped, end-over-end, backwards down the slope. The Patrolman said that both guys were in their 60s, were stable, and should be okay. They were both obviously a little shaken up though. As a precaution, they would be strapped to back boards to stabilize their backs and necks.
Two ambulances had already slid off the road trying to get up to where we were, so the State Patrolman asked if I'd be willing to shuttle one of the guys down the mountain. As I scrambled to get Jake the dog, and all my gear in the front seat, the Medic's started heading for my Grand Cherokee. I folded down the wide side of the back seat, and we slowly slid the patient in. There I am, sitting in my Grand Cherokee, with my dog, and some guy I don't know, strapped to a board. He looked up at me and asked who I was. "I'm Jim, and I guess I'm your ride off the mountain today," I joked. He laughed while I tried to keep Jake from licking his forehead.
An EMT also named Jim, got in next to the patient, to stabilize his head as we started heading down the mountain. We went very slow; 1st gear, low range, to avoid using the brakes and keep as much traction as possible. The only time we stopped was to ask the driver of an ambulance that had gone off the road if he was okay. We only stopped for a minute, but in that minute we were standing still, my Grand Cherokee started to slide sideways toward the ditch. You see, we were stopped on a part of the road with a slight bank to the left, and the ice was so slick that we started sliding. I told Jim we had to get going or we'd be in the ditch too. I goosed the gas, and turned the wheel a little to the right. As usual, the front end grabbed and pulled us straight up onto the road again.
As we rounded the last turn towards the bottom of the mountain, I could see another ambulance waiting for us. We pulled alongside the "new" ambulance and everyone started moving real fast to get the patient out of my Grand Cherokee and into his new ride. Jim the EMT thanked me, and they loaded up and drove away.
As I watched them pull away, I started thinking about the old guy and his Jeep, chained up all fours, and wondered if he was as impressed with my Jeep Grand Cherokee's performance as me. I love my Jeep, it gets me everywhere I want to be!
