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

This video tells the story of the monumental effort of one of the craziest and challenging recoveries you've ever seen!
This happened at MERUS Adventure Park where a 2023 Jeep Wrangler 4xe rolled off a cliff landing 400 feet below and being absolutely destroyed. The STAGE5 Off Road Academy team at MERUS then had to jump into action to recover this thrashed vehicle. It took a massive effort, tons of gear, true skill and knowledge, and pure teamwork and communication to get it done!
Thank you to everyone involved to make this recovery a possibility.
#Merusadventure #sdpcoffroad #factor55 #warn #warnindustries #johndeere #offroad #recovery #jeep #palodurocanyon #midlandradios

[@PeterANewell]

Just an absolutely amazing community! Hard but not impossible...and yes we still have some clean-up to do!

[@danielmccabe1891]

Excellent! Very impressive, great leadership and teamwork.

[@ourv9603]

When I insured my JK, my insurance man made an odd statement. He said 'In all of my 40 years of insuring, no client has EVER reported to him ANY damage which had happened offroad.' Later, reading the find print, I found that State Farms policy is that they DO NOT cover any damage caused off road. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO... !

[@MooreAdventures.]

Excellent job to everyone involved in this recovery. I’ve been a rigger for years and this was definitely a huge task. Tons of tricky situations given the environment but y’all nailed it and worked great as a team to make this successful. Excellent video on this as well.

[@jeanbond4200]

Well done!

[@kc5vgw]

Amazing teamwork. Amazing leadership! Didn’t get to see the beginning but was honored to be there for the second half! Had no doubts it was coming out! And had no doubts it would be an operation with no injuries!

[@TammysTrailsNTravel]

Amazing recovery and so thankful everyone stayed safe.

[@josephsepulveda8819]

After watching the 1st video last week I was wonder how you were going to get all that debris out. So glad I found this!

[@robertyoung8289]

Ok now Im looking forward to a will it run video! 😀

[@ssgoblin]

If it was a Toyota Hilux it probably would.

[@robertyoung8289]

@@ssgoblin Agreed

[@georgecarousos6735]

If you're ever in the same type of recovery situation with access to multiple vehicles with winches, you can rig to the front and rear of the Jeep and flip flop it over the ledges or big obstructions that it gets stuck against. Once you flip flop it over the obstruction you drag it until it gets stuck again and repeat the flip flop process. It takes much less energy to flip a vehicle over and it lessens the damage to the terrain and recovery equipment.

[@JonAHegreness]

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

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@bobbycowan9141]

My wheels were turning on this one. I was imaging a device built like a sled that can go under the jeep and it would slide over the rocks easier. Or when it got hung up, if it were flipped over, that would have helped too. Unfortunately, this probably wont be the last recovery of this type. Good job.

[@brainyhead1]

Amazing job! Can't wait to come check out the park! Only 4 hours away from us!

[@davidhillbrand2302]

Very impressive!

[@mikemckenna8530]

Good stuff! Congratulations on a safe recovery!

[@offroadexcitement0211]

Absolutely amazing. Great team work! I can't wait for my 1st trip out there to see the canyon. Best of luck with all your endeavors. 👏🙌🤙

[@PeterANewell]

It is an amazing place. Enjoy the trip!

[@Rollyman]

I watched the video prior to this, and I shared your video to all offroad groups I belong as a lesson needs to learn to stay safe.

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@usoffroad]

Wow. Just wow. Well done gentlemen.

[@eL2daB]

Amazing

[@6343bryan]

Great Job

[@mrgbluecar]

Amazing! Great job on a successful and safe recovery!

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@1oldarmyguy]

Wow!! you guys did a fabulous job getting that Jeep out.

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@theviewfrommyhammock]

Dirk, it was great to see the whole team work together so well. I am glad no one was hurt. Who won the door bet?

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@jeepinwithjulia]

Truly amazing!

[@kellya3761]

Great job!

[@woosch]

Great Job!!!

[@dawnkwolfe]

This was amazing. 🤩 good job you guys!

[@leroyll1144]

The piece of equipment I'm talking about will attatch to your Skid loader .! Awesome piece of recovery gear.!!

[@mrnine324]

Amazing! Great job gals and guys!

[@Waspface]

I'm pretty sure that won't buff out. 😂 Nice work that recovery was unreal !! 💯💪

[@andrewcarrizales2191]

Background music volume is to high, competes with your voices makes you guys hard to understand at times. Great recovery was awesome, what a grind.

[@leroyll1144]

Awesome job though,Got it done !!

[@whalerlife53]

Very impressive work. I bet that guy never forgets to put his vehicle in park ever again.

[@C0braChicken2]

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

[@whalerlife53]

@@C0braChicken2 dang

[@royfreitas7583]

Incredible recovery considering just how dangerous the terrain. Would you consider putting a rock barrier near that camping area so that type of situation could not happen again?

[@johnnyhunter4345]

For future cliff pulls, consider removing wheels, wrapping doors closed, choose routes up with least obstacles, good job...off roaders love this stuff. Saved lots of money without two truck wreckers and getting them there, if they would attempt. Everybody gets free stuff and campsites!

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@ssgoblin]

I forgot how flat it was up there. Lived in Amarillo for 16 years. I love Amarillo, but hate the location.

[@NomadMonster]

That was incredible. Only one point that bothered me as an 'armchair' participant that can't see it all... I only saw one person on that cliff with safety gear attached to a rope. The focus was on the Jeep so I may have missed it.

[@robertalonzo5725]

Wondering if the gear release was pulled. If the rear tires had been free to rotate a bunch of the overhang issues might have been avoided.

[@merusadventure]

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.

[@mikecon7634]

Most excellent.

[@scottstirling4298]

I wanted to know where this guys camping gear was?

[@tobyray8700]

I wondered the same thing.

[@IROCZRocks]

That was awesome! Great job y’all!

[@Nickwillfixit]

Having done a few like this if you had just fitted a set of tyres aired up it would have made life a lot easier. Maybe calling one of the recovery guys on YT, as they have done this scenario before. But credit where it is due good job, we use those rubbixh bags from building suppliers to chuck all the debri in. a boom or A frame at the top would have helped. a real shame you had to cause terrain and fauna damage.yep epic job I love these broke my teeth on this sort of problem. Problem was it was getting frayed as you were pulling over the rocks.

[@gardenparty3288]

Whew! 🍺

[@ScramblinJim]

any thought given to freeing up the wheels so they would roll instead of dragging them? cutting the axles???

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@kimberlyvaughan3430]

Great job everyone 😊

[@matth4069]

Guy definitely didn't like his 4xe after all and sent that mf

[@hondaman4423]

Nice! How much longer did it take you to clean up the yard sale of jeep parts all over the mountain?

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@jasonh4167]

Bad choice to use synthetic ropes/straps due to to the abrasion over all that rock. A spool of

[@merusadventure]

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.

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@CaseyLaDelle]

@@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.

[@CommonSenseHuman]

@@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.

[@woody4u247]

That "40k" strap didnt break because you were pulling over 40k...it broke because it was damaged under tension because of dragging it against the ground/rocks etc & it likely cut into it. Makes for good viewer content...

[@jasonrshi]

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

[@PeterANewell]

@@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

[@-JeepinJason-]

Sounds like the owner did not want to have to bother selling the vehicle for some reason. When does anyone ever shift an automatic into Neutral and then get out? Even if you are not paying attention, maybe you could leave it in drive and get out, but would notice that before you even got out of the Jeep as it would start moving forward and you would then hit the brake. Most of the time, once the door is open, the Jeep would shift itself into Park.

[@JonAHegreness]

Think it would have been easier to slide it on the roof. Those roll bars would have made a nice sled. How much lighter would it have been upside down with the engine and transmission, axles, doors, hood removed and already dragged up the hill. Think I would have cut it up some and dragged it upside down.

[@wolverines2024]

!!!!!!!

[@OurJourneyProject]

Nice job, but it seems sketchy to be walking under the Jeep at 10:57.

[@seane6500]

A helicopter extraction would not cause nearly that amount of damage to the terrain. How did you come to the decision?

[@leroyll1144]

You need a capable dedicated Recovery Vehicle on site,Just for such incidents.Fully equipped with proper rigging and equipment.!!!

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@leroyll1144]

Should have called Heavy Ds Off Road Recovery,They are out of Utah, Specialist.!!

[@southerngentleman5321]

electric handbrake went flat..

[@CaseyLaDelle]

You can defend yourself with all your “years of experience”, and I’ll admit it’s easy to armchair quarter back this thing, but good god there was some absolutely stupid decisions here. First of all, the guy walking under the Jeep at 10:50 was one of the stupidest and most dangerous things I’ve seen. Second, and this is coming from a huge synthetic fan, no way you should have been dragging synthetic gear over those rocks with that kind of load on it. I saw in another comment where you said you don’t allow steel cable on your recoveries because it’s too dangerous. Steel still has its place and would absolutely be safer in this situation. But to say steel is too dangerous, and then turn around and use cheap Chinese synthetic gear says a lot about your decision making process. You guys have a lot to learn before you start teaching people. This video shows that you are not the experts that you’re trying to portray yourself as.

[@merusadventure]

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

[@CaseyLaDelle]

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

[@merusadventure]

We learned a lot in this process. Cheers armchair.

[@Raydawg]

Pull the hybrid battery and all fluids leave the carcass as a riminder to people to secure your toy's. I'm sure insurance wants it back and will pay the recovery costs

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@truckcop1]

Seems like this would have been a good exercise/training for military heavy-lift helicopter

[@Primeros1000]

I’m split between the hard work recovering trash and destroying the canyon.

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@MaggieandMissyPugs]

I am not being critical but there wasnt a heavy-duty wrecker available in the area?? A rotator would have really helped

[@PeterANewell]

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

[@AGuyInPhoenix]

Army National Guard could have use this as a training experience with a helicopter recovery and it likely would have cost less with less cleanup and environmental damage...

[@1947airman]

If only they had a Chinook helicopter.

[@UmmCarl]

You should have checked out some videos from TrailMater and Matt's Off Road Recovery, they do this a couple times a year and they pretty much have got the system down.

[@ken85225]

Great vid. straps will break on rough edge contact :)

[@christianglaude6659]

Im having to put captions on ! Can't understand what he's saying lol

[@bdjm8595]

might have been a good time for some steel cable......just a suggestion

[@tobyray8700]

Completely scarred up at Cliffside, what a shame

[@dukenukem7183]

The t shirts are a giveaway that this was all staged for the academy

[@merusadventure]

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 😀

[@jeremyoliver]

Would have been nice if they could have called in a Chinook to come fly it out.

[@harolddalesr8365]

Use a helicopter

[@dangeroustoman]

A simple plank of wood would of helped get over some of those edges.

[@jeeperp3926]

With insurance involved, a professional recovery team should have been called in. Cool that you wanted to help; but this was over your skill level and equipment capability. The number one skill of any recovery team is knowing when you’re out of your wheelhouse. The fact that you managed to get the Jeep out doesn’t validate your ability to do this type of recovery. Your recovery created unnecessary environmental damage that an air lift would not have. You let your egos get in the way of good decision making. This is not a lesson in team work; this is a lesson in ego-centric group think overpowering good decision making.

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@Wayner1983]

Great video but I am cringing every time I hear you call it a 4 “EX” E. It is a 4 “BY” E. Just like you call your Jeep a 4 “BY” 4 not a 4 EX 4.

[@kc5vgw]

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

[@Wayner1983]

@@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”.

[@kjnation6343]

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

[@marytorbert5212]

You could’ve asked Matt’s off road recovery for consulting assistance.

[@dangeroustoman]

I would of called Hevy D.

[@keithrausch2058]

Wouldn't it have been easier to fly a big helicopter in and take it out?

[@Live.Vibe.Lasers]

I woulda cut it up and packed it out. 🤣

[@michics100]

I'm going to try to be as polite as I can in this response. This exercise made for good youtube content and to highlight recovery, but this is something you should have never attempted. You could have lost your business if one of your team members had gotten badly hurt or killed. A recovery of this type should have gone to the professionals using a helicopter. To simple lifts (one for the jeep, one for a basket full of the remaining debris) and it would have been done without endangering your crew. And since this is a insurance job there is no justification for the decisions you made to do this. Watching this video I saw many unsafe situations and poor decisions as this progressed.

[@brianbailey9838]

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 KZbin 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.

[@happy_jcg]

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

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@aj_page_]

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

[@kjnation6343]

Gas is 60 TIMES more likely to catch fire than an EV Battery. Give it a rest.

[@PeterANewell]

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.

[@brendenney9677]

@casey ladelle