Hmmm... did that drowned Jeep arrive with the flash flood waters (as in floated from up stream somewhere), or was he trying to cross after the water arrived?

 

My favorite part was when the narrator describes the bone-chilling fear of how they ran out of fuel while you see a shot of the jerry cans from the rear of the Jeep.

The entire episode was an embarassing thing to watch. I've seen YouTube videos of stock JK's eating snow accumulations like that for breakfast.

 

I thought it was ok, in fact not to bad in the entertainment end.

But lets face it, this was made for the every day Joe to watch. Did they go out of their way to make things look hard, and give the idea that danger was around every turn ? Yes, it's TV.

But in the end it gave Joe average a very small look into what we Love, and maybe just maybe planted a seed of adventure in the guy down the street. In fact, he may just look at you with a little envey the next time you pass him in your Jeep.

So I will give it a ...........

 

I did my first snow wheeling in the winter of 1970 in our CJ5, running basically stock. We would do trails up in the Catskills and around the Finger Lakes. The family farm and apple orchards are near the tiny town of Breesport. Lots of streams and creeks to cross. My father's friend had a Scout 80, his brother a brand new C5 Blazer. As often as not, our V6 CJ5 would break trail. This is what I learned to drive in, both on and off road. Indeed, a foot of snow was common and no trouble at all, unless on a really steep incline. If you couldn't get up, you backed down and looked for alternate route (if one existed). The Blazer was the most prone to getting stuck, largely because my uncle was too cheap to upgrade from the factory tires.

Years later, I had my own CJ5 and a YJ. Never once did I have any trouble in 12" of snow with either. Hell, I drove an MG Midget several miles through snow at least 10" deep and didn't get stuck.

I've snow wheeled up in the Rangeley Lakes region of northwestern Maine and the White mountains of New Hampshire. Moreover, living out on Long Island, we get plenty of snow, with at least one or two major dumps every winter. I've been driving in this stuff for 40 years. This includes countless hours driving one of my brother-in-law's F250s, plowing roads.

If you had trouble with a foot of snow, I suspect that your problem(s) were:

Wrong tires (huge issue, underestimated by most Jeep owners)
Aired down (don't air down for just 12", you end up pushing more snow and can bog down, especially if in low range).

As far as flash floods go, if you drive into fast moving water, even shallow water.... Well, you can't fix stupid.

 

Like this one: Why Jeeps are Better

Or this one: Snow Wheeling

By the way, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!