2006 Rough Country 4 Wheeler's Annual Snow Bash

Marlon and Christina Seals of Loveland, Colorado, tore up anything they could in their '81 CJ-7. With an '01 5.7L Vortec being force fed by a Procharger intercooled supercharger, they had plenty of power on tap to punish both snow and dune. The 14/42-17 Irok didn't hurt matters either.

While it was true that most of the Jeeps that did well in the deeper stuff had rumpety V-8s and huge tires. Matt Wells' '04 Wrangler was an exception. With "only" a TNT Customs Y-link lift kit and 35x12.5R15 Pro Comp MTs (stock gears, no lockers), Matt proved that plenty of momentum and lots of throttle will get you where you want to go.

All three of these Jeeps were running 39.5-inch Super Swamper TSLs, which were the order of the day. This is where the snow wasn't too bad, and there was some kind of hard soil underneath.

Dave Hardin was the trail leader for the day, and he got some bashing in too. His '81 CJ-7 might "only" have a 355-cubic inch V-8, but it sure got the job done. He spins 5.13s in the front Dana 60 and rear Corporate 14-Bolt with Detroit Lockers to keep things going. And, of course, he uses plenty of stupid pedal to keep the 42-inch Iroks spinning.

Try as he might, David Meisner wasn't able to get out of this predicament and had to be strapped out. Wheeling in the snow on sand dunes is totally different than normal winter wheeling. Normally, there is something solid under the snow, even if its ice, but in this case there is nothing. When the snow melts, it melts into the sand, leaving soft powder on top of loose sand.

Maybe its just us, but if we were out wheeling in three feet of snow, where the temperature started at 21 degrees Fahrenheit and just went down, we'd be happy for a hardtop or an XJ and wheel in heated comfort. Apparently, it was just too warm for Brian Smithmeyer, and he wheeled with the windows down the whole time we were up on the dunes.

Like most club runs we've seen, these guys stick together. Even when you get stuck trying to show off for the editor's camera, there is someone there to help you out. Only after humiliating you for the world to see, of course.

We had high hopes for Kevin Mcfadden in his '75 CJ-5. With a 427, TF727, open headers, and 32x21.5-15 multi-paddle tires in the rear, we thought he'd tear the dunes up. Well, he did, as long as he was moving. As soon as he stopped, the paddles dug him straight down to good old stuck.

At the end of the day when we thought we were all done with snatching rigs out of the snow, one of the tow rigs gets stuck in the ditch and its up to Will Byers' Little XJ That Can to pull it out. Maybe we were all a little punchy from the hours out in the snow, but this was the funniest thing we'd seen in a while. Kind of like Jurassic Park with the Wrangler trying to keep the huge trailer from going over the cliff.