A man was rescued by a group of volunteers last week after his SUV became stuck in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for two days.
George Sukhanov, of Canada, put out a call for help in the Nevada 4×4 Rescue Facebook group on December 21.
‘Stuck at playa black rock desert. Need help. Like 100m from more or less firm ground,’ Sukhanov, wrote in the post along with his coordinates.
Sukhanov had gone out adventuring in his Toyota 4Runner over the desert’s playa, which is one of the largest, flattest, surfaces on Earth, covering approximately 200 square miles, when he became stuck in the mud.
At least one person tried to help Sukhanov, according to his Facebook post.
George Sukhanov, of Canada, had gone out adventuring in his Toyota 4Runner (pictured) over the desert’s playa, which is one of the largest, flattest, surfaces on Earth, covering approximately 200 square miles, when he became stuck in the mud
On December 21, Sukhanov put out a call for help in the Nevada 4×4 Rescue Facebook group. Pictured is his Toyota 4Runner after he became stuck in the desert’s mud
A volunteer group made up of members (pictured) from Nevada 4×4 rescue and 775 Offroad & Recovery came to his rescue
‘Someone tried to reach me last night from gerlach side, got stuck there. Not sure if they are out now, but they did not seem keen to continue towards me.
‘Access to the spot I’m at is feasible from black rock springs side only (north end of playa). From what I can see, the entire playa south, east and west of my location looks the same as the spot I’m at – impassable,’ he wrote.
‘To me it seems like there are two ways to get me out. Either a vehicle on the north side with a lot of winch line -100’ or more, or a bunch of traction boards plus high lift jack. Digging here is problematic, so lifting the vehicle and putting boards under might work.’
Luckily, a volunteer group made up of members from Nevada 4×4 rescue and 775 Offroad & Recovery came to his rescue.
Both groups offer off-road recovery to people who get in dilemmas similar to Sukhanov’s, and they do it for free.
The group eventually found Sukhanov around 1.30am on December 22. It took them seven hours to reach him.
While they were able to get Sukhanov to safety that night, they were unable to get his Toyota to dry land.
Joseph Pickett, the expedition’s leader, shared updates about the rescue in the 775 Offroad & Recovery Facebook page.
The group (pictured) eventually found Sukhanov around 1.30am on December 22. It took them seven hours to reach him. While they were able to get Sukhanov to safety that night, they were unable to get his Toyota to dry land
Eventually, Sukhanov (pictured) was taken to Reno, Nevada, but his vehicle was left behind
But on December 27, a team of volunteers made a second journey back out to Sukhanov’s (pictured) vehicle and successfully recovered it
‘3:30[am] – it is pretty bad. May need a second team. One jeep is stuck but we can get him out. The Toyota is in bad shape. Need a daisy chain multiple rig with how sloppy this is,’ Pickett wrote on Facebook.
‘At 5:30am, more than twelve hours after the crew first set out, they finally decided to abandon the 4Runner and get Sukhanov back to civilization—and it would be another three hours before they actually reached pavement again,’ he added in the update.
Eventually, Sukhanov was taken to Reno, Nevada, but his vehicle was left behind.
But on December 27, a team of volunteers made a second journey back out to Sukhanov’s vehicle and successfully recovered it.