Off-Road Rescuer Ends Up Being Rescued By A Bonkers Ford Explorer

We’ve seen quite a few videos from Matt’s Off-Road Recovery, saving the day for wayward adventurers mostly in and around southwest Utah. This time, the rescuer becomes the rescuee after a rock-climbing attempt goes awry. And the wildest Ford Explorer Sport Trac you’ve ever seen steps in to save the day.

Before that can happen, the Explorer needs help. A call comes in about someone stranded on trails south of Hurricane, Utah. Rather than an extraction, the individual needs help getting parts for an on-site repair. Simply reaching the stranded off-roader isn’t easy, and upon arrival, the video shows a radical off-roader clearly purpose-built for some serious shenanigans. It’s actually the Ford Explorer in question, or at least, that’s what it was in a former life. Devoid of body panels and riding on a custom suspension, its days of hauling kids to soccer practice are long over.

The rescue actually goes according to plan. A custom hydraulic hose is needed for the repair, and Matt’s Off-Road Recovery is able to deliver. However, at some point afterward, the rescuer makes a self-professed “bad decision” to try and climb a steep, narrow ridge. As the video above shows, the modified Jeep Cherokee gets wedged into place while nearly vertical. And it’s the bonkers Ford Explorer – now fully functional with a new hose and fresh power steering fluid – that saves the day. How’s that for karma?

We’d love to see more on the wild Explorer, but from there the video shifts to another rescue that’s slightly less dramatic. An older Dodge Durango gets high-centered while trying to turn around on a trail, and judging by its street-spec tires, it’s something of a mystery why the driver even ventured that far off the highway. It’s a straightforward extraction, though there is a bit of drama in trying to take the shortcut out of the trail network before thunderstorms arrive.