Multiple Fatality Rollover in Gladiator - Near Ouray

[Chupacabra]

Your sport S is *easily* capable of doing Imogene if you have a decent all-terrain tire.

If you're on the OEM tires (Michelin LTX?) I'm not sure. It's possible you could have difficulty, but I didn't see anyone on Imogene with a street-oriented tire, so I'm not sure. There are lots videos of people doing it in very vanilla rigs though.

Mine came with Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires. A little more aggressive than a highway tire. I have taken it up some off-road trails out of Georgetown with no problems. I may pass on Imogene this time around and just stick to the easier trails this time around

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[NMPirate]

Mine came with Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires. A little more aggressive than a highway tire. I have taken it up some off-road trails out of Georgetown with no problems. I may pass on Imogene this time around and just stick to the easier trails this time around

I think Ophir Pass starting from the Silverton side is an easy trail for any Jeep. Last time I was up there I saw a Ford Explorer on that trail! Then run Imogene up and over to Ouray. I agree that Imogene may be better 1st thing in the morning. Later in the day you get a bit of traffic coming down from the Ouray side into Telluride. There are spaces to pull off to let others by, but they are tight. And always remember that the uphill traffic has the right of way, unless you have a nice spot to pull over and let other traffic down without a problem. My favorite part of Imogene is in the forest on the Ouray side. Rocks, a little mud and some water just for fun! ?

 

[Joe98]

Mine came with Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires. A little more aggressive than a highway tire.

My 2 door Sport S came with the same tyres. And my Jeep group have taken me to places I never imagined I could go!

 

[Drytellsr]

I'm going to be in Ouray next week or two, how hard was Imogene? I have a stock Sport S and am looking for trails down there that I can do without too much difficulty.

I'm sure you'll have no problem, we didn't need lockers. You can take Ophir to telluride which took us just one hour then Imogene back to ouray which took maybe 3 hours

 

[blnewt]

I'm sure you'll have no problem, we didn't need lockers. You can take Ophir to telluride which took us just one hour then Imogene back to ouray which took maybe 3 hours

X2, should be fine, maybe you can hook up with a couple other Jeeps on Ophir that can run w/ you on Imogene. Be sure to air down to about 18 psi and disconnect your front sway bar it will make it much more comfortable and will aid in traction and suspension function.

 

[COBill]

According to this week's Ouray County Plaindealer, an autopsy showed no health issues with the Jeep driver that would have caused and adverse health condition, and he was not intoxicated.

I suspect this means the next phase of the investigation will be to go over what's left of that Gladiator with a fine toothed comb as you would in an aircraft crash looking for failures.

Their site is a paid one, but you can read the first part of the article at the bottom of the image they posted to Facebook.

 

[At Risk Ute]

Still curious about the positions of the transfer case and parking brake and condition of the brakes. Figure that information would be easier to gather than an autopsy.

 

[COBill]

It may be, but it depends on who is doing the investigation.

This isn't like an air crash, so a team of investigators didn't rush to the scene, and it's unclear who the investigators would be of the vehicle, likely the auto insurer and/or the litigants for whatever lawsuit will inevitably be filed.

On the other hand, the autopsy was likely a legal requirement.

 

[blnewt]

That road gets a pretty good amount of traffic, it's sure possible that a Razr or some other side by side whipped up the road and caught the driver off guard, who knows, just so many what-ifs. It seems unlikely that the driver would have done something out of character as he was well versed in the area and the vehicle.

 

[Powelligator]

Next question to ask would be who initially reported the accident? I don't know how visible it was after going off the edge of the cliff. Also, this would have been noted by the County Sheriff at the time, any marks in the dirt indicating which direction it was headed when it went over, for example did it slide off on its side or straight off? I'd imagine someone in the Sherriff's Office might already know this. Tragic though, just tragic.

 

[MrMischief]

I'm going to be in Ouray next week or two, how hard was Imogene? I have a stock Sport S and am looking for trails down there that I can do without too much difficulty.

Imogene and Black Bear are technically easy trails, I did both in a stock Commander on the factory street tires. I was by myself, no spotter, zero issues, not having to worry much about line choices. Truly the most difficult part is dodging the rental jeeps. Where these trails can be tough, particularly black bear, is if you're not comfortable with heights or shelf roads. The consequences for screwing up in some parts can be deadly. But if you're comfortable with your vehicle, heights/shelf roads, and keep focused on the road rather than sightseeing while driving you'll be fine. There is no reason that any wrangler in any trim can't do these trails.

 

[Chupacabra]

Imogene and Black Bear are technically easy trails, I did both in a stock Commander on the factory street tires. I was by myself, no spotter, zero issues, not having to worry much about line choices. Truly the most difficult part is dodging the rental jeeps. Where these trails can be tough, particularly black bear, is if you're not comfortable with heights or shelf roads. The consequences for screwing up in some parts can be deadly. But if you're comfortable with your vehicle, heights/shelf roads, and keep focused on the road rather than sightseeing while driving you'll be fine. There is no reason that any wrangler in any trim can't do these trails.

I ended up coming down the Ouray side of the Engineer Pass trail by mistake. That was brutal, and I did scrape quite a few times on the rock ledges. I was wishing for 35s and a lift on that part. Everything else I played on down there wasn't too bad. I didn't get to Imogene but did do Ophir and some others out of Silverton which took me to the Engineer Pass descent.

I will put up some pictures and video later, some of the snow-packed trail was a bit thrilling

 

[OhioJeeper]

You just need less puncture resistant off road tires on most of those trails. Most surfaces are high traction. Since Silverton, Ouray, and Lake City banned Razrs on city streets, there are less of them on the trails. There is a house/cabin at the bottom near where the Gladiator went off the road.

 

[Sublime]

I was in Ouray that day. Weather certainly wasn't a factor.

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