[i10]

Originally Posted by smartcat

If you have a air pump, reduce tyre pressure to 15 or 20 psi, drive over the slushy stretches and increase the tyre pressure back to 30 psi after you are on firmer ground.

How does reducing the pressure help?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by SAJEESH

Recently , I had a bad experience of getting stuck in mud with my car ( maruti swift vxi ).

What's the condition of your tyres?

Have merged your thread with an existing one that you must read. Lots of tips here.

Be sure to maintain momentum & don't revv more than necessarily. If you do get stuck, don't unnecessarily slip the clutch as you'll burn it out.

A permanent solution has to be a community effort as I'm guessing it's a public road. Talk to your neighbours; all of you can contribute and arrive at a solution.

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is a good thread. It's great reading about the kind of driving that I almost certainly will never do, being lacking in such areas as head for heights and sheer guts!

People have talked about having supplies of food, water, etc, but what about other equipment that might be useful? How about a tow rope, should one need to request or give such help? How about a spade?

[SAJEESH]

Hi GTO,

Since my car is fairly new, the tyre condition is good. I have spoken to my car dealer and the 24/7 break down service team has agreed to extend their help, provided the mud isn't deep enough such that the tyres stop rotating.

Warm Regards

Sajeesh

[SAJEESH]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[scuba]

Nice thread, I must say

perhaps I can add a word or two which can't do any harm but can help in some situations. I never drove though India, much less over Himalayan mountains. But in Serbia, where I am from, we also have muddy mountain "roads", loose gravel surfaces, landslides etc.

You don't have to go high in the Himalayan to fall off some 50 meters below during landslide. You only have to go 50 meters above something and then fall down

I don't know if you have wheel chains or snow chains in your vehicles, but those can help in mud and slush as well as on snow. Simply, you will have little bit more grip on your wheels.

When I go to a mountain, which is almost every two weeks, I rely on equipment that I always have in my Safari. Never go to off road without tow rope. Any rope, strong enough, is far better than no rope. But the best is if you have synthetic tow stripe or tow braid instead of steel tow rope. Those look like fire hose. Much lighter and stronger than 10mm thick steel rope.

Tow braids can be found in two versions: static and dynamic. Static does not stretch, dynamic stretch itself for certain amount. I like dynamic for getting me or somebody else from mud pit because by stretching it gives additional momentum and the risk of ripping a portion of car body is reduced.

Shovel, spade, pickaxe, axe and mallet are something that I find very useful on terrain. And those are not pocket size, easy to carry, folding, multipurpose, toys. Normal shovel and spade with normal wooden handles. You don't need user manual for those tools

If you shove floor maths under wheels, please tie them with longer rope to a car body. If you manage to get yourself out of mud and slush, maybe you don't want to stop and pick the maths. This way maths will follow you to the first secure place where you will stop and pick them.

Be careful when choosing branches and logs underneath the car. Pick larger number of small and soft branches rather than one or two big and hard logs. Try to put them in a way that they will not hurt underside of a car. Branches have notorious habit to jump and bump to a car mostly on most expensive and important parts (the Murphy's law)

All of this will make you less dependent of mercy of others. And yes, tell your passengers to stretch their legs and to go before you but not far from the car in case they have to stand behind and push you. Or leave them inside if you need their intelligence measured in kilograms to give you better grip

[YD14]

Uttarakhand: Two killed, 1 feared trapped under boulders on Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway

https://www.aninews.in/news/national...0200824105556/

August 24 (ANI): At least two persons were killed after being hit by shooting stones near Kaudiyala village on Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway in Uttarakhand in the early hours of Monday.
A JCB and Pokland machine along with three persons fell off the road after the landslide occurred near Byasi police station, which is located 4 kilometres away from Kaudiyala in Pauri Garhwal district at 5:20 am on Monday, informed the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
The rescue operation is underway as one person is feared trapped under the boulders, added the SDRF.

No matter what precaution you take it is always dangerous to travel through these sections of the Himalayas. With the cutting due to All weather road project, many major roads have become very dangerous, especially when it rains. It will take 2-3 monsoon seasons for these landslides to become less frequent. So my suggestion to travel enthusiasts is to avoid travelling to the hills till 2023 unless absolutely necessary, and if the need arises check the weather forecast and news for rain and landslide warnings.