TCSAR Stays Busy with Two Rescues in Three Days

Two rescues in three days has kept Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers busy. Following trends from the past 5-10 years, February is typically one of the busiest months of the year for TCSAR.

At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 8, TCSAR was notified of three snowboarders stranded out of bounds in the Grand Targhee backcountry. The group—one adult male, one 18-year-old female, and one 16-year-old male—was uninjured, but unable to return to the resort or find a safe descent through complex terrain. They were reportedly not carrying backcountry safety equipment.

Teton County Search & Rescue short-hauls a snowboarder from steep, complex terrain in Teton Canyon, Wyoming. Photo: TCSAR

Grand Targhee Ski Patrol made initial contact and requested helicopter assistance due to the steep terrain. The TCSAR pilot and short-haul team flew in, extricating two members first, then returning for the third snowboarder and a TCSAR volunteer. All were flown to the Teton Canyon Trailhead (pictured) before the team refueled in Driggs and returned to Jackson.

TCSAR appreciates the coordination and efforts from Grand Targhee Ski Patrol to help resolve this incident.

On Monday, February 10, at 10:15 a.m., two backcountry skiers on the south side of Teton Pass called 911 after encountering a male skier experiencing a medical issue.

At the time, a TCSAR short-haul team was about to begin routine training in Jackson. The pilot and three volunteers immediately diverted to the scene in Olympic Bowl. The helicopter dropped off two volunteers, who skied to the patient and initiated treatment. Given his condition, they called for a short-haul operation, lifting him to an ambulance near the top of Teton Pass. The time from the 911 call to ambulance transfer took just 40 minutes.

TCSAR commends the reporting skiers for assisting in the response and stresses the importance of calling 911 at the first sign of an emergency, even when details are unclear. After the incident, the two skiers continued their day, and the volunteers resumed their training.

TCSAR Short-Hauls Stranded Snowmobiler on Westside of the Tetons

At 3:56 p.m. on Tuesday, February 4, Teton County Search & Rescue was notified that a male snowmobiler was stuck in a drainage on the western slope of the Tetons. The local resident had motored a couple of miles into the Hill Creek area and was not able to get back out due to heavy, wet snow.

A TCSAR volunteer happened to be snowmobiling in the vicinity during his time off. He responded to help the man and subsequently informed incident command in Jackson that conditions were too dangerous for a ground response.

Teton County Search & Rescue complete a successful short-haul mission for a stranded snowmobiler just before dark on Tuesday, February 4. Photo: TCSAR

Opting for a helicopter rescue, TCSAR dispatched three short-haul members into the ship with the pilot. They flew to the scene and then successfully short-hauled the man out of the backcountry. The ship returned to base just minutes before ‘pumpkin hour,’ known as 30 minutes after sunset.

Pumpkin hour originates from Cinderella, and can mean a personal curfew or deadline. For aviation crews, it indicates when a helicopter can’t fly due to darkness.

During the mission debrief, TCSAR learned that the snowmobiler had attended the Moto Avalanche Safety Night on December 12 at the Virginian, where he said he learned to call 911 early if a situation arised. That he put in the call when he did gave TCSAR the extra bit of time to consider various options, along with the safety of the stranded snowmobiler and SAR volunteers. Our team was happy to help get this snowmobiler out of there before nightfall and weather complicated matters.

TCSAR's 2024 End-of-Year Review and Rescue Report Available Now

Teton County Search & Rescue had one of its most eventful years ever in 2024. That’s according to the newly released 2024 End-of-Year Review and Rescue Report, which is published twice a year by Teton County Search & Rescue Foundation. The End-of-Year Rescue Report is notable because it documents the past six months of rescues, as well as a year’s worth of data about rescue demographics.

Cover image by Joey Sackett.

The 32-page report shows that with 130 calls for service between Dec. 1, 2023 and Nov. 30, 2024, TCSAR had its second highest call volume in the team’s 31-year history. Many of these calls were due to the arrival, in October 2023, of TCSAR’s new helicopter, which was called 31 times to conduct missions with the Jenny Lake Rangers in Grand Teton National Park. 

In 2024, some of the most common locations for rescues included: Togwotee Pass; Caribou-Targhee National Forest on the west side of the Tetons; the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort backcountry; and the Gros Ventre Mountains. Those ages 16-30 issued the most rescue calls, with 38 percent, while local and regional backcountry users accounted for 43 percent of all calls.

In 2024, TCSAR’s helicopter was used more than 60 times. Photo: TCSAR

The report shows that the TCSAR’s 38 volunteers dedicated a collective 10,827 hours back to the community in the form of rescues, training, and community events.

TCSAR Chief Advisor Cody Lockhart explains that the volunteers accomplish what they do thanks to an unwavering commitment to teamwork.

“Within our Team, there is a culture of finding where you can be the most helpful and then proudly filling that role,” Lockhart writes in the report’s Intro Letter. “It is not about being a hero or an all-star—it is about being the best teammate possible. It is not about getting credit for the job—it is about making sure the job gets done.”

Other key takeaways from the report include:

• The TCSAR helicopter program, in its first year of operation, completed more than 60 missions, demonstrating how invaluable this tool has become during a time when backcountry recreation shows no signs of slowing down.

• The report includes 21 rescue summaries from the summer in Grand Teton National Park, during which Jenny Lake Rangers executed rescue missions with TCSAR’s helicopter and pilot. These summaries are intended to help educate the public about the partnership between the Jenny Lake Rangers and TCSAR, and how the county’s heli resource is being used.

• TCSAR will take on a new class of volunteers in 2025.

• A strategic plan outlining the goals and initiatives for TCSAR and the Foundation, including hosting the International Commission for Alpine Rescue in October 2025, and prioritizing programming from the Foundation’s education and outreach efforts through Backcountry Zero.

Rescue Reports are free and can be found at a number of participating businesses in Jackson Hole. If you’d like to be on our mailing list, please send an email to info@tetoncountysar.org. Digital versions are available for download at the TCSAR website.