TCSAR Responds to Three Rescue Calls, including Interagency Effort, on President’s Day

Teton County Search & Rescue received three calls for help over 24 hours on President’s Day. One was in the middle of the night, and two others came late on Monday as darkness fell.

While our valley’s rescuers are always ready to respond, backcountry users should please remember that recreating in the late hours carries very small margins for error. Accidents at these times result in challenging conditions for first-responders, especially during big storm cycles that have produced dangerous avalanche conditions. Since Friday, February 14, the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center has rated the avalanche hazards in the Tetons as “considerable.”

TCSAR appreciates the attraction of recreating in powder, and understands that accidents happen. Our volunteers are out there enjoying the snow as well. But we want to remind everyone to please do your enjoying in the daytime, when there is still plenty of light to work with should you have an emergency.

The first call in this latest cycle came at 1:30 in the morning on Monday, February 17. Two people had taken an evening snowmobile ride up a Forest Service Road near Triangle X. The pair became stuck and decided to walk out, with one person losing a boot in the deep snow. Due to the time of the call, a small team from TCSAR assembled and entered the field on snowmobiles. The volunteers soon found the stranded couple. The team provided a warm sock and boot and a free ride out of the backcountry, returning to the Jackson hangar at 5:15 a.m.

The next call arrived at approximately 4:40 p.m. on Monday, February 17. The alert regarded a local skier who’d been caught and injured by an avalanche in Granite Canyon, outside of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort boundary. As Granite Canyon lies within Grand Teton National Park, the park coordinated the rescue effort among the Jenny Lake Rangers, JHMR Ski Patrol, and Teton County Search & Rescue.

The female skier was reportedly skiing in the lower half of Granite Canyon when she was caught by the avalanche. She became injured after she was carried a few hundred feet down the slope and into a tree. Jackson Hole Ski Patrol arrived on scene to provide initial patient care. Patrol placed her in a toboggan for the long traverse out of the canyon. Meanwhile, TCSAR initiated a helicopter response with the pilot, one Jenny Lake Ranger, and two TCSAR volunteers. Park rangers also prepped a snowmobile team as backup in case the ship could not fly due to weather and time of day.

The heli team found a narrow window of weather and daylight and successfully short-hauled the patient to the base of Teton Village. The helicopter quickly departed back to Jackson before dark.

Our team greatly values the partnership with JHMR Ski Patrol and the Jenny Lake Rangers for helping to resolve this incident in a quick and efficient manner.

The third call of the cycle came in just minutes after the initial page for the Granite Canyon avalanche. This call concerned a pair of snowmachiners who had become stuck near Baldy Knoll on the west side of the Tetons. A team of three TCSAR volunteers departed up the trail on snowmobiles and located the stuck party at 6:40 p.m. The volunteers helped the snowmobilers dig out their sleds and all were able to safely navigate back to the trailhead.

Teton County Search & Rescue Provides Heli Assist in Grand County, Colorado

Jackson, Wyo. — On Thursday, Oct. 3, Teton County Search & Rescue, along with two Jenny Lake Climbing Rangers from Grand Teton National Park, assisted in the recovery of a deceased trail runner in the mountains of Grand County, Colorado. The body of the runner, who had fallen into extremely rugged terrain on Aug. 28, was in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, which is located about an hour’s drive west of the city of Boulder. 

After numerous failed attempts to retrieve the body, local and regional rescue teams began exploring options this week with TCSAR. The Jackson, Wyoming-based SAR team considered the request for a short-haul operation. Due to the flight distance to Colorado, the team would have to depart Jackson and spend the night in Colorado before attempting the rescue operation. TCSAR checked with their US Forest Service partners to ensure that the region would have a backup rescue helicopter in case of a local emergency. Determining that local SAR personnel would have backup heli support if necessary, a specialized team from TCSAR and GTNP departed Jackson at 3 p.m. on Oct. 2. 

TCSAR provided a helicopter assist in Grand County, Colorado, on October 3, 2024. It was the first time the Jackson, Wyoming, team had responded to an incident in Colorado. Photo: TCSAR

The Wyoming team flew to Rawlins, refueled, and then continued to Granby, where they met the local SAR team with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.

On the morning of Oct. 3, the team choppered to the site on Arikaree Peak, a steep, rugged 13,146-foot mountain with numerous couloirs and loose rock. Once the Wyoming team located the body, they were able to short-haul themselves onto the scene. They recovered the body and provided transport to the Granby Airport via a long line connected to the helicopter. The helicopter returned to Arikaree and short-hauled the rescuers off the mountain.

Short-haul is a method of rescue in which rescuers can be inserted or extracted via a rope connected to the belly of the helicopter. It is often used in terrain that is too steep or rugged to land a ship. 

The team debriefed the mission with Grand County SAR, and departed for Jackson, with the ship safely landing at the TCSAR hangar at 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 3.

“This was a unique rescue for us for many reasons,” said TCSAR Chief Advisor Cody Lockhart. “This was the first time we have been called down to Colorado and there were a lot of individuals and agencies involved in the rescue effort. This was also a tough rescue for us to assist with, from both a technical level and the heavy nature of the job. We are grateful that we were able to help get this man off the mountain and home to his family.”

In a press release, Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin expressed, “My thanks to our partner agencies including Grand County Search and Rescue, Grand County Coroner’s Office, Colorado Search and Rescue, Boulder County, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Alpine Rescue Team, the Colorado Army National Guard, Med Evac, Teton County Search and Rescue, National Park Service, and the United States Forest Service for their diligence in safely recovering the decedent and returning him to his family while weighing the importance of rescuer and responder safety.”

TCSAR expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and wishes to thank their partners with GTNP, Grand County Sheriff’s Office and SAR, and Colorado Search & Rescue for their assistance in bringing this operation to a successful close.

TCSAR Provides Heli Assist for Injured Hiker near Ketchum, Idaho

This release has been corrected from an earlier version to indicate that local rescuers were able to reach the patient.

Jackson, Wyo. — At 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 24, Teton County Search & Rescue received a request for helicopter assistance for an injured hiker in the mountains east of Ketchum, Idaho. The hiker, an adult male, had fallen while attempting Hyndman Peak, a 12,012-foot mountain in the Pioneer Mountain Range. 

Hyndman Peak is a 12,012-foot mountain in the Pioneer Mountains of Idaho. Photo: TCSAR

Near the top of the peak, the man had fallen into extremely rugged terrain and sustained a serious leg injury. A mutual aid response between the Ketchum Fire and Sun Valley Fire departments coordinated the rescue. Incident command’s initial approach placed three local first-responders on a saddle below the Hyndman summit via a helicopter from Air St. Luke’s. Those three individuals were able to access the top of the peak and then descend to the patient, where they began initial treatment and packaging for a technical rescue. Deciding that they would need a heli team with short-haul capabilities in order to complete the rescue, they called Teton County, Wyoming, dispatch and were connected to TCSAR. 

TCSAR has an established history of assisting rescue agencies outside of Teton County if the request meets certain operational criteria. In 2023, the team conducted nine out-of-county assists; this incident marked the team’s fifth out-of-county call in 2024. 

This was the fifth out-of-county rescue performed by TCSAR in 2024. Photo: TCSAR

As the team considered the request on Saturday, they looked at several factors, including: flight distance to the subject, weather, weight of the ship and crew, fuel capacity, and the safety of the rescue team. Knowing that taking the TCSAR heli out of the county was a big decision, they checked in with their partners at Grand Teton National Park and the U.S. Forest Service to ensure the county had a backup plan while the team was conducting the Idaho mission.

After running through the rescue scenario, the team felt confident they would be able to help their Idaho neighbors. The heli team, consisting of the pilot and two TCSAR volunteers, was able to fly directly to the patient and successfully short-haul him to a waiting ambulance at a nearby trailhead. Short-haul is a method of rescue in which rescuers and patient are hoisted via a long line connected to the belly of the helicopter. It is often used in terrain that is too steep or rugged to land a ship. 

TCSAR appreciates the coordination of this rescue from Ketchum and Sun Valley Fire. Photo: TCSAR

After transferring the patient to the local EMS provider, the Jackson team flew to the Freidman Memorial Airport outside of Hailey, refueled, and departed for Jackson, completing the mission in 5 hours, 30 minutes. 

Throughout the mission, TCSAR held radio contact with the homebase in Jackson as well as the incident command in Ketchum. The team is grateful for the coordination from Ketchum and Sun Valley Fire and was happy to be able to help bring the patient safely out of the backcountry.