On February 15, 2012, Teton County Search and Rescue received an emergency call to help an injured snowmobiler in the Togwotee area, about 60 miles northeast of Jackson, Wyoming. The response started like many others, with the team gathering at the hangar to decide on a plan. Given the remote nature of the accident, they decided to send the helicopter pilot with two SAR volunteers, Mike Moyer and Ray Shriver. The routine call would turn out to be anything but, as tragedy unfolded beneath the blue Wyoming sky, forcing the volunteers to search for their own, with Shriver, a founding TCSAR member, paying the ultimate price.
In this two-part series, TCSAR volunteers and Shriver’s two sons remember him as an influential, if hard-nosed, team member and father, and explain how they were able to emerge from the wreckage and move forward. We also speak with Moyer about the crash, while volunteers Carol Viau and Tim Ciocarlan talk about the team’s response and recovery.
Learn more about Shriver and how you can help the TCSAR Foundation keep his memory alive by visiting the Shriver Society page.
Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Company for sponsoring The Fine Line and their support of backcountry safety in Jackson Hole.