Another Weekend of Rescues: Short-Haul, Short-Haul, Snowmobile, Short-Haul

Jackson, Wyo. — Local rescuers had a busy weekend with four callouts. Three calls came on Saturday: an injured skier on Pucker Face outside of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort; an injured skier in Stewart’s Draw in Grand Teton National Park; and a snowmobiler who was stuck in a creek in the Togwotee Pass area. The rescue on Sunday involved an injured skier in Avalanche Canyon in GTNP.

In one of three calls on March 8, TCSAR responded to a snowmobiler who’d become stuck in a creek in the Gros Ventre Mountains. The mission took 8 hours, 32 minutes, with volunteers getting back to base at 3:45 a.m. Photo: TCSAR

On Saturday, March 8, the first call came in at 10:43 a.m. regarding an injured male skier on Pucker Face. JHMR Ski Patrol arrived on scene and requested helicopter assistance from Teton County Search & Rescue. A heli team flew to the scene, where they short-hauled the local skier to a waiting ambulance at the base of Teton Village.

Later, at 2:45 p.m., Jenny Lake Rangers in GTNP requested helicopter assistance from TCSAR after receiving an emergency call regarding an injured male skier near the bottom of Stewart’s Draw. A heli team including park and TCSAR personnel responded to the accident site. The team short-hauled the local skier out of the backcountry, from where he elected to self-transport.

Saturday's third rescue call came at 5:43 p.m. for a snowmobiler in the Togwotee Pass area. The local male had been crossing a snow bridge on his machine when the snow collapsed beneath him, causing him and the machine to fall into a creek.

TCSAR sent four volunteers up the Gros Ventre Road via snowmobile, while another team entered the backcountry from Togwotee Pass. A friend of the stranded snowmobiler also joined the effort. The friend made contact with the subject at 11:23 p.m., followed by TCSAR volunteers about 30 minutes later. The subject was reported to be extremely tired and cold.

After trying to warm the subject, TCSAR transported him out of the backcountry to the Gros Ventre Road. After making it out of the field, the team provided the man with a ride back to town. The volunteers arrived back at the SAR headquarters at approximately 3:45 a.m.

On Sunday, the Jenny Lake Rangers called TCSAR at 1:40 p.m. requesting helicopter assistance to help an injured female skier in Avalanche Canyon. The TCSAR pilot flew the county ship to the park and picked up a team of rangers. The team extracted the patient via short-haul and flew her out of the backcountry. The woman decided to self-transport from there.

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.

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.