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.

TCSAR Pulls All-Nighter to Rescue Injured Hunter

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 27, Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers were alerted to an injured hunter on Mount Leidy. The hunter, a 66-year-old man from California, became injured when he fell while walking down the steep north face of Leidy. The man, who was with a group of hunters from Wyoming, was unable to stand up or walk. At the time of the injury, the group was not near their camp and they were not equipped to spend the night out among the elements. Their location was described as being very remote in extremely thick timber.

The group put in an emergency call to 911, which was connected to TCSAR. With the helicopter grounded due to darkness, TCSAR would be in for a ground response—and the mission turned into an all-nighter.

TCSAR assembled a group of nine volunteers who went into the field. They drove a SAR truck towing a RZR side-by-side as far as they could up a Forest Service road. When the truck could go no farther, a team jumped in the RZR to drive up an old logging road that hadn’t been used in years. Multiple downed trees blocked their path. When the RZR became stymied by deadfall and timber, two volunteers made a fast track through the forest to the patient in order to provide initial care and comfort. Meanwhile, the rest of the volunteers hiked in carrying the wheeled litter.

There was so much deadfall it took the volunteers three hours to get the wheeled litter to the patient. At 2:30 a.m., TCSAR placed the patient in the wheeled litter, and carried him through and over deadfall back to the RZR, an effort that took another few hours. The RZR then transported the man to the SAR truck, and the team gave him a ride to St. John’s Health so he could receive higher medical care. 

The volunteers made it back to the SAR hangar at 5:30 a.m., where they prepped the equipment for the next mission, and then headed home to rest.

5 Pt Film Festival Benefits TCSAR on September 27

Our favorite night at the movies—5 Point Film Festival—is taking place this Friday, Sept. 27, at the Center for the Arts in downtown Jackson. Sponsored by Stio with a raffle benefiting Teton County Search & Rescue, the festival features a series of outdoor and adventure films that are guided by 5 Point's principles: commitment, respect, humility, purpose, and balance.

Raffle prizes benefiting TCSAR include donated products from Stio, Yeti, NRS, Osmia Organics, 5 Point, Teton County Search & Rescue, and Tincup Mountain Whiskey. All raffle proceeds benefit Teton County Search & Rescue.