TCSAR Responds to Three Calls in Two Days

Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers responded to three calls between July 7-8, making for a busy few days that covered nearly their entire service area.

Just before noon on Friday, July 7, a local woman in her 50s was hiking with her dog on the History trail when she came down with a lower leg injury. TCSAR responded with a team driving the RZR (a utility terrain vehicle) up the Old Pass Road. The volunteers located the patient, splinted the injury, transported her in the wheeled litter back to the RZR, and drove her down the Old Pass Road to her vehicle. The team completed the mission in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

TCSAR uses the wheeled litter to help transport an injured patient out of Teton Canyon, on the west side of the Tetons. Photo: TCSAR

At 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, July 8, the team received a call regarding a cyclist having a medical issue at Mosquito Lake off the Union Pass Road. TCSAR volunteers responded by driving a SAR truck towing the RZR on a trailer to the north access of Union Pass Road. They then drove the RZR down the dirt road to Mosquito Lake, where they met the patient and his riding partner, who were both visiting from out of state. The team then drove the men, with their bikes loaded on a bike rack attached to the RZR, out of the backcountry and back to Jackson for higher medical care. Due to the remoteness of Mosquito Lake and the long drive, this mission wrapped up in 8 hours, 32 minutes.

As that rescue call played out on Saturday, TCSAR received a call at 12:25 p.m. from the west side of the Tetons. This concerned a visiting man in his mid-60s who had sustained a lower leg injury while hiking on the North Teton trail of Table Mountain. The man’s companions were able to provide initial treatment but required further assistance from TCSAR to get out of the backcountry. Volunteers drove to the trailhead and entered the backcountry on foot carrying the wheeled litter. Once on scene, they packaged the man in the litter and wheeled him out about a mile to the trailhead. The mission took 5 hours and 5 minutes to complete.

TCSAR partners with Star Valley SAR to Rescue Lost Hiker

Jackson, Wyo. — Just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, Teton County Search & Rescue received a call from Star Valley Search & Rescue for helicopter assistance to help a hiker who’d become cliffed out in extreme terrain east of Afton, Wyo.

SVSAR reported that the woman became disoriented and lost in fog at a higher elevation hours earlier and, after becoming wet and cold, followed the wrong ridgeline until deadfall and steep terrain left her unable to continue. Exhausted, lost and recognizing she wouldn’t be able to find her way out before dark, she called for help.

TCSAR and Star Valley SAR partnered for a rescue on June 14, 2023, and completed the mission just as the sun went down. Photo: TCSAR

SVSAR members responded on motorized dirt bikes to a position above and to the south of her, then hiked several miles to her position and made contact. With daylight getting short, SVSAR volunteers believed it would take many hours to help get her down safely without helicopter assistance. That’s when they put in the heli request at TCSAR.

TCSAR volunteers accepted the mission and dispatched a short-haul heli team to the woman’s location. The team also sent ground teams in SAR vehicles as backup.

The heli team found the woman at 8:40 p.m., and successfully short-hauled her to the valley floor just outside of Afton at 8:55 p.m. Short-haul is a rescue method where a patient and rescuers are hoisted via a rope connected to the belly of the helicopter for a short flight out of the backcountry. It is often used in steep terrain where landing the helicopter is not an option. The woman, an Afton resident, did not require medical care and wished to express her gratitude to all responders when debriefed at SVSAR headquarters immediately after her rescue.

The heli team was able to fly back to Jackson without ground assistance, landing at the TCSAR hangar with just five minutes before dark.

TCSAR appreciates the partnership and coordination from our friends at SVSAR, and was happy to be in a position to help the woman get out of the backcountry safely.