A Rescuer’s First Instinct: “How can I help in this situation?”

It's Week 5 of Old Bill's Giving Season—the best time of the year to support TCSAR volunteers to help keep the backcountry safe

Who among us doesn’t feel the weight of remorse or flash of panic when word spreads that someone has been caught in an avalanche in the Tetons?

Do I know this person? Is it one of my friends? Didn’t so-and-so say they were going skiing up there today?

As you send out text messages and check social media and local news in search of answers, TCSAR volunteers are mobilizing to jump into the fray to respond—no matter what. It happens, from time to time, that they know the person involved. They have even been called to help fellow SAR members. But the perspective the volunteers keep on every rescue is that even if they don’t know the person, they recognize that he or she has family and friends, and that they need to do whatever it takes to get that person home.

During the pandemic, TCSAR volunteers must take extra precautions during a response, like wearing personal protective equipment and masks. Team members Ryan Combs and Jenn Sparks. Photo: Morris Weintraub

In 2009, Ryan Combs lost a friend in an avalanche. The friend wasn’t doing anything crazy; he’d been wearing a beacon and was just out enjoying a powder day. Combs remembers thinking that such an incident could easily have happened to himself, and it was one of the motivating factors that prompted him to join Teton County Search and Rescue in 2010. The notion that mountains can render the highest joys and yet cause the worst heartbreaks has never left him.

"The majority of the time the team receives a call-out, it's most often somebody I don’t know," he says. "But the universal grounding we share is we identify with somebody who’s in pain. It doesn't matter who it is, you can relate to them. That is something we all as human beings find common ground with. When you see someone not doing well, my instinct is, 'How can I help in this situation?'"

Over the last 10 years, 58 percent of all call-outs during winter in Jackson Hole are for backcountry skiers and snowboarders. This figure does not include all of the close calls, near misses, or self/companion rescues. So it is paramount that TCSAR have strong skiers and snowboarders among their ranks, though they are quick to point out that the best trait of all is being a good teammate.

Data from the 2020 Midseason Rescue Report shows how often TCSAR volunteers respond to backcountry skiing/snowboarding incidents.

In addition to being a good teammate, volunteer Jenn Sparks says skiers on the squad should also have "patience, lots of down coats, and hand-warmers."

 "The cold and approaching darkness add other elements to not only teammates, but the patient as well," she says. "Knowing it takes on average of an hour to get to an injured person on skis is stressful, and now we are dealing with potential hypothermia."

With many observers believing that the backcountry this winter will be busier than ever due to the pandemic, it will be critically important to have a strong and healthy TCSAR team. You can help make that happen by donating to the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation at Old Bill's today.

Thank you for having a mind for backcountry safety, and supporting our volunteers.

TCSAR's Wheeled Litter Keeps Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

During Old Bill's Giving Season, your support for TCSAR volunteers helps keep the backcountry safe

On May 29, Sara Kirkpatrick, a local teacher and mom, was hiking Josie's Ridge and carrying her 15-month-old boy. Like many of us, getting out on the trails is part of her lifestyle, especially as a way to cope with the stresses and uncertainty of the pandemic.
 

About halfway down the steep trail, she stumbled and broke her ankle. Her first reaction was to protect her child—he was fine. Unable to walk, she called 911, which sent Teton County Search and Rescue into gear. TCSAR volunteer Jon Wiedie was already mountain biking in the area, while team members Jenn Sparks and Alex Norton, who live nearby, began climbing the hill. Reinforcements arrived with other team members carrying the wheeled litter, one of the most innovative ways to carry an injured person over rugged terrain. 

It's used often in the summertime for hikers, bikers and people on horseback who become injured, including just last night on a rescue in Pacific Creek for a man who'd fallen from his horse.

With Josie's being popular and close to town, Kirkpatrick never thought she’d need a rescue there. Her husband soon arrived to care for their baby while the volunteers, who were wearing masks and other PPE, packaged her into the wheeled litter.

"It was scary because it’s steep and you have to let go," she said. "But you have to say, 'These two people have control of me right now.' What was kind of amazing is that Alex is my neighbor, and Sparks is a friend, so it was the community that I knew. I felt so supported."

TCSAR volunteers Galen Parke (back left) and Chase Lockhart grin and bear it during a recent photo shoot for Old Bill’s at the team’s hangar. Photo: Morris Weintraub

TCSAR got its first wheeled litter a few years after the team’s inception in 1993. That litter had been designed by Jenny Lake climbing rangers. It was big and bulky, had a mountain bike tire, and weighed about 40 pounds. The team's current design came onboard about five years ago. Working with Cascade Rescue, a Sandpoint, Idaho-based company that designs SAR equipment, TCSAR volunteers devised a lightweight system for mountain travel. The model, called the Terra Tamer, weighs just over 15 pounds. It includes a titanium frame and fork system, a 4.25-inch fatty bike tire that rolls and bounces over rocks and roots, and disc brakes. The system can be transported in pieces, giving volunteers the option of carrying it to the patient and assembling it on scene.

On the move near the Ferrin’s trail summit. Photo: TCSAR

Each summer, there are numerous instances when the wheeled litter comes into play. Now, it's often paired with the team's RZR, a side-by-side utility terrain vehicle that TCSAR refurbished to accommodate the litter. There have been some epics over the years, however, with the team transporting patients in the wheeled litter for several miles over extremely rugged terrain. 

You've also probably seen the team running the wheeled litter during the Old Bill's Fun Run. Though the run part of the event isn't happening this year, don't be surprised to see the team showcasing the wheeled litter in their own way—that is, running it hard and fast—to celebrate the spirit of the event.

The team uses the wheeled litter to carry a man to safety on a recent mission. Photo: TCSAR

Right now, you can let the volunteers know how much you appreciate their selfless dedication to helping locals and visitors in the backcountry by donating to Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation through Old Bill's. They are strong, dedicated and, yes, kind in their approach to keeping the backcountry safe. But they can't do it without your help.

Thank you for rolling with us and supporting TCSAR.

TCSAR Strives to Keep Pace with Snowmobile Rescues

During Old Bill's Giving Season, your support for TCSAR volunteers helps keep the backcountry safe

The power and efficiency of a modern snowmobile means you can travel farther, faster and stay out longer than the best riders barely dreamed of just 10 years ago. Advanced engineering, better floatation in powder, and improved maneuverability make for some all-time days.

"The best day I had this last year, we were the only people out. It was bluebird and we had deep powder,” says Doug Van Houten, a TCSAR volunteer since 2015. “We were getting face shots on every turn, like the snowmobile was tunneling through the snow. We went 30 miles that day.”

But as TCSAR volunteers know all too well, that same speed and power can get people into trouble, and turn an all-time day into tragedy. Over the last several years, avalanche deaths among snowmobilers in Wyoming have grown at an alarming rate. Since reporting began decades ago, there have been 37 snowmobilers who’ve died in avalanches in Wyoming, compared to 26 backcountry skiers, according to statistics from the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center.

Doug Van Houten, a TCSAR volunteer since 2015, is the team’s logistics advisor. Photo: Morris Weintraub

For the last 10 years in Teton County, snowmobilers have accounted for roughly 35 percent of all callouts each winter, versus 58 percent for backcountry skiers and snowboarders. Snowmobile callouts range from people getting lost, stuck, crashing, or getting caught in avalanches. At times, the team may respond on snowmobiles, but transition to skis at a wilderness boundary, as they did two winters ago during a two-day mission to save three snowmobilers who’d become lost and stuck in the Teton Wilderness. 

To respond to these incidents, TCSAR volunteers have made it a priority to train and be equipped on sleds. They keep seven snowmachines in Jackson, and two in Alta to respond to accidents on the west side of the Tetons. Volunteers may also use their own sleds depending on the situation, and they train how to use the machines with different types of toboggans for hauling gear and people across difficult terrain.

The widespread and challenging nature of snowmobile rescues is one reason why your donations to the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation through Old Bill’s this year are so important. Our volunteers need to have access to technology and training that helps them keep pace with modern snowmachines in order to handle the incident load.

TCSAR volunteer Galen Parke stamps his passport to Trench Town during a training session last winter. Photo: David Bowers

Van Houten, also the logistics advisor for TCSAR, offers the following recommendations for having all-time days:

Know the consequences

• Before heading out, make sure you are prepared for environmental, mechanical, and medical scenarios. Carry the right gear in avalanche terrain, and more importantly, know how to use it. The Mountain Riding Lab offers avalanche safety classes by snowmobilers, for snowmobilers.

Be mindful

• Always pay attention to terrain, navigation, snow conditions, and your own energy level. Many people are excellent at riding, but they may not have experience managing avalanche terrain, creek beds, and other hazards.

Talk it out

• Communication is key, both within your group and the outside world. Two-way radios, like these from Backcountry Access, are excellent options to keep tabs on your riding partners, whereas emergency locator beacons, such as a Garmin inReach, allow you to call for help even without cellular service.

• Remember to discuss your plans with your group before hitting the trail. Talk about expectations, a plan everyone can agree on, ability level, and comfort level for riding in the backcountry.

Think about it

• Your brain is your best tool, exercise it.

If you'd like to help support the efforts by our team to continue to save lives in the Jackson Hole backcountry, we humbly ask for you to consider making a donation to TCSAR Foundation through Old Bill's. This is the best time of the year to support TCSAR volunteers, as matching funds from the community help stretch your dollars.

As locals and visitors continue to flee the pandemic into the Teton County backcountry, it's more important than ever for the community to have a healthy and strong TCSAR team. We would be grateful for any and all support.