JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) were called out for consecutive rescues Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28 and 29. Both incidents utilizing the team’s helicopter to help bring patients out of the backcountry.
On Tuesday, a call came in at 1:30 p.m. regarding an injured snowmobiler in Togwotee Pass. A man in his mid-50s had sustained injuries after he rolled his sled during a guided trip. The heli team flew to the accident site and the team was able to load the patient internally for a flight to a landing zone and waiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS at the Blackrock Ranger Station.
On Wednesday, TCSAR was called at 11:47 a.m. by a skier who reported that his partner, a man in his mid-60s, was having a medical issue in Mail Cabin, a popular ski touring area west of Teton Pass, near the Coak creek parking lot. The skier had to leave his partner astray in order to ski out and find cell phone service. TCSAR initiated a helicopter response, with ground teams as backup in case the helicopter could not fly.
Initially, the TCSAR heli team could not pinpoint the exact location of the patient due to thick timber and steep ravine features of Mail Cabin. After circling the area numerous times, the team spotted the patient near a meadow about one mile from the Coal Creek parking lot. Volunteers packaged the patient for flight and short-hauled him to an LZ on the highway, where he was transferred to an ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS. Further air resources were unnecessary and all team members exited the field.
