JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) has announced 10 volunteers that were selected to join the team in 2025. This is the 12th class of volunteers since the founding of TCSAR in 1993. The last volunteer group was selected in 2021; before that, it was 2015.
Volunteers in the newest class are Tommy Basore, Gretchen Cherry, Matt Chorney, Doug Cook, Oliver Dev, Thomas Ferguson, Bria Gillespie, Joe Grout, Kaeli McClenahan and Sam Wasserman.
“They bring this incredible energy to the team, which is awesome,” TCSAR Training Advisor Anthony Stevens told Buckrail. “The old guards are psyched to pass on the knowledge they’ve learned over however many years they’ve been on the team.”
Training for the new volunteers began on June 1, 2025, and will be complete on June 1, 2026, when they will graduate from associate to operational members of the team. They are effectively siloed during the first six months of the yearlong training, according to Stevens, to give them an opportunity to build their own culture as a group.
“There’s something powerful about being part of a new class,” Stevens added.
This is the second class that Stevens has brought on to the TCSAR team. Volunteers go through extensive training during their first year. The group has so far undergone a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course, swiftwater rescue training, rope rescue course, helicopter operations course, incident command course and orientation to the team and hangar. The team will complete their last training, an avalanche level one course, in January.
“They’ve given up quite a lot of their free time to get their initial training,” Stevens continued. “They’re ready to go.”
