JACKSON, Wyo. — On the heels of a Friday afternoon avalanche in the Snow King backcountry resulting in a short-haul operation, Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) was called to two additional skier-involved avalanches.
Late Friday evening at 10:26 p.m., TCSAR volunteers were alerted of a skier-triggered avalanche on the gully known locally as Taco Bell Couloir on the east face of East Gros Ventre Butte.
“Two skiers had dropped in to ski the line near the top, causing an avalanche that ran the length of the slide path into Flat Creek,” said TCSAR.
But as a team of its volunteers was gearing up to go into the field, they were told to stand down after it was discovered that there were no burials or need for a swift water rescue in the creek.
Less than 24 hours later, at 2:42 p.m., TCSAR was called again for a skier involved in an avalanche in No Name Canyon, a run in the backcountry of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
“The skier had been part of a guided group of three that had entered the backcountry from the JHMR boundary,” said TCSAR. “There were no burials associated with the avalanche but one skier sustained injuries that prevented him and the rest of his group from exiting the backcountry on their own power.”
Search and Rescue responded to the accident with its helicopter, which was able to land near the site. The skiers were loaded and flown to the landing zone at the base of Teton Village. The helicopter returned to pick up the remaining SAR volunteers in the field before flying back to the TCSAR hangar in Jackson. The mission was completed in one hour.
