When skiing steep and exposed terrain, a skier needs to be 100% focused. A small slip of a ski edge, a milli-second loss of attention or even a simple misjudgment in terrain or snow conditions, can have very serious consequences and even lead to injury. Distractions can definitely be hazardous to one’s health in the […]
TCSAR
Update: I am very sorry to report that a member of TCSAR, Ray Shriver, has died as a result of this accident. It is another tragic loss to the Jackson Hole and SAR community. Thanks to the Jackson Hole News and Guide for keeping us informed during this very unfortunate event. My condolences go out […]
Randosteve making his first short-haul flight. Well, its’ taken about a whole year, but I finally popped my cherry yesterday with short haul training for Teton Country Search and Rescue, and made my first flight hanging from the bottom of the helicopter. I was little nervous before my first go around, but once I was […]
Ever have someone you know (or maybe even a total stranger) be overdue coming back from the mountains? Scary thought huh? You’re mind instantly thinks the worst has happened and you start thinking of what you could do to help them. You could call Search and Rescue and get the pros involved, or you could […]
After skiing Albright and Wimpys on Friday, I had just gotten home and was trying to stay motivated to attend the “Steep” showing at the Village when the call-out came for a broken leg on the west side of Glory. We used the heli to shuttle rescuers to a safe LZ above the patient on […]
Just want to give a shout out to my SAR buddies on a rescue today for a missing snowmobiler up at Togwotee. Unfortunately I’m working a big sale at the store today and just can’t respond. I guess I’ll run back-up if anything else comes up. Man, recently it seems like TCSAR has been getting […]
The start. Here are some photos from the Teams Race at Targhee this weekend. Thanks to Brad Boner who was over there shooting for the Jackson Hole News and Guide. Look for a story on the race later in the week. Zahan Billamoria, Wray Langdon, and Eric Wilbrecht battle for position at the start. The […]
Randosteve and his motorized sleigh provide a pick-up instead of a drop-off for two Wisconsin snowboarders on Christmas day. After a night of tossing and turning, thinking about the people we would be going out to search for, I met my Teton County Search and Rescue teammates and we gathered up some snowmobiles before heading […]
The TCSAR crew getting in some classrooom time at the Sheriff’s Office. As a volunteer member of Teton County Search and Rescue, one of the new tools and techniques I am training for is for the ability to do a short-haul from a helicopter. This is basically when your are suspended beneath the helicopter with […]
Murphy anxiously awaits his first rid in the helicopter. I had helicopter training for TCSAR this weekend. I was hoping it was going to be canceled due to the weather. With the 5″ of new snow on Teton Pass, I knew things would be skiing nice and I wanted to get Julia out on her […]
I gotta tell you, you never know what you are in for when you get a call-out for Teton County Search and Rescue. When one came for two injured hunters, deep in the Gros Ventre this Tuesday evening, I decided I would respond, even though it was the second time in a week I was […]
At about 7:30 last night, I got a SAR call-out involving a text message about someone being trapped in a mudslide (or flash flood) in Jensen Canyon off Fish Creek Road near the Moose Creek Ranch. The call-out turned out to be a false alarm, but the mudslide was for real. I was at work […]
It’s every backcountry skier’s worst nightmare. You’re having fun skiing powder with your wife and friends, when the next thing you know you are in the mist of an avalanche…fighting to stay alive. This happened to Jackson skier Adam Smith last season while skiing in Granite Canyon, accessed through the gates at the Jackson Hole […]
I hemmed and hawed about responding to this call-out…and even replayed the message a few times. But in the end I decided that helping a mountain biker with a broken femur get out of the woods safely was quite a bit more important that hearing what Stephen Koch had to say about moving fast in […]
Note: With respect to the caving community…I have removed the photos and map of the Wind and Ice Cave that were once in this post. My Memorial Day weekend was interrupted yesterday with a call-out for an overdue group from Utah who where believed to be attempting a through-trip of the Ice to Wind Cave […]
UPDATE!!!! I arrived back in Jackson this morning to a SAR call-out regarding some overdue climbers on the Grand Teton. Details are very sketchy right now, but it appears that climbers Alan Rooney and Jonathan Morrow were attempting to climb the Black Ice Couloir, a well known (but rarely ever ‘in’) ice climb on the […]
I am sad to report that I just got home from a SAR call-out to an avalanche incident in Darby Canyon, where one skier perished. I got the call-out at about 5pm Saturday afternoon. From what I can tell, two brothers (one from Driggs, one from Steamboat) were ascending the the western slope of Peak […]
Since the heli was canceled yesterday, I took some time to work on my taxes, but did get out for a quick run on the Pass at around noon. The wind was ripping pretty good, and I skied Twin Slides back down to the parking lot. My last pass run was about a week ago, […]
I skied the Village yesterday and it was fun…maybe a little cold. The wind picked up at the end of the day and was scouring most of the exposed runs. On my last run down, about 3:45, my phone rang…SAR call-out, busted femur at the bottom of ‘The Claw’ on Teton Pass. Being the time […]
I had helicopter training for Teton County Search and Rescue up at Togwotee this weekend. The roads were solid ice at Moran Junction and we saw a trailer jackknifed off the road…just missing the GTNP entrance sign. We brought up the team snowmobiles, including four shiny new Skidoo 800’s that are very nice. The team […]