TCSAR volunteers rescue two backcountry skiers in separate incidents this week
TETON COUNTY, Wyoming (KIFI) — Two injured backcountry skiers are recovering this evening after crews from Teton County Search and Rescue rushed to their aid in separate incidents this week.
Both calls involved skiers who had injured their lower legs while in the backcountry, leaving them stranded.
The first incident took place on Monday, January 11, around 3:40 PM. TCSAR crews received an alert from a woman who'd been injured while skiing in the Do-It Chutes area. Crews found her stranded in a timbered chute several hundred feet above Hwy 22.
Using both a short-haul helicopter team and skiers on the ground as backup, TCSAR volunteers were able to package and haul the patient to an awaiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS within around 3 hours of the initial alert.
The second incident happend on the following day, Tuesday, January 12, around 10:28 AM. A man had injured his lower leg while skiing in the Black Canyon area of Mount Elly.
Once again, TCSAR crews responded using both a helicopter team and skiers on the ground as backup on the top of the Teton Pass. The man was stranded about 400 feet below the summit of Mount Elly, which required the volunteers to land in an open field of snow uphill from the scene. Rescuers worked alongside the man’s skiing partners to carry him up the slope to the aircraft, which then transported the patient and the rescue team directly to the TCSAR hangar in Jackson.
