Two people hospitalized after separate backcountry rescues
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TETON COUNTY — Two people were hospitalized after being rescued in separate incidents in the backcountry on Thursday.
According to the rescue group’s Facebook page, Teton County Search and Rescue responded to two calls on Thursday.
The first incident was just before noon, according to the post. A 46-year-old woman had crashed on her snowboard between the two bootpacks that lead to an area known as Four Pines, in the backcountry just south of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort backcountry.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Patrol responded first and provided initial patient care. The ski patrol team requested helicopter assistance from Teton County Search and Rescue, which flew to the accident site and landed near the patient. She was loaded into the helicopter and flown to the TCSAR hangar, where she was transferred to a waiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS.
The second incident of the day occurred at about 2 p.m.
A 19-year-old man injured himself when he crashed his snowmobile into a tree on K Trail, in the Togwotee Pass area.
“TCSAR again fired up the (helicopter) and flew to Windy Point in Grand Teton National Park to pick up two rangers who would assist in the rescue,” the post said.
Inclement weather was moving in and out of the area at the time, so TCSAR dispatched additional teams on snowmobiles in case the helicopter had to be grounded. According to the post, a U.S. Forest Service ranger was also sent to the incident on a snowmobile.
The helicopter “found a weather window” and landed near the injured snowmobiler at about 3:20 p.m. Rescuers loaded the patient into the helicopter and took him to a landing zone at the USFS Blackrock Ranger Station, where they were met by a Grand Teton National Park ambulance.
“On busy days like this, it’s important to recognize and give thanks to the multiple partnering agencies across Teton County who help the team respond to rescues, as well as the families and partners of TCSAR volunteers who scramble to hold down the fort while their loved ones go into the field. We appreciate you,” the post said.