Jackson, Wyo. — At 12:29 p.m. on Friday, March 13, Teton County Search & Rescue received an emergency alert for an injured skier on the South Ridge of Taylor Mountain. The skier, a local 28-year-old female, sustained a knee injury while skinning up from the Coal Creek drainage. Unable to ski or hike out, her partners called 911.

TCSAR dispatched three teams to approach the scene on skis and placed a helicopter team on standby. One volunteer team, consisting of three members who live on the west side of the Tetons, reached the patient first. She was about 800 feet up the mountain and roughly a mile from the Coal Creek parking lot. The volunteers evaluated the patient’s condition and made a plan to get her out of the backcountry.

The other ski teams arrived shortly afterward, and all worked together to transport the patient by rope and toboggan to the Coal Creek parking area. The effort involved 25 volunteers and took 3 hours, 31 minutes to complete.

Volunteers encountered slick conditions in their response, which served as a timely reminder that skiers heading into the backcountry should expect to find unforgiving conditions. Ski crampons and other tools that help amplify traction on snow and ice should be strongly considered as our temperatures fluctuate between the seasons.