Injured Speed Flyer Prompts Response From TCSAR

Just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, a 26-year-old local male became injured after crashing during a speed-wing flight south of Jackson.

Unlike a typical paraglider, a speed wing is a small, lightweight flying setup that is intended to be flown at high speeds in close proximity to the ground or other features. In this case, it appeared that the man had crash landed near the bottom of the mountain near Horsethief Canyon.

The wheeled litter is a key piece of equipment for TCSAR during the warmer months in Jackson Hole. In this case, the team used it to transport an injured speed flyer out of the backcountry near Horsethief Canyon on May 7, 2025. Photo: TCSAR

An emergency call was placed, prompting a response from Teton County Search & Rescue. A team of volunteers drove to the base of Horsethief and accessed the patient by foot, about a 10-minute jaunt from the parking lot. The team assessed the man’s condition, placed him in the wheeled litter, and transported him out of the backcountry. A family member then drove the patient to higher medical care.

TCSAR Pulls All-Nighter to Rescue Injured Hunter

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 27, Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers were alerted to an injured hunter on Mount Leidy. The hunter, a 66-year-old man from California, became injured when he fell while walking down the steep north face of Leidy. The man, who was with a group of hunters from Wyoming, was unable to stand up or walk. At the time of the injury, the group was not near their camp and they were not equipped to spend the night out among the elements. Their location was described as being very remote in extremely thick timber.

The group put in an emergency call to 911, which was connected to TCSAR. With the helicopter grounded due to darkness, TCSAR would be in for a ground response—and the mission turned into an all-nighter.

TCSAR assembled a group of nine volunteers who went into the field. They drove a SAR truck towing a RZR side-by-side as far as they could up a Forest Service road. When the truck could go no farther, a team jumped in the RZR to drive up an old logging road that hadn’t been used in years. Multiple downed trees blocked their path. When the RZR became stymied by deadfall and timber, two volunteers made a fast track through the forest to the patient in order to provide initial care and comfort. Meanwhile, the rest of the volunteers hiked in carrying the wheeled litter.

There was so much deadfall it took the volunteers three hours to get the wheeled litter to the patient. At 2:30 a.m., TCSAR placed the patient in the wheeled litter, and carried him through and over deadfall back to the RZR, an effort that took another few hours. The RZR then transported the man to the SAR truck, and the team gave him a ride to St. John’s Health so he could receive higher medical care. 

The volunteers made it back to the SAR hangar at 5:30 a.m., where they prepped the equipment for the next mission, and then headed home to rest.