Same Trail, Different Day: TCSAR Responds to Parallel Trail For Injured Mountain Biker

For the second time in four days, Teton County Search & Rescue was called out to help an injured mountain biker on the Parallel Trail on Teton Pass. This time, on Tuesday, May 27, the patient was a 39-year-old local male who washed out on his bike while navigating a berm turn after a jump. The patient sustained a severe lower leg injury in the process. He called 911 at about 4:37 p.m., which initiated an emergency response.

TCSAR volunteers help an injured mountain biker on the Parallel Trail on May 27, 2025: Photo courtesy: Patrick Cunningham

TCSAR volunteers responded to the Old Pass Road and a truck pull-out above the trail on Hwy. 22. Volunteers arrived on foot and provided treatment in the field to alleviate pain and discomfort. The team then packaged the patient in the wheeled litter and transported him down the trail to a waiting ambulance from Jackson Hole Fire/EMS.

Thanks for being such a great patient! Photo courtesy: Patrick Cunningham

TCSAR Rescues 15-year-old Mountain Biker on Parallel Trail on Teton Pass

At 11:41 a.m. on Sunday, September 8, TCSAR was called to respond to an injured mountain biker on Teton Pass. The patient, a 15-year-old female from Idaho, had crashed on her mountain bike while descending Parallel, a downhill-only trail that descends between the Old Pass Road and Hwy 22. The girl reportedly had trouble on a corner and fell into a steep, rocky gully.

TCSAR volunteers transport a young mountain biker to higher medical care on September 8, 2024. Photo: TCSAR

A call to 911 dispatch was relayed to TCSAR, which responded with volunteers going up the Old Pass Road and Hwy 22. A group of volunteers approached the patient on foot and began initial treatment. Due to her injuries and location, the volunteers rigged a raise system. For this operation, they placed the patient in a litter and used ropes to lift and raise her out of the gully about 100 yards back up to the trail.

Holding the litter upright, the team then assembled a wheel to the bottom of the litter in order to transport her a quarter mile to a pullout on Hwy 22. At that point, they transferred her to a waiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS and returned to the hangar, completing the mission in 2 hours, 9 minutes.