TCSAR Volunteers

Old Bill's 2025: TCSAR Always Answers The Call

TCSAR volunteers are on call 24/7/365. This means they often step away from their families and normal everyday activities in order to answer an emergency call from someone in need in the backcountry.

Since January 1, TCSAR has been called nearly 120 times, an all-time record. Though not every call has resulted in a full-team callout, anytime the phone rings, a volunteer is there to answer.

By donating to TCSAR this Old Bill's giving season, you are supporting trainings, physical and mental wellness, meals, and personal safety equipment that empower TCSAR volunteers to answer the call—and come home to their families.

Thank you for supporting our volunteers.

TCSAR Recognizes Volunteers For Outstanding Service

Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue recently recognized numerous volunteers for reaching significant milestones in their commitment to the team and the betterment of our community.

Each summer, the organization honors those volunteers who have reached 10 years of service or more, in five-year increments. The volunteers who reach these milestones receive a limited-edition belt buckle at the team’s summer picnic. This year, Teton County Commissioners also recognized the volunteers with a certificate of service.

Volunteers Chris Stiehl and Carol Viau were recently recognized for their 25-year commitment to Teton County Search & Rescue. Photo: Matt Hansen

This year, volunteers Chris Stiehl and Carol Viau were recognized for their 25 years of service on TCSAR. Having joined the team in 2000, the two are among the most tenured volunteers in the organization. Only Tim Ciocarlan (1993), Mike Moyer (1993), Mike Estes (1993), and Jenn Sparks (1998) have been on the team longer.

Ten Years and Counting

The volunteers who have reached the 15-year mark include: Ryan Combs, Ethan Lobdell, Cody Lockhart, and Galen Parke.

Reaching the 10-year anniversary include volunteers: KC Bess, Phillip Fox, Chase Lockhart, Ryan Mertaugh, Keegan Pfeil, Scott Shervin, Anthony Stevens, Doug Van Houten, and Don Watkins. 

Of the 36 volunteers on TCSAR, 27 have served for more than 10 years. Every year, TCSAR volunteers collectively donate more than 10,000 hours of service back to the community in the form of rescues, trainings, and backcountry safety education. All rescues performed by TCSAR are free of charge.

Please join us in thanking all of these volunteers for their exceptional commitment to our community.

TCSAR Rescues Mountain Biker on Teton Pass

At 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22, Teton County Search & Rescue was alerted to an injured mountain biker on the Phillips Canyon trail. The biker, a 47-year-old local woman, had crashed while descending the trail and sustained injuries that prevented her from getting out of the backcountry on her own.

TCSAR volunteers maneuver the wheeled litter carrying an injured mountain biker down Phillips Canyon on July 22, 2025. It was the team’s fourth mountain bike rescue of the summer on Teton Pass, and the season’s eighth rescue call overall for that location. Photo: TCSAR

TCSAR responded with numerous volunteers. Two teams approached the scene from the Phillips Bench trailhead before going on foot packing the wheeled litter via the Arrow Trail. A third team went up Phillips Canyon from the trailhead on Fish Creek Road.

Volunteers reached the patient and her friend at approximately 2:40 p.m., and packaged the patient for transport in the wheeled litter. The team then rolled and carried the patient about three miles down the trail to Fish Creek Road. From there, the patient and friend self-transported to higher medical care. TCSAR volunteers made it back to base at 4:30 p.m.

This was the volunteers’ eighth time responding to a rescue call on Teton Pass this summer, four of which have been for mountain bikers.