The Fine Line podcast goes Straight to the Heart

Shortness of breath, fatigue, and feeling like you can’t take another step are as common in the mountains as blisters, mosquito bites, and chapped lips. 

But on March 29, 2023, skier Dave Brown felt a sudden onset of extreme fatigue that was entirely new to him, and terribly serious. At 67 years old, the former ski patroller had never had any previous medical issues. But during a backcountry ski tour up Mail Cabin on the west side of Teton Pass, he knew he needed to get help–and get it fast. In this episode of The Fine Line, we’ll hear how Brown and his ski partner made a critical decision that helped save his life. And Teton County Search & Rescue volunteer Keegan Pfeil explains how the team responded to the emergency in a deep timbered ravine where simply locating their patient was a challenge.

TCSAR volunteer Keegan Pfeil (left) with Dave Brown. Photo: Matt Hansen/TCSAR Foundation

The Fine Line is produced by Backcountry Zero and sponsored by Stio and Roadhouse Brewing Co.

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TCSAR Responds to Three Calls in Two Days

Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers responded to three calls between July 7-8, making for a busy few days that covered nearly their entire service area.

Just before noon on Friday, July 7, a local woman in her 50s was hiking with her dog on the History trail when she came down with a lower leg injury. TCSAR responded with a team driving the RZR (a utility terrain vehicle) up the Old Pass Road. The volunteers located the patient, splinted the injury, transported her in the wheeled litter back to the RZR, and drove her down the Old Pass Road to her vehicle. The team completed the mission in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

TCSAR uses the wheeled litter to help transport an injured patient out of Teton Canyon, on the west side of the Tetons. Photo: TCSAR

At 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, July 8, the team received a call regarding a cyclist having a medical issue at Mosquito Lake off the Union Pass Road. TCSAR volunteers responded by driving a SAR truck towing the RZR on a trailer to the north access of Union Pass Road. They then drove the RZR down the dirt road to Mosquito Lake, where they met the patient and his riding partner, who were both visiting from out of state. The team then drove the men, with their bikes loaded on a bike rack attached to the RZR, out of the backcountry and back to Jackson for higher medical care. Due to the remoteness of Mosquito Lake and the long drive, this mission wrapped up in 8 hours, 32 minutes.

As that rescue call played out on Saturday, TCSAR received a call at 12:25 p.m. from the west side of the Tetons. This concerned a visiting man in his mid-60s who had sustained a lower leg injury while hiking on the North Teton trail of Table Mountain. The man’s companions were able to provide initial treatment but required further assistance from TCSAR to get out of the backcountry. Volunteers drove to the trailhead and entered the backcountry on foot carrying the wheeled litter. Once on scene, they packaged the man in the litter and wheeled him out about a mile to the trailhead. The mission took 5 hours and 5 minutes to complete.

TCSAR Volunteers Stay Busy with Two Rescues in Two Days

Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers were called out for rescues on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28 and 29, with both incidents utilizing the team’s leased helicopter to help bring patients out of the backcountry.

Hwy 22 was briefly closed on the afternoon of March 29 so that TCSAR volunteers could create a landing zone for a rescue mission in Mail Cabin. The short-haul line is visible below the ship. Photo: TCSAR

On Tuesday, the call came in at 1:30 p.m. regarding an injured snowmobiler on Togwotee Pass. A man in his mid 50’s had sustained injuries when he rolled his sled during a guided snowmobile trip. The initial page also concerned a missing person from the same party who had become lost after trying to sled out of the backcountry to get help. That person was eventually located while TCSAR mobilized a ground team on snowmobiles and a team of volunteers in the helicopter.

The heli team flew to the accident site and the team was able to load the patient internally for a short flight to a landing zone (LZ) and waiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS at the Blackrock Ranger Station on Hwy 287.

On Wednesday, TCSAR was called at 11:47 a.m. by a skier who reported his partner was having a medical issue in Mail Cabin, to the west of Teton Pass. The skier had to leave his partner behind on the trail in order to ski out to find cell phone service. TCSAR initiated a helicopter response, with ground teams as backup in case the helicopter could not fly, and to secure an LZ at a parking lot or traffic pullout on Hwy 22. The team also put in a request for Air Idaho, a private air ambulance based in Driggs, in case the patient needed a flight to a regional hospital.

Initially, the TCSAR heli team could not pinpoint the exact location of the patient due to thick timber and steep ravine features of Mail Cabin. After circling the area numerous times, the team spotted the patient near a meadow about one mile from the Coal Creek parking lot. 

Teton County Sheriff Deputies were instrumental to help briefly close the highway as TCSAR volunteers rigged the ship for short-haul. Meanwhile, volunteers packaged the patient for flight and short-hauled him to an LZ on the highway, where he was transferred to an ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS. Further air resources were not needed, and all team members exited the field.