TCSAR Rescues Injured Snowmobiler Deep in Togwotee Backcountry

At 11:40 a.m. on Friday, January 2, Teton County Dispatch received a Garmin SOS activation from the Togwotee Pass area. The emergency concerned a 42-year-old snowmobiler who had sustained a significant leg injury after crashing on his machine.

Teton County Search & Rescue mobilized a response that included teams in the helicopter and on snowmobiles. The helicopter team, consisting of the pilot and four SAR volunteers, was able to locate the party and land near the patient. Volunteers assessed his condition and packaged him for internal transport. Three volunteers stayed behind in the field while the pilot and one SAR member flew the patient to a waiting ambulance from Jackson Hole Fire/EMS near Togwotee Mountain Lodge.

Due to weather, the helicopter was unable to return to pick up the members in the field. Instead, TCSAR’s snowmobile team motored out to their teammates and brought them out of the backcountry, a 22-mile roundtrip. Then, they all drove back to SAR HQ in Jackson.

All teams were out of the field by 6 p.m., completing the mission in 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Midnight Mission: TCSAR Rescues Stranded Snowmobilers on Togwotee Pass

At 7:53 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, Teton County Search & Rescue was paged regarding a group of snowmobilers who’d become stuck on the Togwotee Pass trail network.

The group sent out an emergency text-to-911 via satellite along with their coordinates to the Teton County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center. Dispatch contacted TCSAR and indicated that the party of four were in the vicinity of the K and V trails. The group consisted of two men and two teenage boys visiting from Minnesota. To communicate, the group had an iPhone with satellite messaging capability as well as a satellite-specific communication device.

During the February 2 callout, TCSAR volunteers encountered drifting snow on Togwotee Pass. Photo: TCSAR

With high winds and drifting snow limiting visibility, TCSAR volunteers responded with teams on snowmobiles. Just past midnight, a group of six volunteers located the missing party about eight miles from the trailhead. They were cold but otherwise unharmed. The trail they were on had essentially disappeared under snow drifts. 

The volunteers helped dig out two of the stuck snowmobiles. The two men in the missing party were able to ride their sleds out of the backcountry while the two boys were transported via snowmobile by TCSAR volunteers. All returned back to Togwotee Mountain Lodge. 

Six volunteers responded on snowmobiles to rescue a party of four missing snowmobilers on Togwotee Pass on February 2, 2025. Photo: TCSAR

The volunteers then returned to the TCSAR hangar in Jackson just before 3 a.m. and prepped the equipment for the next callout.

Regarding the use of satellite texting, this incident showed how the SAR team was able to use the technology in an emergency. As the incident unfolded, one of the men was using his iPhone to text his wife via satellite. She connected with TCSAR, who asked her to tell her husband to initiate a text to TCSAR incident command. He did so, which enabled back-and-forth text communication between his party and incident command at TCSAR.

TCSAR Responds to Avalanche Fatality on Togwotee Pass

We are deeply saddened to report that a skier has died as a result of an avalanche on Togwotee Pass on Saturday, January 4, 2025. More details about the accident will emerge following an investigation by the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center.

Just before noon on Saturday, Teton County Search & Rescue was called to respond to a known avalanche burial on Togwotee Pass. The emergency alert came in via iPhone satellite text-to-911, but it was unclear whether the avalanche involved snowmobilers or skiers. For anyone using this relatively new function, please include the nature of your emergency, mechanism of injury, and number of people in your party. Including that info can help first responders efficiently develop solutions to the problems.

Initial reports indicated that a group of four was in the Breccia Cliffs area when they triggered an avalanche. As TCSAR mobilized, the team learned that it was a party of four skiers who’d triggered the slide as they were ascending a skin track. The avalanche partially buried one skier and fully buried another. The partially buried skier sustained a lower leg injury.

TCSAR responded with teams in the helicopter, on snowmobiles, and on skis. The helicopter team lifted off but returned when weather conditions did not permit an air response. The snowmobile team was also unable to reach the party of skiers due to the challenging conditions.

A team of skiers from TCSAR approached the area on skins and were able to get on scene at approximately 3:47 p.m. They began to apply treatment to the injured skier and remaining members of the party. The volunteers also worked to begin recovering the deceased skier for transport out of the backcountry. The volunteers worked into the evening, skiing the injured skier out of the backcountry in a litter to a waiting ambulance from Grand Teton National Park. The team also skied the deceased skier out via a sked. This serves as an important reminder of how much longer a mission can take when the helicopter is grounded, and is another factor to consider in your backcountry planning should an accident occur.

TCSAR extends its most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased skier.