TCSAR Celebrates Winter Trails Day on February 24

Teton County Search & Rescue, along with numerous other community nonprofits and organizations, invites you to celebrate Winter Trails Day on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. We’ll be posted up on Teton Pass from 9 am to noon to offer tips and feedback on backcountry safety, with hot cocoa and other goodies.

Hoback Sports will be on hand to provide free backcountry demos, while Teton Backcounty Alliance will provide a free shuttle from Stilson Lot, Old Pass Road, and Coal Creek. The shuttle will pick up and drop people off at Stilson Lot, Old Pass Road, top of Teton Pass, and Coal Creek from 8:30 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. Check www.tetonbackcountryalliance.org/shuttle for a specific shuttle schedule.

Elsewhere, Friends of Pathways will be stationed at Cache Creek with free fat bike demos from Wheel Wranglers and Teton Mountain Bike Tours. It’s a great opportunity to try out a new bike or try fat biking for the first time.

Want to skate ski or classic Nordic ski? Skinny Skis and JD High Country Outfitters will have their Nordic demo fleets available for free! PAWS and JH Nordic will also be there to answer questions about responsible recreation on our public lands.

At each location Friends of Pathways will have free hot cocoa, cookies, and plenty of information on our winter trails. Bring your friends and family, and come ski and bike with us and your community during Winter Trails Day.

This event is made possible in part thanks to the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board.

TCSAR and Grand Targhee Ski Patrol Rescue Skier after Cornice Fall

Just past 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21, Teton County Search & Rescue was dispatched regarding an injured skier in the Grand Targhee backcountry.

The skier, a 27-year-old male from Washington, sustained injuries after falling off a cornice in an out-of-bounds area accessed off Mary’s Nipple from Grand Targhee Ski Resort. The skier was on a ridgeline when the cornice broke beneath him, causing him to fall approximately 100 feet into the basin below.

Photo by TCSAR. Cornice failure can be seen just left of center on the ridgeline.

Coordinating with Grand Targhee Ski Patrol, TCSAR dispatched a team of volunteers in the SAR helicopter to the site of the accident. Ski patrol reached the patient first, provided initial care, and packaged him for helicopter transport. TCSAR then short-hauled the man—a method in which rescuers and patient are long-lined beneath the helicopter—to a waiting ambulance at the base of Targhee.

TCSAR appreciates the well-coordinated response from Grand Targhee Ski Patrol, and would like to remind backcountry users to be extremely cautious of cornices while approaching or traversing ridgelines.

Ray Rides With Us

On this day, we commemorate the life and legacy of Ray Shriver. Ray was a founding member of Teton County Search & Rescue who died in a helicopter crash while on a rescue mission on February 15, 2012. He was also a father, partner, friend, dog-handler, skier, mountaineer, and valued community member. As seen in this photo (Ray is wearing the green helmet), he was instrumental in helping to train volunteers for short-haul and other helicopter operations, along with myriad other rescue skills.

Ray’s legacy of hard work and integrity lives on within TCSAR.

“Ray's serious focus during training and missions could be intimidating at times for younger team members, but the example he set was, ‘Keep your head in the game,'" remembers Mike Moyer, another founding member of TCSAR who continues to serve on the team.

“We do important and dangerous stuff,” Mike says. “There's a time for laughter and there's a time for kidding, but there’s also a time to keep our heads in the game, particularly when we’re doing the more risky stuff. 

“In Ray's honor, let’s keep our heads in the game.”

Thank you to all who continue to support TCSAR in Ray's honor. He will always be a source of inspiration for the entire TCSAR family.