A snowmobiler who was buried in an avalanche is safe thanks to members of his party being prepared for an emergency and fast response by emergency personnel.
The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office received as SOS beacon from an InReach personal location device in the Horse Creek area at about 3:50 p.m. yesterday. Through continued communication with the three-man party from Utah via the InReach device, it was discovered there was an avalanche in the Lead Creek drainage which buried one of the three men.
The man was buried for just over 10 minutes before the other two were able to successfully dig him out. The buried rider was unconscious and not breathing initially but began breathing on his own once they were able to dig him out.
TipTop Search and Rescue requested help from Teton County Search and Rescue members with their helicopter to help assist with the mission and possible extraction of the patient. TipTop’s avalanche response team was deployed from the Horse Creek parking lot and located the men. The reporting party and patient were found with three Teton County Search and Rescue members who had been dropped off at the scene via helicopter, but the ground weather and strong winds prevented the helicopter from landing or assisting further in the extraction.
The Teton Search and Rescue members had already packaged the patient for transport. He was then transported out on a rescue sled to an ambulance that was staged at the Dry Beaver Parking lot. The patient was taken via ambulance to the Pinedale Medical Clinic where emergency staff was waiting.
The buried rider was evaluated, cleared and released by medical staff late last night with only minor injuries.
Emergency responders credit this rescue and successful recovery to the quick thinking of the man’s fellow riders. They were prepared and had the ability to activate 911 via the InReach location device prior to locating the buried rider which greatly improved the response time of the rescuers.
The other two riders were also successful in following the steps of Companion Rescue to locate and save their fellow rider from suffocation.
“This incident serves as a great reminder to know the terrain and conditions of the area, have the proper gear, and most importantly have the proper training to help your fellow man,†the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
