After reviewing photos and more investigation into the Taylor Mtn. slide from Tuesday it appears that the aspect that slid was the SE Face of Taylor in the area commonly referred to at the “Poop Chute”. This is not the same aspect that resulted in the fatal slide of 2006.
Nevertheless, please continue to exercise caution in the backcountry as conditions are still favorable for large and dangerous avalanches.
Triple Threat:
Members of the TCSAR team mobilized for 3 separate incidents today during our first sunny day since the storm that dumped more than 50 inches in the mountains.
The first call came early Tuesday morning when concerned parties contacted TCSAR, noting a slide in Little Tuckerman’s with a possible ski track going into the slide. The TCSAR team was paged to respond but stood down after helicopter recon flights indicated lots of old avalanche activity but no new slide.
The team was then put on standby for an out of bounds skier near four pines, south of JHMR. The skier reportedly had a lower leg injury. Luckily the Ski Patrol from JHMR, going above and beyond their duty, responded and were able to locate and extricate the individual.
Finally, TCSAR members were paged to respond to a massive avalanche on the East Face of Taylor Mountain. The same area that claimed the life of a local skier just a few short years ago. Multiple parties reported the slide and noted that it ran to the valley floor and crossed Coal Creek. Again, the members of TCSAR were stood down after a reconnaissance flight and interviews on scene indicated that the slide was initiated by a ski cut made by a party interested in skiing the route.
It has been a busy time for TCSAR with multiple calls regarding avalanches and possible injuries in the backcountry. Please remember that the Avy Danger is still Considerable. Expert terrain and route finding skills are needed to safely navigate the backcountry at this time. Also, please consider what may be below your intended route as the slide from Taylor crossed Coal Creek at a time when there were several people in the area that could have been affected. Stay safe out there.
TRIO OF CALLOUTS KEEP TCSAR BUSY
Members of TCSAR responded to 3 separate incidents on Thursday, the last stretching well into the night.
The first callout was an interagency assist requested by Fremont county. Members were mobilized to assist with a search for a missing snowmobiler. Luckily the snowmobiler was located near Union pass quickly and TCSAR members were stood down.
The second and third callouts occurred simultaneously. TCSAR received a 911 call from a a skier who had gone out of bounds at JHMR. The skier had attempted to ski a line in Four Pines. An avalanche caught and stranded the skier in the backcountry, and they were unable to ski out.
At the same time that the team was mobilizing to respond to this call a second call came in for a stranded snowmobiler up the Cache Creek drainage. The Team split into separate units and responded to both incidents. The snowmobiler up Cache Creek was located and with help able to ride out without difficulty.
The other members of TCSAR responded to JHMR and fielded two hasty teams into blizzard like conditions to search for the avalanched skier. 911 had provided GPS coordinates and with the help of GPS and good old Whistle blowing the skier was located. The teams then packaged the skier in a sked (a bendable plastic toboggan) and skied out of the backcountry. Members of the JHMR ski patrol then assisted the team with snowmobiles back to the base of the village. The team arrived back at the JHMR around 9pm tired but happy with the outcome of a hard days work.
Please consider the backcountry conditions carefully before deciding to head out. Stay safe.
The members of TCSAR set out this weekend to brush up on their snow machine skills. Despite the shallow snowpack they managed to find some fun ‘biling.
TCSAR participated in rescuing and transporting an injured snowmobiler from the Togwotee pass area today (1/2/12).
TCSAR received several fragmented 911 calls but were unable to locate or confirm that an incident was in progress until a notification made by a SPOT personal locator sent a text message to the dispatch center. The information from the SPOT provided an accurate location near Togwotee pass and information on the injured snowmobiler.
Members of TCSAR flew in the contracted helicopter to the area and found Togwotee guides on scene with the man, who was injured when his machine flipped while trying to climb a steep incline. The guides had properly insulated the man from the cold ground and covered him in blankets. The SAR members packaged the man into the helicopter and provided him with pain medications before transporting him back to the the TCSAR base and transferring him to a Jackson Hole Fire/EMS ambulance crew.
This marks the first rescue of 2012 for the members of TCSAR.
TCSAR received a call at 9:45 on Sunday, October 16th from the wife of one of the subjects. The weather was partly cloudy in the morning but deteriorated throughout the day with rain, sleet, hail and snow. 6-10 inches of snow was reported at the scene.
TCSAR arrived at Darby Canyon at mid-day and began coordinating with Driggs SAR who was already on scene. After initially checking the wind and ice cave entrances, it was decided to assemble teams to do a through trip of the cave.
Both teams entered the cave in the early evening. Around 9:30pm one team found notes left from the missing party inside the cave, dated at 2pm. The note read that the party was headed toward the ice cave entrance and needed help.
At this point, another team was assembled to head back into the wind cave to wait for one hour to see if the missing subjects arrived. Th subjects were found and all teams exited the wind cave by 1:45am. All volunteers and the subjects arrived at incident command by 4am.
This was a huge effort put forward by the 40+TCSAR and Driggs team members, over 9 members of the public. The operation time lasted 19.5 hours.
For more information please contact Teton County Sheriff’s Department.
This press release was originally report at http://gtnpnews.blogspot.com
April 24, 2011
For Immediate Release
On the evening of Saturday, April 23, after a long day of searching an avalanche debris field in Garnet Canyon Meadows, a Grand Teton National Park ranger picked up two discernible beacon signals deep in the snowpack. Due to the late hour—coupled with the need to evacuate all search teams from the Teton canyon and cease helicopter operations before day’s end—a handful of rescuers were not able to dig deep enough to locate the source of the signals. Early Sunday morning, a core group of park rangers flew back into Garnet Canyon to resume digging. After two hours, they reached Walker Pannell Kuhl and Gregory Seftick, buried under 13 feet of snow near a large boulder in the avalanche path.
Over 35 rescue personnel and four canine teams methodically searched the large avalanche field in Garnet Canyon for more than ten hours on Saturday. With the help of good weather, rescuers hoped to find any clue as to the fate of Kuhl and Seftick. At 7 p.m. with just two teams left to airlift from the canyon, Ranger Nick Armitage made one final sweep with his avalanche transceiver over an area that had been probed by rescuers earlier in the day. After Armitage picked up first one beacon signal, and then another, five additional rescuers joined in digging through the dense snowpack to reach the source. Although five feet of snow was cleared away, rescuers were not able to reach the beacon before the last helicopter flight needed to be made. Upon removing the snow, however, rescuers also made a positive probe hit. It should be noted that avalanche probe poles are generally 10 feet long and the beacon was deeper than their initial reach.
On Sunday morning, helicopter pilot Nicole Ludwig—flying a Teton County Search and Rescue contract helicopter out of Hillsboro, Oregon—airlifted six park rangers back into the Garnet Canyon Meadows to resume digging toward the two beacons. Rangers continued to excavate through another ten feet of snow before they reached Walker and Greg. Rangers then prepared them for a helicopter flight to the valley floor where a Teton County coroner met the ship and took Greg and Walker’s bodies to a local mortuary.
It appears that Walker and Greg were buried by a large avalanche that shed off the north face of Nez Perce Peak sometime Saturday night, April 16, while they were in their tent, located near a large boulder between the Platforms and the Meadows of Garnet Canyon. Walker and Greg carried avalanche beacons and other appropriate gear with them on their trek into the Teton Range, and their beacons were transmitting when the avalanche enveloped their campsite.
The concentrated search for Kuhl and Seftick lasted six days, due in part to stormy weather, new snowfall and ongoing concerns about avalanche danger for rescue teams. Search operations involved park rangers and staff, as well as numerous Jackson Hole community rescue personnel. Grand Teton National Park appreciates the cooperation and dedication of the organizations and companies who assisted during the past several days. Those groups include trained rescue personnel, volunteers and support staff from Teton County Search and Rescue, Teton Interagency Fire personnel, Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center staff, a Yellowstone National Park employee, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrol, Wyoming K9 Search and Rescue teams, and Grand Targhee Resort ski patrol and canine teams, as well as experienced professional mountaineers from Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and Exum Mountain Guides.
The Seftick and Kuhl families extend their heartfelt thanks to all rescuers for their work in helping to locate their sons and brothers.
Photos © 2011 by Jim Stanford
Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers are working with Grand Teton National Park rangers in the search for two skiers reported missing April 18.
Search teams have been shuttling by helicopter to Garnet Canyon, where skiers Walker Kuhl, 27, of Salt Lake City and Gregory Seftick, 31, of Columbia Falls, Mont., were last seen April 16. Volunteers have probed the Meadows area where the two planned to camp and have searched other reaches of the canyon, which sits beneath the highest Teton peaks.
The search operation has involved more than 60 people, including mountain guides and volunteers from the community. Using skis, dogs and a helicopter, teams have searched the main climbing routes on the peaks as well as peripheral areas from Shadow Peak to the south to Cascade Canyon to the north.
Avalanche danger has been a problem during the operation, as teams have found signs of slides in and around Garnet Canyon. Rescuers had to detonate hand charges to reduce risk before teams could probe debris in the Meadows. An avalanche from the North Face of Nez Perce peak deposited a field of debris 250 feet wide, 200 to 300 yards long and more than 15 feet deep.
For more on the search, visit the Grand Teton National Park blog:
More details also can be found in this story from the Jackson Hole News&Guide:
Due to an epic snow winter and the use of our helicopter for emergency situations, the TCSAR caches needed a bit of digging to clear them of snow to be ready for spring and summer emergencies. TCSAR members spent more then a couple hours cleaning out the backcountry caches. Backcountry caches are stored throughout the county and contain essential equipment used on rescues.
No Name Cache
TCSAR has been volunteering to help the river section of the PPP for the last few years. We send 10-12 volunteers out in boats and positioned along the shore to help with boat turnovers and potential hypothermia cases. Here’s a few photos of the crew.
