February 17, 2020 - Injured Skier Short-Hauled off of 25 Short
Rangers and Teton County SAR personnel performed a short-haul rescue of a skier with a knee injury at approximately 8000ft on 25 Short.
February 22, 2020 - Injured Skier Short-Hauled off of Olive Oil
Park Rangers and Teton County SAR personnel conducted a helicopter short-haul rescue of an injured skier from near the base of Olive Oil in Grand Teton National Park. The patient fell while skiing and suffered a severe lower leg injury. Helicopter 38HX landed near the scene and dropped off two rescuers who provided medical care and packaged the patient for the short-haul extraction to a waiting ambulance at Teton Village.
June 17, 2020 - Rangers Assist Yellowstone
Yellowstone NP contacted GTNP and requested a mutual aid assist (contract helicopter, 35HX, and associated personnel) to find a lost hiker that had spent the previous night out. The hiker still had not been located late in the afternoon. 35HX left Lupine Meadows about 1630 hrs., and with the coordination of YNP, initiated an aerial search. They located the missing person at about 1850 hrs., and were able to extract him and two accompanying rangers from dense forest vegetation using short-haul.
July 4, 2020 - Rangers Spend Night with Injured Climber
A climber descending the South Fork of Garnet Canyon took a fall on snow, sliding approximately 200 feet into rocks and sustaining a broken leg. Two climbing rangers departed Lupine Meadows at 10:30 PM. They reached the patient in the Cave Couloir, at approximately 1:00 AM on July 5th. They assessed and stabilized the patient's injuries and spent the remainder of the night with the patient. Two more rangers were flown to the Cave Couloir at about 8:00 AM. The patient was extracted via short-haul at 9:30 AM. He was transported to St. John's Medical Center via ground ambulance.
July 7, 2020 - Trail Crew Saves Hikers Life
A 23 y/o male was rescued from Cascade Creek about 1/2-mile up canyon from Inspiration Point by NPS Trail Crew and bystanders. His ankle was entrapped, and he was succumbing to hypothermia and the force of the water. Trail Crew responded from their project at Inspiration Point and, with the help of bystanders, rescued the man from the creek. The patient was then short-hauled to the Rescue Cache and transported to St. John's via Medic 1.
July 9, 2020 - Rangers Find, Rescue Overdue Climber
On July 10 Park Rangers rescued a 62 year-old male after he unexpectedly spent the night in the backcountry. He intended to ascend Rock of Ages in the Lake of the Crags area in Hanging Canyon. At about 0300 hrs., four rangers began hiking and climbing to arrive at Lake of the Crags by daylight. They made voice contact with the man at about 0630 hrs., and down-climbed to his location, approximately 300 feet down a gulley that descends into Cascade Canyon on the south side of Rock of Ages. Rangers assisted him back up the gulley to the col at the base of the East Ridge of Rock of Ages, and then lowered him more than 800 feet to the north to the Lake of the Crags area. The interagency helicopter landed at the west end of the lake and he was flown to Lupine Meadows via helicopter. He was then transported by park ambulance to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson.
July 11, 2020 - Park Rangers Rescue Hikers
July 14, 2020 - Rangers Provide Assistance to Yellowstone
Yellowstone NP requested GTNP to provide a short-haul rescue team to respond to 7 Mile Hole near Canyon Village for an injured hiker. The patient sustained a lower leg injury and was unable to walk. A ranger was inserted to the scene at approximately 1845 hours and they were extracted and delivered successfully to a nearby LZ at 1920 hours.
July 16, 2020 - Rangers Rescue Backpackers
Just before reaching Static Peak Divide, two members of a backpacking party fell on a snowfield (without injury). When they reached the divide and saw a similar snowfield ahead of them, they felt that they could not proceed nor turn back, and called park rangers for assistance. At first light, three rangers departed from the Whitegrass trailhead with technical gear to assist the stuck party from their location. They assisted them with roped belays and by shuttling their packs back over the snowfield that they had previously crossed, until they reached easy ground and then could proceed back to the trailhead on their own.
July 25, 2020 - Rangers Respond to Multiple Rescues
Rangers rescued a climber with a head injury in Garnet Canyon, flying her out via helicopter from the Meadows. During that rescue a call came in for a injured hiker below Delta Lake who slipped and tumbled, impacting rocks, and injuring both legs below the knees. He was unable to sustain his weight or hike under his own power. Rangers performed a short-haul rescue of the hiker, flying him to the Lupine Meadows Rescue Cache for subsequent ambulance transport to St Johns Hospital. Finally, a ranger on patrol encountered a climber who was struck in the head by rockfall. The climber hiked out under their own power with a ranger escort.
July 30, 2020 - Rangers Rescue Injured Hiker below Paintbrush Divide
Rangers performed a short-haul rescue of an injured hiker who slipped and fell on steep snow, sliding into rocks and sustained serious injuries.
August 3, 2020 - Rangers Respond to Cardiac Arrest
Rangers responded by foot and air in an attempt to save the life of a hiker who suffered a cardiac arrest on the Garnet Canyon Trail. Four rangers were inserted via short-haul to the scene, approximately 2 miles from the Lupine Meadows Trailhead, while additional rangers ran up by foot. Unfortunately, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and the deceased was flown out via helicopter long line.
August 4, 2020 - Rangers Rescue Stranded Climbers on Symmetry Spire
Rangers rescued two climbers who were stuck and benighted on the SW Ridge of Symmetry Spire. The party stated that they became stuck and separated while rappelling. Rangers responded in the middle of the night to the stuck party's location with technical climbing gear and clothing to assist the party with their descent. After ascending to the summit via the NW ledges, the rescuers rappelled about 500 ft, and reached the party at about at 0630 hrs. They assisted them in their descent to non-technical ground in the SW couloir. Once on the non-technical ground, the subjects refused additional assistance, and the rangers returned to the valley at about 1100 hrs.
August 8, 2020 - Climber Falls into Crevasse
September 10, 2020 - Climber Rescued Near the Summit of the Grand
A climber near a location known as "Boulder Problem in the Sky" near the summit of the Grand Teton had injured her right knee and could not descend the mountain without a rescue. Helicopter 35HX responded to Lupine Meadows where two rangers boarded the helicopter and landed at the Lower Saddle to configure for short-haul. One ranger was inserted to the scene, did a patient assessment and put the patient in a screamer suit for extraction. The patient and ranger were extracted and flown to Lupine Meadows arriving at 1746 hours.
October 3, 2020 - Injured Climber Short-Hauled off East Face of Teewinot
A climber ascending Teewinot Mountain slipped on a "wet patch" of rock and fell approximately 40-60 feet while ascending the East Face route. After a short-haul insertion to the scene, rangers treated the climber's injuries and packaged him in a stokes litter. He was extracted via short-haul to the rescue cache in Lupine Meadows, where he was transferred to Medic 1 for transport to St Johns Hospital.
