SAR Team Conducts Two Rescues Back-to-Back

Teton County Search and Rescue personnel located and assisted two snowboarders from Colorado who strayed off Teton Pass Friday morning, became disoriented, lost equipment and were forced to spend Thursday night on the mountain.  According to Search and Rescue Director Tim Ciocarlan, 35-year-old Adam Doherty and 55-year-old Chris Blatter of Palisade, Colorado  had decided to ski the pass about 11:00 am Thursday using maps of the area they had obtained.  However, they became lost, and the Search and Rescue team was called in about 8:30 pm, and the area was searched until about 12:30 am.  Then Friday morning, the search resumed with 17 volunteers and the search and rescue helicopter.  As the morning progressed, Ciocarlan says the missing men contacted 911 from their cell phone and the phone’s GPS coordinates led the team to the pair.  Ciocarlan says they had traveled from the Summit Ridge to the North Fork of Mosquito Creek and they continued on a route away from the pass.  Finally, being lost and having lost important equipment, the two built a fire and stayed the night.  Ciocarlan says the two were cold, but otherwise unharmed when they were located.

Before the team had time to return to Jackson, they were called to aid a 63-year-old local man who suffered a medical setback while skiing Olympic Bowl near the pass.  The unnamed man was plucked from the mountain by  helicopter and flown directly to St. John’s medical center.