Search and rescue personnel from Wyoming’s Teton Range used their specialized helicopter to pick a deceased trail runner’s body off a Front Range mountain Thursday.
The 31-year-old Boulder man’s body had remained on the steep, loose western face of Arikaree Peak since Aug. 28.
Colorado rescue teams made two attempts at recovering the man’s body in the days following his fall, but called off the effort due to extreme safety risks to their own personnel.
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Those Colorado teams contacted Teton County Search and Rescue early last week. A Teton crew joined a pair of Jenny Lake Climbing Rangers from Grand Teton National Park and flew in TCSAR’s Airbus A-Star helicopter to Granby on Wednesday.
Thursday, with guidance from the Grand County Search and Rescue, the copter lowered crew members onto the mountain with a longer cable.
“They are able to deploy up to 450 feet of line below their helicopter and safely transport live loads,” Grand County Search and Rescue Field Director Greg Foley told CBS News Colorado. “The line length for this recovery was 250 feet.”
Foley explained that 250 feet was the maximum amount of cable on the U.S. military’s Blackhawk helicopter which attempted to place rescuers on the mountainside in earlier attempts. High winds complicated the mission that day. The A-Star’s narrower rotor radius also allowed it to safely move closer to the mountain.
Foley added that 250 feet is “standard configuration for hoist rescues in Colorado.”
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“This was a unique rescue for us for many reasons,” said TCSAR Chief Advisor Cody Lockhart in a social media post. “This was the first time we have been called down to Colorado and there were a lot of individuals and agencies involved in the rescue effort. This was also a tough rescue for us to assist with, from both a technical level and the heavy nature of the job. We are grateful that we were able to help get this man off the mountain and home to his family.”
“TCSAR’s ability to insert rescuers by longline was key to making this recovery safe and quick for rescuers,” added Dale Atkins of Alpine Rescue Team, another team involved in the initial attempts to retrieve the body. “Ironically, this technique was something that some Colorado SAR teams did way back in the 1980s, but by the 1990s an increase in regulations and changes in attitudes lead to the practice going away. When it went away, our search and rescue tool box got smaller. For this recovery on Arikaree Peak, it was terrific that Grand County could bring in the TSCAR and Grand Teton NP crews to assist and get this man off the mountain.”
A skier was killed and another injured after the group they were in triggered a large avalanche while ascending a mountain in western Wyoming.
The large snowslide happened Saturday in a backcountry area about 20 miles east of Grand Teton National Park.
The Teton County Search and Rescue said it received a call to respond to a known avalanche burial on Togwotee Pass just before 12 p.m. on Saturday.
As the group of four people, according to authorities, went up a steep slope at an elevation of 10,400 feet, a large slab of snow about 5 feet thick broke away and slid, fully burying the victim. The second skier was partially buried and had an injury to his leg.
It took rescuers about four hours to reach the scene by skis after a helicopter tried to reach the site but had to turn around because of “challenging” weather conditions.
“(Teton County Search and Rescue) extends its most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased skier,” it said in a Facebook post.
The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center is investigating the avalanche.
A series of snowstorms have swept through the area in recent weeks, including one on Saturday, said National Weather Service forecaster Jason Straub.
The skier’s death marks the fifth person to be killed by an avalanche in the U.S. this winter.
CASPER, Wyo. — “Taken off of Wyoming 59 Bypass at 7 a.m.,” writes photographer Nathaniel Lax. “It’s a beautiful picture of the sun rising behind the cornerstone of what we do in Wyoming: make energy. The silhouette of the power plants against the beautiful red and orange sky — it’s absolutely captivating.”
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Wyoming Cowboys shot a season-high 69% from behind the arc and erased a 9-point deficit en route to a 70–65 road win at Air Force on Saturday.
“If you don’t like stress, don’t watch us,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “This is what Air Force does to teams, but understand it is a complex scout and you try to play the percentages. I gave a lot of game balls out tonight and we had some big-time plays by big-time players stepping up in big moments.”
Wyoming was led by four players in double figures. Jordan Nesbitt recorded his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Newton scored a team-best 16 points, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Dontaie Allen added 14 points going 4-of-4 on 3-point attempts in the process. Matija Belic added 13 points while going 6-of-8 from the field.
Cole Henry added 8 points for the Pokes, and A.J. Wills finished with a game-best five assists.
The Pokes shot 57.1% from the field, the seventh time the team has shot at least 50% this season. UW was extremely efficient from behind the arc, going 9-of-13.
The Pokes opened the game by taking a fast 5–0 lead on an emphatic slam dunk by Henry and a 3-pointer from Newton. However, Air Force went on an 11–0 run using the three ball for an 11–5 lead. The Falcons would push that lead to 14–7 minutes later.
Air Force hit five threes in the first eight minutes to take a 21–12 lead. However, Wyoming managed to respond, and a pair of 3-pointers by Allen made it a 23–18 game roughly halfway through the first half.
A thunderous putback slam from Nesbitt and a triple from Wills made it a 2-point deficit at 27–25 with under nine minutes left in the opening stanza.
Henry tied the game at 27–27 and Belic added an and-one play followed by a triple from Newton, allowing Wyoming to surge ahead with a 33–27 lead as the first half wound down. It was part of a 13–0 run for the Pokes, holding Air Force scoreless for more than five and a half minutes.
After that, though, Air Force proceeded to hold Wyoming scoreless for much of the final four and a half minutes of the half, and the Falcons went into the halftime break with a 36–33 lead.
A Newton 3-pointer about four minutes into the second half made it a one-possession game, down 44–42. About eight minutes later, Allen added a pair of 3-pointers and Belic added a basket to tie the game at 55–55 with eight minutes left.
Nesbitt added a pair of free throws and gave Wyoming a 58–56 lead with just under six minutes left. Wyoming held Air Force without a point for over four minutes and built the lead to 62–56 with just over four minutes left.
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