Two Backcountry Helicopter Rescues

Rangers responded to two separate backcountry emergencies on Saturday, July 21st. With the assistance of an interagency contract helicopter, they flew a severely dehydrated climber from the Lower Saddle early on Saturday morning. On Saturday evening, they again used a helicopter to evacuate a hiker from the East Face of Buck Mountain after she sustained injuries to her ankle. The first rescue involved a 15-year-old climber who had successfully completed a one-day ascent of the Grand Teton on Friday with a private party. He became very dehydrated and ill on the descent, though, and was only able to descend to the Lower Saddle (elevation 11,600 feet). He spent the night at the saddle, where climbing guides from Exum Mountain Guides attempted to rehydrate and feed him. A guide called rangers for assistance at 4:00 a.m. Due to the patient’s deteriorating condition and the severity of his symptoms, rangers arranged to utilize an interagency contract helicopter for evacuation. The helicopter flew a ranger to the Lower Saddle to assist with evacuation at approximately 8:30 a.m. Rangers provided medical care before loading the patient inside the helicopter for a flight to Lupine Meadows. A park ambulance then transported him to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson, where he was treated and released later that day. In the evening, rangers received another emergency phone call, this one from David Rabiger, 58, whose wife, Susan, 57, had injured her ankle while descending the East Face of Buck Mountain. The Rabigers had reached the summit of Buck Mountain and begun their descent when Susan twisted her ankle at about 11,000 feet. Since she was unable to bear weight or proceed further, David placed an emergency 911 phone call, which was transferred to Teton Interagency Dispatch Center. Rangers immediately began coordinating a rescue. A reconnaissance helicopter flight located the injured party and assessed the scene. Three rangers were then flown to Timberline Lake (elevation 10,000 feet), and two of them hiked up about 1,000 feet to the Rabigers. Due to the steep and rocky terrain and the nature of Susan’s injury, they decided to use the short-haul technique to evacuate her. The technique involves placing a patient into either an evacuation suit or a rescue litter, which is suspended below the helicopter by a double rope system; the patient is then airlifted for a short flight to another landing spot where the ship can safely touch down. In this case, a ranger loaded Rabiger into an evacuation suit and attended her while the two were short-hauled to White Grass Meadows. A park ambulance then transported Rabiger to St. John’s Medical Center.  These incidents mark the eighth and ninth major search and rescue operations in the park this year. Saturday’s Lower Saddle rescue was the fourth helicopter evacuation of hikers who were overcome by the effects of heat, dehydration, overexertion or altitude. There have been several other heat-related incidents this summer where rangers have assisted dehydrated or ill hikers without the use of a helicopter.