54. Big Little Decisions: the long, weary road to mosquito lake

Two bikepackers embark on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 2,700-mile journey that traverses the Rockies from the Mexico border all the way to Canada. During their trip, a seemingly little decision comes back to haunt them in a big way, right as their route enters one of the most remote parts of Teton County, Wyoming.

This episode not only reveals the challenges of preparing for such an undertaking, but takes on the headwinds of long-distance cycling and how, during our times of greatest need, we can rely on the kindness of complete strangers.

For more information on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Bikepacking.com is the authoritative voice on the subject.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. The interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Thank you to Maggie Slepian and Matt Maar for sharing their story, and to Mike Baum and TCSAR volunteer Ed Fries for lending their perspective to this slow burn of an epic journey.

The Fine Line theme song is by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship. Original artwork by Jen Reddy Ink.

The Fine Line is presented by Stio, with additional support by Arc’teryx and KHOL.

53. No FAll Zone: Central Couloir

Season 8 of The Fine Line begins with a story from one of the most recognizable features of the southern Teton range, and a ski line that makes even the bravest skiers buckle their boots a little bit tighter: Cody Peak’s Central Couloir.

On Saturday March 18, 2023, skiers Will Brown and Jacqueline Dickey dropped into Central after hiking out to the top of Cody from the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Aerial Tram. What happened next forever changed their relationship to big, complex mountains.

During our conversation, we wrestle with questions about the allure of dangerous ski terrain; how fear plays an integral part of steep skiing, and how there is a razor-sharp line between letting that fear consume you…or set you free. 

We also hear from Jackson Hole Ski Patroller Jeff Burke, who helps explain how different responding agencies come together to perform rescues in the JHMR backcountry—and how a pair of skis took the long road to get back to Jacqueline.

If you are looking for mental health support, please visit Mental Health & Recovery Services of Jackson Hole or dial the national crisis and suicide prevention hotline at 988. As we hear in this episode, mental health is a backcountry safety issue.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. The interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

The Fine Line theme song is by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship. Original artwork by Jen Reddy Ink.

The Fine Line is presented by Stio, with additional support by Roadhouse Brewing Company and KHOL.

52. Classic Rock: A Little Piece of Orange Grip

There aren’t many mountain bike trails in Jackson Hole as classic as the one called Ferrin’s. Built in 2005 on the steep eastern flank of Snow King Mountain, the trail is one of the most popular in Jackson due to its challenging terrain, proximity to town, and linkage to other trails. But like any classic trail, it has inherent dangers that can take down even the best riders.

In this episode of The Fine Line, we close out Season 7 with a wild story from August 22, 2022. We'll go deep into how a highly experienced mountain biker (with a new tattoo) had a vicious crash on Ferrin’s and how her companions and Teton County Search and Rescue helped her get home during a torrential rainstorm.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

51. Decision Point: No Guarantees for Tomorrow

Shortness of breath, fatigue, and feeling like you can’t take another step are as common in the mountains as blisters, mosquito bites, and chapped lips. 

But on March 29, 2023, skier Dave Brown felt a sudden onset of extreme fatigue that was entirely new to him, and terribly serious. At 67 years old, the former ski patroller had never had any previous medical issues. But during a backcountry ski tour up Mail Cabin on the west side of Teton Pass, he knew he needed to get help–and get it fast. In this episode of The Fine Line, we’ll hear how Brown and his ski partner made a critical decision that helped save his life. And Teton County Search & Rescue volunteer Keegan Pfeil explains how the team responded to the emergency in a deep timbered ravine where simply locating their patient was a challenge.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

50. Cornice fall: heli rescue in the salt river range

How far back is far enough from the edge of a cornice? 10 feet, 20 feet, 30? 

On March 5, 2023, Jordan Bluse found out the hard way. He was riding his snowmobile with a group of friends in the Salt River Mountain Range outside of Afton, Wyoming, when a large cornice sheared off below him. He and his snowmobile fell through the cornice and tumbled down 1,200 vertical feet over multiple cliff bands.

Miraculously, he survived, and his rescue presented numerous difficult challenges for his friends and regional Search and Rescue teams.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Jordan and his friend Tyler Wolfely, while Teton County Search and Rescue’s Ian Johnston explains how a SAR assist plays out in this very remote corner of Wyoming. And we’ll talk about how specific pieces of safety gear helped this group have a positive outcome, and how different SAR teams can work together to save lives.

Learn more about Star Valley Search and Rescue.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

49. Pedal Strike: Short-haul behind Snow king

Brian Schilling lives and breathes bicycles. As the director of Jackson Hole Community Pathways and longtime rec and competitive cyclist, Brian is on his bike all year long. On July 13, 2022, he joined friends Ted Kyle and Jason McGowin for a mountain bike ride on one of the most classic trails in Jackson: the Ferrins-West Game-Cache Creek loop. The friends have ridden this trail too many times to count, but this ride was cut short when Brian suffered a violent crash at junction of West Game and Wilson Canyon, leaving him with severe injuries and a complicated rescue. His ordeal demonstrates how even the most experienced riders sometimes have accidents, even in their own backyard, and the hoops that TCSAR must jump through to get a helicopter in the summer.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

48. Nowhere to hide: avalanche on albright

When skier Benton Hodges heard trees snapping and saw a huge powder cloud below him from an avalanche on Albright Peak in Grand Teton National Park, he thought he’d be in a life-or-death struggle to recover his buried friend. Instead, friend Charlie Pirc was saved when he struck a tree, preventing him from being buried in the 2,000-foot-long avalanche but leaving him with severe injuries high on the mountainside. In this episode, Benton, Charlie, and friends Evan Flach and Seth Frey talk about why they came forward to openly discuss this harrowing incident, while TCSAR volunteer Dr. AJ Wheeler offers insights to how rescuers were able to bring Charlie safely out of the backcountry.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

47. Angel Fire: Broke Down in Hidden Corral

On June 25, 2022, Terri Evenson and Brit West drove a truck and horse trailer way out into a little known corner of the Tetons. The Coyote Meadows trailhead is in Teton County, Wyoming, but it's at least a two-hour drive from Jackson.

With three horses and a couple of dogs, they were aiming for a hidden valley deep inside the Jedediah Smith Wilderness, a vast landscape of snow-covered mountains and plateaus, pristine alpine lakes, and deep canyons that drain the western slope of the Tetons.

On day two of their trip, Terri suffered severe injuries after her horse, a buckskin named Angel Fire, fell on top of her on an exposed section of trail roughly nine miles in the backcountry. In the Season 7 opener of The Fine Line, Terri and Brit revisit the ordeal, while TCSAR volunteers Chase Lockhart and Andrew Armington discuss how the team responded.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Interviews were conducted in the studios at KHOL 89.1 FM.

Theme song by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship.

The Fine Line is sponsored by:

45. A lot more than a Chipped tooth on togwotee

On February 6, 2022, Tanner Ellis came down with a chipped tooth—and a whole lot more—while snowmobiling on Togwotee Pass. Ellis, a 23-year-old from Elk River, Minn., had been trying to do a trick called a ‘re-entry,’ where you drive your sled into a wheelie up a steep slope before flipping it back 180 degrees and landing in the same track on the way down.

On his second attempt, the sled fell back on top of him, trapping him beneath it and causing severe injuries.

In this episode of The Fine Line, Ellis discusses his ordeal with TCSAR volunteers Dr. AJ Wheeler and Ryan Combs, who articulate how the team responds to serious injuries in a remote location.

“When the snowmobile landed on top of me, I got knocked out. Either right before or after, the craziest feeling went through my body,” Ellis says. “You can just feel everything turn off. My visor smashed over my goggles so I couldn't really see what happened and I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't move anything. The first thing I said (to my friends) when I woke up is ‘Don't touch me,’ because I knew something was real bad.”

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks.

This episode of The Fine Line is sponsored by Roadhouse Brewing Co. Thanks to KHOL 89.1 FM for the use of their studio.

44. Chivers Ridge: So Close, but so far

Just one ridge to the south from the top of Teton Pass, Chivers Ridge is known as an entry level backcountry ski run for its ease of access, as well as a quick hit that can be easily lapped by doing car shuttles from the trailhead at the bottom of the pass.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous. There are numerous steep drop-offs on either side, and Chivers also contains manmade infrastructure such as power lines and cables that you may not always expect to find on a backcountry run.

On January 23, 2022, Matt Bambach, a 29-year-old skier, found this out the hard way. That morning, he gathered on the pass with a bunch of friends to celebrate his roommate’s birthday. It was supposed to be a fun day of party skiing. But on their very first run, it all came crashing down when he sustained a life-threatening injury about halfway down Chivers Ridge. Despite how close he was to the road, it presented some very real challenges for his companions as well as the response from Teton County Search and Rescue.

In this episode, Bambach recounts his freak accident and the response from TCSAR volunteers Anthony Stevens and KC Bess. The volunteers also offer an in-depth look at TCSAR’s short-haul operations. Meanwhile, Jules Bell explains how she was suddenly put into the position of keeping Bambach from bleeding to death while maintaining composure to dial for help.

Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. Thanks to Angus Thuermer for pointing us in the right direction regarding the history of Chivers Ridge.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Co. for the generous sponsorship of The Fine Line. We are also grateful to KHOL 89.1 FM for the use of their studio.

43. a life-Threatening encounter with Anaphylaxis

While many Jackson Hole locals flocked to the Tetons for a day of powder skiing on February 15, 2020, Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers loaded up their heavy packs for a routine day of training on Snow King Mountain.

But the training session quickly turned into anything but routine when longtime TCSAR volunteer Robb Sgroi came down with a rare and severe form of anaphylaxis.

Most people associate this affliction with bee stings, which of course is not possible in Jackson Hole in the middle of February. Anaphylaxis can also be brought on by food allergies that kick someone’s immune response into overdrive and thereby shut down vital organs. But that’s not what happened here, either.

 So how did Sgroi—a tall, lean husband and father—end up itchy, on the ground, and spiraling into unconsciousness?

In this episode of The Fine Line, TCSAR volunteers Sgroi, Chase Lockhart and Dr. Will Smith relive this scary incident, and walk us through how to diagnose and treat anaphylaxis, no matter the time of year.

Interviews by Matt Hansen. Editing by Melinda Binks.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Co. for the generous sponsorship of The Fine Line. We are also grateful to KHOL 89.1 FM for the use of their studio.

42. The sliver couloir: the downfall of miscommunication

The consequences of not communicating in the mountains became abundantly clear on January 22, 2022, when skiers Collin Binko and Michael Martin encountered a lone snowboarder at the base of the Sliver Couloir in Grand Teton National Park. All three had eyes on the same prize, but neither party talked to the other.

The day ended with the snowboarder descending upon the two skiers, with Martin being overcome by sluffing snow and tumbling several hundred feet to the bottom. He luckily survived, but required a helicopter evac by Grand Teton National Park rangers and Teton County Search & Rescue.

The accident exposed the growing risk of skier-on-skier conflicts in the Tetons, and how critical it is for people to talk to one another in the backcountry, especially in high traffic, high consequence zones like the Sliver.

In this episode of The Fine Line, Martin and Binko give their account of what happened in the Sliver. We also hear from alpinist and licensed therapist Ryan Burke about coming onto the scene and the dangerous role ego plays in the mountains. Jessica Baker, an AMGA-certified ski guide who has more than two decades of experience in the Tetons, walks us through what communication looks and sounds like in the mountains, and why it’s so critical for everyone’s safety.

Interviews by Matt Hansen. Editing by Melinda Binks.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Co. for the generous sponsorship of The Fine Line. We are also grateful to KHOL 89.1 FM for the use of their studio.

41. Peer support: Stress Injuries and first responders

Most of us are pretty good at talking about our physical injuries. A broken wrist on a bike ride. A blown ACL while skiing. When it comes to stress injuries and mental health, however, it’s easy to want to pretend that everything is fine—no doctor necessary.

But we have come to understand that experiencing a traumatic event, as well as the cumulative effect of stress over the years, can have a serious impact on one’s mental health. And though we have touched on the topic of mental health in this podcast, we are devoting this entire conversation to that issue.

In this episode, Laura McGladrey and Nick Armitage discuss stress injuries and psychological first aid for first responders. They also explain the Stress Continuum, and how the 3-3-3 approach is a useful tool for helping others address mental health.

McGladrey has become a leading and outspoken proponent of addressing mental health among first responders. She has instructed NOLS Wilderness Medicine for the past 20 years and is a Nurse Practitioner with dual certification, practicing both emergency medicine and psychiatry across the lifespan. She is currently in the Emergency Department and the Stress Trauma Adversity Research and Treatment (START) Center with expertise in trauma support for Emergency, Wilderness, and frontline workers. She has a background in international and relief work on Psychological First Aid and Stress Injuries. She is the Stress and Resilience advisor for Portland Mountain Rescue and Eldora Ski Patrol, and works with teams throughout the U.S. following critical incidents and fatalities. She is the founder and director of Responder Alliance, and works closely with avalanche educators, guides and forecasters supporting both incidents and stress and resilience planning.

Armitage is a ranger in the Jenny Lake District of Grand Teton National Park. Prior to becoming a year-round ranger four years ago, he was a seasonal climbing ranger in the Jenny Lake District for eight summers. He has also worked as a USFS wildland firefighter and been a ski patroller at Big Sky, Montana.

By openly discussing this topic, it is our hope that we can continue to show that it’s okay to not be okay, and that help is available. 

Responder Alliance is an excellent resource for additional information, and can help teams establish programs to build resilience. Teton Interagency Peer Support (TIPS) provides mental health services for first responders and their families in Teton County, and can provide guidance for teams around the country establish similar programs. MentalHealthJH.com is another great resource for Jackson Hole residents.

Interview by Matt Hansen. Editing by Melinda Binks.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Co. for the generous sponsorship of The Fine Line. We would also like to thank KHOL 89.1 FM for their help in producing this episode.

40. Texas Two Step: We Bounce Pretty Good

People and horses have a long shared history in Jackson Hole. But not everyone rides off into the sunset. Example: On September 12, 2020, TCSAR was alerted to two women, sisters from Texas, who had been seriously injured after falling from their horses at the same time in the Gros Ventre Wilderness.

In this episode, the two women share their experience with a finely tuned sense of humor, while TCSAR volunteers Keegan Pfeil and Lizzie Watson discuss the team's response up what might be the most rugged road in Teton County.

Interview by Matt Hansen. Edited by Melinda Binks.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Company for sponsoring The Fine Line and their support of backcountry safety in Jackson Hole.

39. The Ray Shriver Story, Part 2

In Part 2 of "The Ray Shriver Story," Mike Moyer discusses how he survived the tragic helicopter crash that killed his TCSAR teammate, Ray Shriver. Carol Viau, another TCSAR volunteer, talks about how she was first on the scene, while Tim Ciocarlan goes into detail about how the team recovered from this terrible incident. Shriver's two sons, Zach and Matt, remind us why this story matters and why it's important to them to help keep their dad's memory alive.

Interviews by Matt Hansen and Rebecca Huntington. Edited by Rebecca Huntington.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Company for sponsoring The Fine Line and their support of backcountry safety in Jackson Hole.

38. The Ray Shriver Story, Part 1

On February 15, 2012, Teton County Search and Rescue received an emergency call to help an injured snowmobiler in the Togwotee area, about 60 miles northeast of Jackson, Wyoming. The response started like many others, with the team gathering at the hangar to decide on a plan. Given the remote nature of the accident, they decided to send the helicopter pilot with two SAR volunteers, Mike Moyer and Ray Shriver. The routine call would turn out to be anything but, as tragedy unfolded beneath the blue Wyoming sky, forcing the volunteers to search for their own, with Shriver, a founding TCSAR member, paying the ultimate price.

In this two-part series, TCSAR volunteers and Shriver’s two sons remember him as an influential, if hard-nosed, team member and father, and explain how they were able to emerge from the wreckage and move forward.

Interviews by Matt Hansen and Rebecca Huntington. Editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Thank you to Roadhouse Brewing Company for sponsoring The Fine Line and their support of backcountry safety in Jackson Hole.

37. Youth in the backcountry

How does a young person gain access to the backcountry? How do they do it safely? What happens when their Instagram feed is taken over by high flying stunts instead of avalanche awareness? How do they navigate not just the unforgiving wilderness, but life during the pandemic? What should parents and leaders in snow safety know about how kids approach avalanche terrain?

To get a better understanding of what young people think about going into the backcountry, we invited three Jackson Hole teenagers into the conversation. Thanks to Soraya Ziem, Ryan Millham, and Zack Little for the discussion.

Show Notes

The most important thing anyone can do before they go into the backcountry is get a formal avalanche education. Our guests achieved this through different youth programs offered in Jackson Hole.

BackcountryZero.com/winter has a full list of resources on where you can get an avalanche education.

The Jackson Hole Ski Club Backcountry Program is in its second year.

Jackson Hole High School Mountaineering Club has introduced hundreds of kids to backcountry safety over the years. You can find a great video about the Mountaineering Club on their Facebook page.

Coombs Outdoors offers children from low-income households the opportunity to access skiing and other outdoor activities all year long.

Volunteer survey-takers, like Ryan Millham, have recorded data about backcountry habits from more than 3,000 people since 2016. Find out more about this program in the 5-year Backcountry Zero Review, published in December 2020. The review also includes information about our popular What’s In Your Pack classes. Subscribe to our newsletter so you can be notified of when these classes are offered. They always fill up fast.

Interview by Matt Hansen. Editing by Melinda Binks.

33. Crevasse Rescue on Teton Glacier, Part 1

Thirty feet down a dark, icy crevasse, Tyler Willis never gave up hope that he would be rescued. That he was eventually pulled from the depths of the Teton Glacier by his climbing partner and two passersby after more than an hour of rope rigging is testament to the value of companion rescue.

The harrowing tale from August 8, 2020, includes two chapters: the fall and complicated extrication from the crevasse, and how Jenny Lake climbing rangers eventually got Willis off the mountain.

Interview and Editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Courtesy of Ryan Stolp

32. Night Rescue in Phillips Canyon

Season 5 of The Fine Line begins: On the calm evening of September 5, 2020, two mountain bikers set off to ride the technical Phillips Canyon trail off Teton Pass. About halfway into the ride, they approached the second of three log bridge crossings. One rider made it across. The other lost her balance and fell off the side of the bridge into the cold creek below. Unable to walk, in severe pain, and with hypothermia setting in as darkness fell, the biker was in for a long night.

Interview and Editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR

31. A powder day comes crashing down

Four Pines is one of the most popular ski descents in the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort backcountry. And yet, when something goes horribly wrong, as it did for Tom Gehling on the snowy afternoon of February 5, 2019, it can be like another planet and have life-altering consequences.

Gehling's accident and dramatic helicopter rescue are the subject of the newest episode of The Fine Line.

The episode features honest dialogue about decision-making during high avalanche danger, complacency for lift-served backcountry, “epic powder skiing,” and why having a rescue-ready helicopter is so critical to Teton County, Wyoming.

Interview and Editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Courtesy of Tom Gehling

28, 29, 30. grizzly attack up Pacific creek

James Moore had experience hunting in grizzly country. And if the Teton Wilderness is anything, it's full of grizzly bears. Moore struck out for the Whetstone Mountain area with his brother, Jake Peasley, and good friend Brent Bongers. It didn't take them long to spot their first grizzly. In this three-part series, Moore describes in stunning detail about being attacked by a sow grizzly, and his fight for survival that all unfolded on Sept. 25, 2017. Meanwhile, TCSAR team member and paramedic Lizzie Watson explains how she came upon the scene to assess Moore’s multiple injuries.

Interview by Rebecca Huntington, editing by Melinda Binks.

Photo: TCSAR team member Lizzie Watson was medical lead in responding to James Moore's injuries. James' wife, Betsy, stands in the middle.

27. All friends on a powder day

On January 18, 2019, Jackson Hole skier Jenny Karns fell upside down into a terrain trap during a powder day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. With her ski partner well ahead and unaware, she became trapped, with just one ski sticking out of the snow. Just seconds from suffocating, she was found and dug out by three people who happened to be skiing by. One of those skiers joins Jenny in the studio, as well as Kirk "Sparky" Speckhals, a longtime JHMR ski patroller, who was first on scene and offers perspective on Snow Immersion Suffocation, a danger that lurks on powder days.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Kirk “Sparky” Speckhals and Jenny Karns.

26. Breaking point in the spoon couloir, encore episode

The wind. It’s a dangerous variable, stripping snow from one zone and then loading up another. Even when danger is moderate on a well-known ski route, wind can be a wild card. With a heavy dose of wind in the weather this month, we replay an episode about skiing the Spoon Couloir.

Rene Etter-Garrette had already started questioning the risk of dying in an avalanche when he and two friends headed into Grand Teton National Park on February 4, 2016.

But that day, avalanche danger had been rated moderate. And Rene planned to ski a line that he'd already successfully tackled several times before.

He'd been living in Jackson Hole for six winters. During the ski season he worked at a local shop tuning skis. He'd found mentors willing to share their backcountry knowledge.

This time, he lead the way as he and two friends headed for the Spoon Couloir.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Dirk Collins

25. Rescue on the reef

On February 20, 2018, IFMGA-certified mountain guide Paul Rachele was trying to set up a winter climbing route on a sharp crag off Teton Pass called The Reef. As he was setting the final anchor, he ran out of rope and fell 100 feet, sustaining numerous severe injuries. His call for help set in motion a rapid response as rescuers raced against the clock to get him to safety before nightfall. Conversation includes TCSAR members Phillip Fox and Alex St. Clair who came to Rachele’s aid.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Courtesy of Paul Rachele

24. The search for bernhard reitmann

Bernhard Rietmann had a great sense of wanderlust. His drive for adventure landed him in Jackson Hole in the 1960s. Back when tourists only came in summer and innkeepers routinely hung up a gone fishing sign after Labor Day.

After decades of exploring the valley, Rietmann knew the Granite Creek Drainage well. He often went hunting there solo. On Sept. 23, 2015, carrying a sandwich, a water bottle and a rifle, the 84-year-old went looking for deer. When he didn't return, a massive effort mobilized to find him.

In this episode, Rietmann's son, Max, and longtime TCSAR volunteer Alex Norton give an inside look at how the search panned out.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Courtesy of the Bernhard Reitmann Family

23. Struck by lightning on the grand teton

The forecast looked promising the day before. But when climbers set out to summit the Grand Teton on July 21, 2010, a thunderstorm blasted the iconic peak. As repeated lightning strikes pinned climbers to steep, exposed terrain, rangers suddenly found themselves racing to save 17 people, even as the mountain remained shrouded in storm clouds. The incident turned into the largest rescue effort ever undertaken on the Grand.

In this episode, climbers Matt Walker and Steven Tyler share what it felt like to be struck by lightning on the peak, while Jenny Lake climbing rangers Scott Guenther and Jack McConnell discuss the courageous rescue effort.

This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Bradly J. Boner / Jackson Hole Daily

22. Trapped underground

Spencer and Jessica Christiansen knew once they rappelled into the Darby Canyon Ice Cave they couldn't turn back. Spencer had done what he could to research the route, but the maze-like caves are mostly unmapped and ever changing. As clues pulled them in misleading directions, the couple found themselves trapped underground for two mentally and physically grueling days in August 2018.

In this episode, the Christiansens reunite with TCSAR volunteer Ed Fries, one of the team members who rushed to their aid as time was running out.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR

21. Once is enough: the sally franklyn story

An experienced athlete, Sally Franklyn started skiing with her parents before she could even walk. On March 24, 2012, she and three friends headed for a steep couloir called Once is Enough south of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort boundary.

When the 26-year-old dropped into the couloir she took a life-altering tumble more than 800 feet down chute. Friends call her Superwoman Sally, not only surviving that day but for fighting her way through what's been a painstaking recovery.

This interview includes Franklyn, one of her ski partners that day Jeff Brines, and TCSAR volunteer Will Smith who discusses the team’s response to serious head injuries.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Franklyn’s helmet after the accident.

20. Lost in a whiteout

On January 24, 2019, Pierre Bergman took a wrong turn on his snowboard at the top of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and ended up stranded and alone in the backcountry. The 26-year-old, who worked at JHMR, rode his board everyday, but even the experienced can lose their way in blowing snow. Not knowing if rescuers would come for him, Bergman started hiking back up the mountain through waist-deep snow.

For this interview, Bergman is joined by TCSAR volunteer Jen Reddy to discuss his ordeal.

(Note: On June 15, 2020, Bergman suffered a severe spinal cord injury while riding his mountain bike on Teton Pass. If you would like to help in his recovery, please visit this GoFundMe page.)

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR Foundation

19. avalanche in Dogleg couloir

Greg Epstein cut his teeth skiing the backcountry of Jackson Hole. Along with friends, he had explored every nook and cranny of Granite Canyon just outside resort boundaries in Grand Teton National Park. As part of his job at Teton Gravity Research, he ran avalanche safety and wilderness first aid workshops for the film company's production crew and athletes. So he was prepared for a rescue, he just didn't expect it to be his own.

Epstein revisits his rescue with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrollers Reed Finlay and Jeff Burke.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photos: Courtesy of Greg Epstien

18. Gothic Couloir: Blinded by desire

Encore Episode.

When you move to Jackson in your 20’s, you can suddenly find yourself thrust into an extreme playground where the stakes are literally life and death. Accomplished ski racers Jim Ryan and Connor Nolan had the skills to tackle some of Jackson’s burliest lines. Their desire to ski those big lines blinded them to the level of risk they were taking until the day they attempted Gothic Couloir.

TCSAR volunteer Cody Lockhart, who came to their aid, joins the conversation.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Cody Lockhart, Connor Nolan, and Jim Ryan

17. Lost hunter

In October of 2012, Jackson architect Paul Duncker met up with friends for a fall hunt in the heart of the Gros Ventre Mountains. When Paul didn't return to hunting camp that night, his friends called Search & Rescue.

Early the next morning, TCSAR volunteers fanned out across the dry Cottonwood Creek Drainage. But as they looked for Paul, they didn't encounter a single clue.

In this episode, Duncker revisits the experience with TCSAR SAR Coordinator Jess King and volunteer Alex Norton.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR

16. Rescue on the buffalo fork

Chuck and Brenda Markham were vacationing with friends when they decided to kayak the Buffalo Fork River. The most experienced kayaker in the group, Steve Fretz, took the lead. What they didn’t know that day was that the river was pushing flood stage, running much faster than usual for July.

All the runoff had pushed woody debris into the river creating a maze of strainers and log jams that snagged and stranded some of the boaters.

TCSAR volunteers KC Bess and Cody Lockhart rowed to the rescue and share their perspective.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR

15. Rock slide in the tetons

In August of 2017, Will Grenier, his younger sister Cassie and their friend Erin Gibbs were headed up the Middle Teton. They were all experienced hikers. At the time, 24 year old Cassie worked as a recreational therapist and her job involved taking kids with troubled backgrounds into the great outdoors. Going up the Middle Teton was supposed to be a day off, but as they scrambled up a talus slope a massive rock slide cut loose and Cassie was right below it. What should have been a typical day hiking in the park turned into a fight for survival.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR Foundation

14. Stranded overnight on togwotee

Caty Harris loves being outdoors and that's how she wanted to spend her birthday. So she and her boyfriend, BJ Appell rented snowmobiles to explore the trails around Togwotee Pass. Although they followed the map, they took a turn onto an obscure trail that the guides no longer use and soon found themselves stranded and alone in a snowstorm.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Courtesy of Caty Harris

13. Gothic Couloir: Blinded by desire

When you move to Jackson in your 20’s, you can suddenly find yourself thrust into an extreme playground where the stakes are literally life and death. Accomplished ski racers Jim Ryan and Connor Nolan had the skills to tackle some of Jackson’s burliest lines. Their desire to ski those big lines blinded them to the level of risk they were taking until the day they attempted Gothic Couloir.

TCSAR volunteer Cody Lockhart, who came to their aid, joins the conversation.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Cody Lockhart, Connor Nolan, and Jim Ryan

12. surviving the widowmaker

A Jackson resident with a long history of rescuing others suddenly finds himself at the mercy of a community of strangers on Teton Pass. Once the head of the Himalayan Rescue Association in Nepal, Dr. David Shlim treated all of the survivors of the 1996 Everest expedition detailed in Jon Krakauer’s book, "Into Thin Air."

In this episode, Shlim speaks with TCSAR volunteer Jake Urban about his near-death experience in the Jackson Hole backcountry.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: TCSAR Foundation

11. Hiking Blind date turns into high-stakes rescue

What happens when a hiking blind date turns into a rescue and the person at your side is someone you just met? Grand Teton National Park employee Millie Jimenez recalls how she was hiking on her day off with a new friend in the rugged Avalanche Canyon when a slip turned into a life-threatening fall. Although she had just met her hiking companion, Millie already knew most of her rescuers, fellow National Park Service employees worried about saving one of their own.

In this episode, Millie recounts the rescue with Matt Wilber, Snake River District Supervisory Ranger, and Chris Bellino, Jenny Lake District Supervisory Ranger and Incident Commander for the October 12, 2015, rescue.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

10. the dangers of disappointment peak

On a Sunday in late June in Grand Teton National Park, rescue rangers started fielding multiple calls. The first call came at 5:55 p.m. An exhausted hiker was stuck on a steep snowy slope in Upper Granite Canyon. Just 35 minutes later, another call came in. A 27-year-old climber was seriously injured on Disappointment Peak.

Park rangers called in two helicopters and Teton County Search and Rescue to help with yet another call for missing boaters following an accident on the Gros Ventre River.

In this episode, we talk with climber Fio Lazarte and Jenny Lake climbing rescue ranger Nick Armitage about the longest and most challenging rescue that day.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

9. marsh creek tests swiftwater savvy

In this episode, two Jackson Hole boaters recall an epic spring when big water lured them to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. With the traditional boat launch closed, they put in at Marsh Creek, a tributary running fast, cold and choked with woody debris.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

8. a maverick heli rescue

An ideal ski day on March 3, 2017, turns into an epic rescue and stunning revival on Maverick Peak in Grand Teton National Park.

In this episode, GTNP climbing ranger Scott Guenther and TCSAR volunteer Will Smith give details about a dramatic short-haul rescue, arriving just in time to help a skier who’s going into cardiac arrest.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

7. breaking point in the spoon

Rene Etter-Garrette had been living in Jackson Hole for six winters. He'd found mentors willing to share their backcountry knowledge and skied challenging lines in Grand Teton National Park.

On Feb. 4, 2016, Rene and two friends decided to ski the Spoon Couloir on Disappointment Peak. Rene had started to question the risks of backcountry skiing after a close friend had died in avalanche just a few weeks earlier. But on this day, avalanche danger had been rated moderate, and Rene had skied the same line several times before without trouble.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

Photo: Dirk Collins

6. the black hole

Backcountry skiers call the Mosquito Creek drainage "The Black Hole." It's a place where the terrain looks disarmingly similar, luring skiers downslope, away from Teton Pass, until it's too late and you're at the bottom. It's an easy mistake to make but can have life-threatening consequences as Craig Benjamin and Zach Jakub discovered during a backcountry tour on January 20, 2002, when a storm blew in.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

5. Few clues in case of search for missing sisters

It's a parent's worst fear. Your children, all three of them, vanish in the wilderness. In 2015, three sisters, Megan, Erin and Kelsi Andrews-Sharer, embarked on what started out as a dream backpacking trip into the Gros Ventre Wilderness.

This is Part 2 of our story. Listen to Part 1 to hear how the sisters lose their way in the face of disappearing trails, endless river crossings, avalanche debris and dwindling food supplies.

In this episode, we talk with the sisters, their parents and a Search and Rescue volunteer about how the Jackson Hole community mobilizes to find them. The sisters have no way to call for help and have left few clues to pinpoint their location.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

4. Sisters Trapped By Vanishing Trails, Unexpected Terrain

It's a parent's worst fear. Your children, all three of them, vanish in the wilderness. In this episode, we talk with three sisters, Megan, Erin and Kelsi Andrews-Sharer, about what started as a five-day backpacking trip in the Gros Ventre Wilderness in the summer of 2015.

In the first of this two-part series, we find out how even when you know where you are, you can become trapped by the unexpected.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

3. september snow triggers grand rescue

A sudden, prolonged snowstorm on Sept. 11, 1985, stranded two parties on the Grand Teton. One party included Greg Findley, Nils Green and John Atthowe, all in their early 20s. Findley and Atthowe met at a National Outdoor Leadership School course in Lander, Wyo., in l98l and met Green, who was about to be married, that summer in Jackson Hole. The other party, Paul Johnson, 40, and his climbing partner of 15 years, Ken Webb, 37, had driven down from Seattle to climb the peak. Grand Teton National Park climbing rangers Renny Jackson and Jim Woodmencey recall the harrowing rescue that unfolded.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

2. A grizzly encounter

Grand Teton National Park backcountry ranger John Carr and Bear Management Specialist Katherine Wilmot discuss a close encounter with a mother grizzly and two cubs, and discuss the behaviors and response that likely saved his life.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.

1. A single step

In the premiere episode of The Fine Line, ski mountaineer Jesse Stover describes how a single step on Teewinot mountain turns the perfect ski day into a fight for survival.

We also hear from Teton County Search and Rescue volunteer and medical advisor Dr. AJ Wheeler and Grand Teton National Park rescue ranger Philip Edmunds who were both involved in the harrowing rescue to save Jesse's life and limb.

Interview and editing by Rebecca Huntington.