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Search And Rescue Plans For More Calls As Pandemic Fuels Backcountry Explorations

A man strapped to a stretcher is lifted by three others into a "snowbulance." The enclosed vehicle is stowed by a snowmobile.
Rachel Cramer
/
Yellowstone Public Radio
Gallatin County Search and Rescue volunteers Kendall Carr, Jason Brey and Brock Kelly slide Travis Mann into a snowbulance during a rescue simulation in West Yellowstone on Jan. 27, 2021.

Tired of being cooped up during the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are escaping into Montana’s backcountry this winter. But some experts worry this influx may cause a spike in accidents and increased calls to Search and Rescue.

In a garage packed with a snowmobile, ATV, inflatable rescue boat, dry suits and trailers, a radio beeps to life.

“Gallatin County Search and Rescue.”

Several West Yellowstone Search and Rescue volunteers are setting up a rescue simulation.

West Yellowstone Search and Rescue Coordinator Kelly Brock uses a snowmobile to pull a snowbulance in West Yellowstone on Jan. 27, 2021.
Rachel Cramer
/
Yellowstone Public Radio
West Yellowstone Search and Rescue Coordinator Kelly Brock uses a snowmobile to pull a snowbulance in West Yellowstone on Jan. 27, 2021.

“Please respond to a 47 year old male in the Two Top area who has been involved in a snowmobile crash," the radio crackles.

The team has not had any calls for help in a few days, but that can change quickly. In December, they had four calls in one week for crashed and lost snowmobilers and an injured skier, and winter is far from over.

Some backcountry experts are worried there may be more calls for help this winter with an influx of recreationists in the backcountry. Sales in the U.S. for backcountry related equipment, including Nordic and alpine ski touring, splitboards and snowshoes, grew a combined 76 percent last fall over the year prior, according to The NPD Group.

Doug Chabot, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, says people have been hungry to get outside during the pandemic. Coupled with population growth in southwest Montana, he says it can be hard to find a parking spot at popular trailheads.

“With the increased use, it means those that are more experienced will go farther out because they want to get good snow, maybe untracked powder. They want to be alone, they don’t want to be around a big group of people, and so they’re willing to put in extra time to go farther into the backcountry, ” Chabot says.

Chabot says that’s great if people do it safely, which includes checking daily avalanche forecasts, taking backcountry education courses and always going out with a partner and rescue gear. But Chabot says there are some added risks this winter.

“When we have a weak snowpack and a weak snow structure, if we put a lot of triggers on a slope, we see increased avalanche activity, and so this year with more people out, more people are on slopes and triggering them, ” Chabot says.

So far, none of the avalanches in Montana have been fatal.

Despite a higher number of backcountry recreationists across the state, the number of calls to Search and Rescue vary.

Carbon County’s Search and Rescue told YPR the unit experienced a 50 percent increase in calls in 2020 compared to it’s ten year average. But Flathead County Search and Rescue told YPR despite increased backcountry use, there have been few calls so far this winter.

Gallatin County’s Search and Rescue, which includes units in Bozeman, Big Sky and West Yellowstone, saw a small increase in calls from November through January compared to the same stretch of time the last two years.

Back at the Search and Rescue building in West Yellowstone, Brock Kelly says he cannot predict whether there will be more calls this year, but he says he and the other volunteers with specific backcountry expertise are prepared.

Kelly drives a snowmobile out of the garage and around the building. He’s pulling a blue snowbulance. This $8,200 piece of equipment looks a little bit like a small helicopter cockpit on four skis.

Kelly brings the snowbulance over to Travis Mann, another volunteer who’s on the ground, roleplaying an injured snowmobiler.

“Ow, it hurts …”

Volunteer Kendall Carr, who’s also an emergency medical technician, assesses Mann’s imaginary broken femur.

West Yellowstone Search and Rescue Coordinator Kelly Brock watches volunteer Kendall Carr assess Travis Mann during a rescue simulation in West Yellowstone on Jan. 27, 2021.
Rachel Cramer
/
Yellowstone Public Radio
West Yellowstone Search and Rescue Coordinator Kelly Brock watches volunteer Kendall Carr assess Travis Mann during a rescue simulation in West Yellowstone on Jan. 27, 2021.

Carr and Brock Kelly strap a traction splint onto Mann’s leg to reduce the pain and bleeding.

Then they and another volunteer strap Mann to a backboard and slide him into the snowbulance.

“We’ve got a heater in here that we’ve turned on, with a heat blanket on him and our Dr. Down, a big down sleeping bag that will help keep him warm. Kendall will jump inside and ride,” Kelly says.

Real rescues and searches can take anywhere from an hour to multiple days. Patients are then transferred to road ambulances to be taken to the nearest critical access hospital in Big Sky, about an hour’s drive north, or weather permitting, loaded up into a helicopter.

Kelly says Search and Rescue volunteers leave work, get up in the middle of the night and head out in blizzard conditions to serve their communities.

“Volunteering is kind of like wearing black pants and wetting yourself, and you feel warm all over and nobody notices, ” Kelly says.

Nobody notices, Kelly says, until they need help.