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Woman Rescued From Madison River After Snowmobile Crash

A guided snowmobile tour in Yellowstone National Park (File photo).
YellowstoneNPS (CC-BY-2.0)
A guided snowmobile tour in Yellowstone National Park (File photo).

A New York woman who crashed her snowmobile inside Yellowstone National Park Tuesday morning broke her leg and was thrown into the Madison River.

A Gallatin County Sheriff’s Department Facebook post said Yellowstone park rangers responded to a 911 call to rescue the 22-year-old woman near Riverside Drive, about six miles east of West Yellowstone.

Rangers requested aid from the Sheriff’s Department and the Hebgen Basin Fire Department.

The Sheriff’s Department said the woman was “extremely cold” and suffered an apparent broken femur.

Responders requested helicopter evacuation by Air Idaho Rescue, which took the woman from the scene to Idaho Falls for treatment.

Yellowstone is operating with a heavily furloughed staff due to the federal government shutdown.

However, Sheriff’s Department Capt. Jason Jarrett said the rescue wasn’t likely affected by the shutdown because Yellowstone emergency services rangers are considered essential.

Jarrett said aid was requested because the Sheriff’s Department has equipment better suited to backcountry rescues compared to park staff.

“That’s not unusual for us to go into the park, because we’re the closest with all the stuff,” he said. “So it probably would’ve gone the same way on a regular day.”

Jarrett didn’t know whether the woman was part of a guided tour.

The woman’s name hasn’t been released.

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