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It’s human nature for all of us to want to prove ourselves. But in backcountry skiing, where margins for error in avalanche terrain can be razor thin, this can be a dangerous path—for experts, beginners, and everyone in between. Concluding this two-part series of The Fine Line, Anna Meteyer confronts these and other complexities from April 1, 2020, when her friend and touring partner Trace Carrillo died in an avalanche on Teton Pass, Wyo. Meanwhile, TCSAR volunteer Jennifer Sparks talks about how psychological first aid has become a priority for first responders in Teton County.
Thank you to Anna Meteyer for sharing her story, and to Trace Carrillo's family and friends for supporting backcountry safety in his name through a scholarship fund at the University of Utah.
Show Notes
Please remember: It’s okay to not be okay. And it's perfectly fine to ask for help.
To learn more about mental health support offered by Teton Interagency Peer Support group, or TIPS, go to http://www.backcountryzero.com/tips.
If you or someone you know is suffering from stress trauma, mental illness or just needs someone to talk to, go to https://www.mentalhealthjh.com. Available to all Teton County, Wyo., residents.
For information on the Trace Carrillo scholarship fund providing Level 1 avalanche courses to students at the University of Utah, go to https://ustarter.utah.edu/o/university-of-utah-39/i/ustarter/s/trace-carrillo-dreamachieve.
Photo: Will Smith/TCSAR -
On April 1, 2020, Anna Meteyer met her friend Trace Carrillo for a backcountry snowboard tour on Taylor Mountain, a large peak on the west side of Teton Pass, Wyoming. In this two-part series of The Fine Line, Meteyer describes the tragedy that unfolded, the brutal lessons she learned, and her struggle to cope and move forward.
We hope the take away from this honest conversation about risk and decision making is not an opportunity to judge others, but as a way of reflecting on how we can all improve the ways in which we approach the backcountry. Whether you are a longtime backcountry user or just starting out, please be respectful and take the time to consider this story with an open mind.
Interview by Matt Hansen. Editing by Melinda Binks. -
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In Part 2 of our story about a crevasse rescue on the Teton Glacier, Jenny Lake Climbing Ranger Mike Shain helps Tyler Willis get off the mountain to medical treatment, and they discuss the lessons that every climber in the Tetons should be aware of before they begin an adventure.
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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. -
Season 5 of The Fine Line begins: On the calm evening of September 5, 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.
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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. -
In Chapter 3, James Moore talks with rescuer Lizzie Watson, his wife, Betsy, and brother, Jake Peasley, about his rescue, recovery and even some unexpected moments of humor as rescuers rushed him to safety.
Photo: TCSAR team member Lizzie Watson was medical lead in responding to Moore's injuries. James' wife, Betsy, stands in the middle. -
In Chapter 2, James Moore and his brother, Jake Peasley, describe the intensity of the grizzly attack, and their hasty retreat from the wilderness via horseback to get to help. Photo: TCSAR team member Lizzie Watson was medical lead in responding to Moore's injuries. James' wife, Betsy, stands in the middle.
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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 a three-part series, The Fine Line follows Moore and his party through the hunt, the attack and the fight for survival that all unfolded on Sept. 25, 2017. Photo: TCSAR team member Lizzie Watson was medical lead in responding to James Moore's injuries. James' wife, Betsy, stands in the middle.
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On Jan. 18, 2019, Jackson 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.
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The wind. It’s a dangerous variable, stripping snow from one zone and then loading up another. Even when danger is moderate and a ski route, well known, 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. -
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. Photo: Paul Rachele
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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. -
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.
This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation.
You can support this project and the volunteers at Teton County Search and Rescue by making an online donation today at tetoncountysar.org/donate.
If you like listening to the Fine Line, considering sharing us with a friend.
Host: Rebecca Huntington -
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 of 2018.
You can support this project and the volunteers at Teton County Search and Rescue. Make an online donation today by going to tetoncountysar.org/donate.
This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation. -
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. -
After taking a wrong turn on his snowboard in a whiteout, Pierre Bergman ended up stranded and alone in the backcountry. The 26-year-old works at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort where he skis everyday, but even experienced skiers 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.
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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. -
As avalanche season approaches, here's a re-play of our most popular episode ever.
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. Rescuer Cody Lockhart understood that desire. -
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 and rescue.
Early the next morning Search and Rescue volunteers fanned out across the Dry Cottonwood Creek Drainage. But as they looked for Paul, they didn't encounter a single clue.
The Fine Line shares real stories of adventure, risk and rescue in the backcountry of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.
Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation. Support this project and Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers by making a donation today at www.tetoncountysar.org/donate.
You can also support The Fine Line by sharing this podcast with friends and family, especially if they're heading into the backcountry. - Visa fler
