Season 7 Episode 5

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 near 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. Joining the conversation is Teton County Search & Rescue volunteer Keegan Pfeil, who explains how the team responded to this life-threatening emergency in a deep timbered ravine where simply locating Brown was a challenge.
<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1589868259&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/the_fine_line" title="The Fine Line" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The Fine Line</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/the_fine_line/51-decision-point-no-guarantees-for-tomorrow" title="51. Decision Point: No Guarantees for Tomorrow" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">51. Decision Point: No Guarantees for Tomorrow</a></div>

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Season 7 Episode 4

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.

In this episode—our 50th—we’ll hear about Jordan's miraculous survival, while Teton County Search and Rescue’s Ian Johnston explains how a SAR assist plays out in this very remote corner of Wyoming. Thanks to the Star Valley Search & Rescue for the invaluable partnership in helping to bring this rescue to a positive outcome.

<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1576074859&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/the_fine_line" title="The Fine Line" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The Fine Line</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/the_fine_line/50-cornice-fall-heli-rescue-in-the-salt-river-range" title="50. Cornice Fall: Heli Rescue in the Salt River Range" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">50. Cornice Fall: Heli Rescue in the Salt River Range</a></div>
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Season 7 Episode 3

On July 13, 2022, three friends went out for a mountain bike ride on a trail they'd done too many times to count: the classic Ferrins-West Game-Cache Creek loop just outside of Jackson, Wyo. But the ride gets cut short when one of the riders has a violent crash, leaving him with severe injuries and a complicated rescue. In this episode of The Fine Line, the incident demonstrates how even the most experienced riders sometimes have accidents, even in their own backyard, and the hoops that TCSAR and other agencies must jump through to get someone out of the backcountry safely.

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Season 7 Episode 2

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.

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Season 7 Episode 1

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.

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