Two Bear benefactor now a crew member

There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary about the mission the Two Bear Air rescue helicopter completed early Sunday morning north of Priest Lake, Idaho.

Except for the man who pulled a lost snowmobiler to safety.

Whitefish philanthropist Michael Goguen — who donated more than $11 million of his own money to help found Two Bear Air five years ago — was the rescue specialist on the late-night flight and grabbed the man from the snowy terrain before the two were pulled into the helicopter and flown to safety.

It was Goguen’s fifth time hoisting a person to safety — or “on the hook” as his pilot called it — since he joined the Two Bear rescue team last May.

“From our perspective he’s just one of the crew,” said chief pilot Jim Pierce, who flew the mission. “But for somebody down there, it’s kind of interesting for a billionaire to come down and rescue them.”

Goguen has flown regular missions with the Two Bear team since completing his required four weeks of training and he picks up a similar schedule as the rest of the rescue specialists, working 12-hour shifts on call. Late Saturday night just happened to be one of his shifts.

Pierce said Goguen dove into his training shortly after expressing an interest and the team has quickly warmed to the wealthy venture capitalist.

“When he decided he wanted to do this, he was amazing,” Pierce said. “He was such a quick learner and he takes everything so serious. He drives so hard to be good at everything that he does.

“When he came here he’s just one of the guys and that’s the only way it can work. Everyone has to trust everyone else. He’s just one of the guys, which is great, and he respects and likes that.”

According to Pierce, a man was snowmobiling north of Priest Lake Saturday afternoon and walked ahead of his partner to find a place to turn around. When he turned back, Pierce said, the man mistakenly followed a different set of snowmobile tracks and walked along a trail that took him back behind the other snowmobiler. Later, the lost man trekked off-trail into a wooded area, venturing more than a mile from where he started. Per Pierce, despite being missing for more than nine hours the man was rescued cold but uninjured. He did not require medical attention.

“He was a popsicle,” Pierce said. “He had his helmet on but the snow was so deep that he had been trouncing around in. He was pretty crisp on the outside as far as ice and stuff.”

Two Bear Air left the Flathead around 10 p.m. Saturday and made the flight to Priest Lake in 35 minutes. The crew spent “probably a couple hours” searching for the man before discovering him at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday.

Pierce was thankful the team found the man when they did.

“Good deal for the gentleman,” Pierce said. “All of the snowmobilers had been up the trail and his family had been looking for him and covered the tracks. The way he took a route, I don’t know if they would have found him or not.”