Two rescues retrieve skier, snowmobilers

Volunteers with Flathead Search and Rescue and North Valley Search and Rescue worked with Two Bear Air to respond to two separate incidents that began Sunday and ultimately achieved the rescue of four people stranded in bitter cold. All lived in the Flathead Valley.

One was a solo skier. The other three were snowmobilers who were in the vicinity of the South Fork of the Flathead River.

The first rescue began around 3 p.m. Sunday. A woman called the ski patrol at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area to report her husband was overdue. She said she had dropped him off at the radio towers earlier that day, with the understanding he would ski down and meet her in Lakeside.

Blacktail Mountain alerted Flathead Search and Rescue, which sent a ground crew to search for the skier. Flathead County Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Upton, assistant coordinator of Flathead Search and Rescue, said he asked Two Bear Air to be on standby.

Upton said the ground crew found tracks in the snow they believed belonged to the missing skier. He said darkness was descending and the temperatures were dropping, and Two Bear Air was asked to respond.

Ultimately, Two Bear Air located the skier in a creek bottom, where he had started a fire. The helicopter sent a hoist crew to retrieve the man, said to be in his mid-30s. He did not require medical care and was reunited with his wife, Upton said.

The man said he’d missed his anticipated route down the mountain and eventually felt too tired to hike out. Upton said the man’s cellphone battery was dead.

The next rescue began around 6 p.m. Sunday after a woman called Flathead County and said her two sons, 16 and 17 years old, and a male companion had not returned from snowmobiling up in the area of the South Fork of the Flathead River.

She said calls to her sons’ cellphones went directly to voice mail.

Upton said a sheriff’s deputy traveled to the Hungry Horse Dam and found vehicles linked to the snowmobilers.

“I requested assistance from North Valley Search and Rescue,” Upton said.

He said the volunteers from North Valley initially traveled in snowmobiles along the road to see whether they could locate the three young men. That search did not locate the men or their snowmobiles, Upton said.

Because of the avalanche danger and potentially treacherous terrain, Upton asked Two Bear Air to join the search.

With infrared and night-vision gear, the helicopter spotted the men in the Wounded Buck drainage, Upton said. They were walking around and appeared to be in good condition, he said.

One snowmobile was lodged in a creek, he said.

Two Bear Air communicated the coordinates to the ground crew. Because of high winds and a low ceiling, Two Bear Air did not attempt a hoist, Upton said.

“Ground crews were able to get in there and bring them out,” he said.

The brothers and their companion, who was in his mid-20s, reached Hungry Horse Dam around 3:30 a.m. Monday, Upton said.

“They were cold and hungry,” but did not require medical care, he said.

Upton said the three apparently tried for a long time to retrieve the snowmobile from the creek and then faced the prospect of trying to get out in the dark through terrain that often includes a lot of open water. He expressed appreciation for the search and rescue volunteers and for Two Bear Air for their work.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.