The
evolution of search and rescue in and around Big Sky
By Brandon WalkerEBS COMMUNITY EDITOR
BIG
SKY – You’re driving Highway 191 through Gallatin Canyon when you see a car
accident. It’s spring of 1991, so there aren’t any guardrails yet, and when the
vehicle went off the road it landed in the middle of the river. A family is
stranded on top of the car, surrounded by heavy spring runoff, and no one can
help them. Eventually the water sweeps them away.
Three of the four white crosses below Deer Creek in Gallatin Canyon are constant reminders of this tragic story.
Members of Big Sky Search and Rescue in action on a winter day. PHOTO COURTESY OF BSSAR
The
following year, a group of six community members formed the Big Sky Search and
Rescue team. Ed Hake, a founding member and a current board member, cited that horrible
day as one of multiple instances that drove the group to found the BSSAR team.
A
sector of the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Department, BSSAR is one of 11 branches
in Gallatin County’s search and rescue hierarchy. GCSAR also includes an Alpine
team, West Yellowstone search and rescue, the Civil Air Patrol and the Western
Montana Search Dogs, to name a few.
“We are so resource-rich in this county, with the volunteer skill sets we have, that we created individual groups that were technical experts at alpine climbing, skiing, snowmobiling, divers, dogs …” said retired Gallatin County Sheriff’s office search and rescue commander Jason Jarrett. “Three groups are generalist groups—West Yellowstone, Big Sky, and the [Sheriff’s] posse. They do a little of everything, but then they’re supported by those technical specialists.”
A Big Sky Search and Rescue member is pictured repelling down a snow-covered cliff face. PHOTO COURTESY OF BSSAR
GCSAR
formed in 1986 with the passing vote of a mill levy, which provided funding for
training, daily operations, and equipment.
In
BSSAR’s infancy, the team’s volunteer members provided their own equipment. “It
was just personal equipment, whatever we had,” Hake said. At times, the
organization even used snowmobiles from Hake’s business, Canyon Adventures.
According
to Big Sky Resort Tax records, after BSSAR received its first public funding
from the resort tax board in 1994,
the team began purchasing first aid supplies, gear and vehicles. The
group now funds regular trainings every month and finished construction on its
own building in 2009. The BSSAR “cache,” as it’s called, provided a permanent
home for the organization and its equipment, but most importantly, a place to
meet and prepare for a SAR mission and hold trainings.
Prior
to construction of the building, a modest truck and trailer located near Canyon
Adventures served as the organization’s headquarters, according to current
BSSAR President Jeff Trulen.
An experienced backcountry snowmobiler, Trulen has been involved with BSSAR since 2005. He originally joined the team as “a way to get to know people and hang out with like-minded folks,” he said. “Plus [it] was good Karma for all the dicey stuff we somehow managed to survive back in the day.”
Members of Big Sky Search and Rescue make their way back up a steep hillside. PHOTO COURTESY OF BSSAR
Today,
the Big Sky squad has grown from the original six founding members to more than
40 volunteers, many of whom are also firefighters, paramedics and ski
patrollers. “The people that we have on search and rescue now are some of the
best trained people in Montana, if not the entire western U.S.,” Hake said.
GCSAR
has been expanding, as well, with more than 150 volunteers lending a hand
throughout the region. “It is much more capable, much more consistent, and much
more nimble in its abilities to solve the problems that our community finds
itself in,” said Jarrett, a 24-year veteran of the GC Sheriff’s office who was
also involved with search and rescue for more than 35.
Gallatin
Country Search and Rescue, which is the busiest SAR county in the state and
immediate surrounding area, fielded 101 distress calls in 2018 according to the
Gallatin County Search and Rescue strategic plan.
“The
interesting piece is that we by far have more activity than anybody else around,”
Jarrett said. “I mean, several states around. We run about 100 calls a year, [and]
the next busiest places are running 50 [or] 60 calls a year. It’s a very
outdoor activity-oriented community, all the way to West Yellowstone. We don’t
have people that’re more gravity challenged than anybody else, we just have so
many more people outside.”
Of
those calls, nearly two-thirds of the individuals requesting help are Gallatin
County locals, according to GCSAR’s strategic plan. Big Sky accounts for about
25 percent of GCSAR call volume annually, and the rescues are usually in
response to common injuries, Jarrett explained. According to Trulen, the BSSAR
president, Big Sky Search and Rescue specifically responded to 19 distress call
in 2019, which was less than a typical year. The amount of calls averages
around 24 each year has remained relatively constant since the organization’s
inception.
But
each call is different, so rescuers must not only be skilled, but flexible. “It feels good to be in a
position to help people who are not having such a good day. Each call is
different in that you could be dealing with the issue for two hours or two days…or
in rare cases two [to] three months,” said Trulen.
Now
28 years later, Hake is the only founding member still involved in BSSAR. “Very,
very proud of what Big Sky Search and Rescue has become,” he said. Looking
back, he believes things could have gone differently in 1991, if only someone
had the knowledge and equipment to help. To this day, he carries his rescue gear
with him everywhere he goes—especially in the spring.
Where: The Wilson Hotel
What: Food, games, music, spirit wear for sale – fun for all ages!
Schedule: 6pm parade starts at The Wilson
6:30pm pep rally @ Len Hill Park
Event Details
Where: The Wilson Hotel
What: Food, games, music, spirit wear for sale – fun for all ages!