Search and Rescue reflects on key missions, helicopter access 

‘Very thankful for us to have such a strong crew in our town,’ says victim rescued by helicopter in early February 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

In the backcountry, even a small emergency can carry large consequences. In those moments, volunteers sacrifice time and energy to help distressed community members and visitors.  

More than 150 volunteers with Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue are “dedicated people who give up their valuable, discretionary time to help the community,” said Jason Revisky, GCSSAR training coordinator. 

“These volunteers are generous enough to take this pretty substantial chunk [of their lives] when they could be doing very many other things,” Revisky told EBS in a March 1 phone call. “For no financial reward, [they] give that time up for the community. That’s pretty outstanding, when you really think about it… And to do it at all hours of the day.”  

Mark Bradford, Big Sky section manager for GCSSAR, said missions are slightly down this winter—2023 was the first year since 2019 that missions did not increase, according to GCSSAR’s annual report. Bradford credited the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center for reliably informing the community of a dangerous snowpack, information which may have helped prevent avalanche-related missions to date.  

Still, in recent months, GCSSAR has performed intensive rescues. In February, helicopter access played a key role in two missions. Helicopter access, however vital, is never a guarantee for GCSSAR—without an exclusive-use contract, some of the most urgent search and rescue missions hang in the balance of whether a helicopter and qualified pilot are available from Central Copters in Belgrade, a private business that serves GCSSAR through an “as available” contract.  

On Feb. 19, volunteers ventured at dusk into the Taylor Fork area south of Big Sky to rescue a pair of snowmobilers stuck in Sunlight Basin. The rescue effort turned into an overnight stay, and it was one of the hardest rescues in Bradford’s memory.  

“That was a pretty intense call, because we couldn’t make it back up the same way we went down into the drainage,” Bradford said in a phone interview. The snow was sugary and soft, and neither the victims nor the rescuers could get traction on their snowmobiles.  

Bradford said the victims should have brought a few more supplies for medical emergencies, and ways to build a fire and cut wood. The victims had snowmobiled in the area before, Bradford said, but they didn’t know their way out—Sunlight Basin only has one way out, and they missed it by going further down into the drainage.  

When they tried to turn around, the snow was too sugary—SAR volunteers encountered the same problem.  

“Mark Bradford is the best snowmobiler I know,” Revisky said. “He’s an amazing snowmobiler. And if he can’t get out of there, it’s bad.” 

Stuck in the dark, volunteers built a fire and everyone—plus their snowmobiles—was extracted the next morning via helicopter. 

In total, the responding volunteers spent about 20 hours on that mission.  

Just a couple weeks earlier, on Feb. 2, GCSSAR rescued a paraglider from the top of Tick Ridge in Big Sky. The paraglider, 32-year-old Big Sky resident Mathias Tellstrom, had crashed and injured his lower left leg. 

“That was another kind of a difficult call because of the location,” Bradford said. He remembers a similar rescue about two years ago, and suggested that Tick Ridge must be a popular paragliding location.  

“And we did the same thing, we had to fly ‘em out of there.”  

Tick Ridge is steep and rocky, with many cliff bands and no established trail. Climbing it requires bushwacking and scrambling. To carry an injured victim down would take “a lot of hours,” Bradford said. He emphasized the importance of a helicopter being available to avoid a technical, high-angle rescue—a “multi-stage rope lowering,” Revisky said.   

“Once we saw that they were pretty close to the top of the ridge, it became clear that this was going to be a long and potentially dangerous ground mission,” Revisky said.  

Even if Tellstrom weren’t seriously injured—his exact condition remained to be assessed—GCSSAR called for a helicopter to protect its own volunteers.  

On Feb. 2, by chance, the helicopter and qualified pilot were available—Revisky said the dedicated volunteers on the helicopter crew assembled quickly and made the 17-minute flight from Bozeman. Two volunteers were hoisted up beneath the helicopter, and nobody needed to hike up or down Tick Ridge.  

When packaging Tellstrom, volunteers examined his injured left leg. 

“There was no blood flow going down to his foot… That made it even more urgent to get him out of there to get him to a hospital to get that fixed,” Bradford said.  

The entire rescue took about two hours, and Tellstrom was relieved by the speed. “I was not far away from town, but I was 1,800 feet up,” he told EBS in a March 4 phone call.  

“I do think that with the helicopter rescue, it cut off about six to seven hours of time,” Tellstrom said. He’s now recovering from two surgeries, and still can’t put weight on his leg.  

Without a helicopter rescue, “It could have been pretty brutal,” Tellstrom said. And the outcome may have been worse.  

Bradford said Tellstrom and his partner were prepared for emergency, and it helped that they were within cell service to call for rescue.   

“He bandaged his own foot, he put a stick splint on it… They knew what they were doing,” Bradford said.  

Initially, Tellstrom was told he may have a severed artery and could lose part of his limb. He was urgently driven to Bozeman—an incoming storm prevented a helicopter flight—and flown to Billings, where medical personnel located his pulse.  

“There was lots of emotion in the situation, and then lots of relief… I was definitely under the impression that it would have been worse,” Tellstrom recalled.  

If not for the convenient availability of the helicopter and pilot, volunteers likely still would have been performing a complicated and dangerous rescue by the time Tellstrom was able to see a doctor in Billings. If rescued on foot, he could still have been descending Tick Ridge, fearing the worst.  

Efforts underway  

Bradford said GCSSAR is working to secure a helicopter. 

“We would like an exclusive-use contract with Central Copters to be able to do short-haul rescues, and also do initial attack on wildland fires in Big Sky [and] Gallatin County,” Bradford said.  

Until then, they’re still rolling the dice with every emergency.  

“We’re at the mercy of their schedule and whether or not they have pilots or the helicopter available,” Bradford said.  

“If either of those pieces are missing, then we just can’t fly a mission,” Revisky said.  

Now, the main objective is fundraising.  

“In short, we have been exploring numerous avenues for establishing a funding mechanism for an exclusive-use contract,” Revisky said. That includes philanthropy and community fundraising—SAR personnel are experts in public safety, but not as experienced in fundraising campaigns, he added.  

“We’re working on trying to open as many doors as humanly possible, and not limiting ourselves to one paradigm or another. Trying to talk to as many subject matter experts as we can for getting this funded,” Revisky said.  

Beyond GCSSAR rescue missions, the helicopter could be a useful tool for any emergency, from wildfires to floods.  

“We’d like to make the most out of it to provide the best service to the community,” he said.  

GCSSAR is exploring the best possible helicopter arrangement to make sure supporters are confident in the power of their dollars. An exclusive-use contract seems ideal, but ownership or lease are not entirely unreasonable.  

“People don’t want to give their money away to a cause that isn’t going to produce,” Revisky said. He’s confident in the GCSSAR’s track record, and focused on improving their capacity to fundraise.  

He said anyone interested in supporting the effort to secure helicopter access should contact either himself or GCSSAR Captain Matt Boxmeyer.  

“I would highly encourage people to get ahold of us and give us an opportunity to explain what we’re trying to do, and what the options are for helping us out,” Revisky said.  

Tellstrom spoke to the importance of short-haul rescue, “especially with how much terrain we have in the area and a growing community… I think that having a helicopter service and focusing on funding it is really important.” 

A communication tool and a ‘genius’ fire-starter 

Any situation could require an overnight or time-consuming rescue, and Revisky recommends being prepared to spend a night in the backcountry, even if it won’t be comfortable.  

“All of us, me included tend to imagine our day in the backcountry [as] we go out to ski, we find good snow, the weather is good, and we come out.”  

To mitigate risk, people tend to bring their beacon, shovel and probe in case a friend is caught in an avalanche. Some people might not think of being hurt and stuck, however, and having to shelter in place for the night.  

Revisky said it’s important to have a communication device, including the popular Garmin inReach or any device that can send GPS coordinates. It may be important to carry a charging brick to give one’s phone a second life. 

“So many of our cases have had better or worse outcomes based on the ability to communicate… I think it’s really something everybody should carry,” Revisky said.   

In case of an unplanned overnight stay, it’s also important to have fire-starting tools capable of working when all the wood is wet.  

“It’s much better from a survival standpoint to keep a fire going.”  

Revisky is eager to share a tip he learned just two years ago. “It’s almost silly how well it works,” he said.  

All you need is a sparking tool, sometimes called a “fire steel,” and a few cotton balls impregnated with Vaseline.  

The cotton balls will light on fire—Vaseline is a petroleum derivative and the cotton acts like a candle wick—and burn for about 10 minutes, enough time to dry out wet kindling.  

“That is the most genius method, and it’s so cheap… And almost foolproof,” Revisky said.  

Through all the various types of rescue missions, from lost snowmobilers and hikers to anyone dealing with an immobilizing injury, Gallatin County depends on the many volunteer hours given by search and rescue personnel.  

When Mathias Tellstrom was being rescued, he said he was apologetic for even requiring their services.  

“They were very reassuring that they love their jobs, they love doing this,” Tellstrom said. The volunteers were kind and genuine, even after dangling from a helicopter in the overcast February sky.  

“Thank you so much for your time and for the selfless acts that [you] do with search and rescue,” Tellstrom said. “[I’m] very thankful for us to have such a strong crew in our town.”