Snowmobiler Rescued After Plunging Off Bridge And Landing In Frozen River

A 40-year-old Russian national who plunged 15 feet off a bridge after his snowmobile collided with a guardrail is expected to survive, according to the director of the Cody Country Snowmobile Association, who assisted with his rescue.

The snowmobiler suffered a severe broken leg, facial trauma and a bruised abdomen Saturday while driving his snowmobile on the Scenic Beartooth Highway (U.S, Highway 212), near the Wyoming - Montana border and the Top of the World Store. 

A Silver Lining Rescue

The rescue brimmed with a silver lining, as a member of the snowmobile party seeking help found a group of emergency responders in the warming hut a half mile from the accident site.

Volunteers with the Cody Country Snowmobile Association, Park County Search and Rescue and snowmobile search teams were at the safety shelter – a converted semi-trailer at Island Lake Campground – on their lunch break, during a day of avalanche safety training. The safety shelter is equipped with emergency gear such as a cellphone and a sheriff’s radio.

The crew responded immediately, Cody Country Snowmobile Association Director Bert Miller, who was leading the avalanche safety training, said. 

“They were mere minutes away, as opposed to an hour-and-a-half away,” Park County Public Information Officer Monte McClain told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s just fortunate they were up at the warming hut.”

When the search and rescue teams arrived, they found the injured man below the bridge in a frozen creek bottom strewn with boulders, Miller said. 

Miller said the party, which he said he believed included three snowmobilers, was playing in a meadow when the 40-year-old male rode up on the highway bridge. 

“We don’t know really much from there,” Miller said. “All of a sudden, there’s the sled stuck on the bridge and he’s 15 feet over the side.”

Boulders had shattered the victim’s helmet on impact, breaking the front of the helmet open and causing facial trauma.

Miller said the man’s snowmobile didn’t appear to be damaged.

“The assessment there was to get him warm and see what’s broken,” Miller said.

Right Place, Right Time

A trained medical doctor happened to be one of the volunteer search and rescue members. Dr. Aaron Billin, who recently retired as an emergency department physician and currently serves as the Park County Public Health Officer, saw that the man had suffered a severe fracture on his right leg, along with the large bruise on his abdomen and the significant facial trauma.

“Dr. Billin was a major player,” Miller told Cowboy State Daily.

Miller said the Cody Country Snowmobile Association owns an 8-foot tub that hooks to a large Ski-Doo snowmobile. With Billin in command, the team wrapped the victim in a full body air mattress and placed a spinal board under him. He was transported in the tub back to the safety shelter.

Miller drove the Ski-Doo, and Billin rode in the tub with the victim.

“We were only half-a-mile away from the safety shelter,” he said, “but we could only go about 15 mph.”

When the crew and the victim arrived at the safety shelter, one volunteer manned the radio while others assisted in moving the victim from the tub into the shelter. 

“The safety shelter became the command central,” Miller said.

Based on communication between the safety shelter and local law enforcement, Park County Sheriff’s 9-1-1 center requested First Flight of Wyoming’s medical helicopter out of Greybull. While the rescue team waited the 50 minutes or so for the helicopter to arrive, they started a fire in the shelter’s wood stove to keep the victim warm. 

"We were in direct contact with everybody through the sheriff’s radio,” Miller said. “It was very well assessed.”

Helicopter Arrives

The helicopter landed about 60 yards from the safety shelter. Miller said he picked up the helicopter crew via snowmobile and transported them to the shelter in the same 8-foot tub they had used to transport the victim. 

The helicopter’s medical team started an IV and administered pain medication to the victim inside the shelter. Then, they loaded the victim in a basket, put the basket in the 8-foot tub, and Miller transported them by snowmobile back out to the helicopter. 

“Then, the bird was up in the air,” Miller said. “Once the bird was up in the air it’s 35 minutes to St. Vincent’s [Trauma Center] in Billings.”

 An Amazing Team Effort

The entire rescue took about 2 1/2 hours, Miller said, calling it “amazing, the team effort.

“I’m proud to say that search and rescue in our area is just unmatched by anything,” he said. “They know what they’re doing. They’re giving their time free. They’re training to be able to be out and save lives. That safety shelter saves lives.”

Park County Sheriff Darrell Steward in the sheriff’s report commended the quick-acting search and rescue volunteers for their “excellent teamwork and training,” noting that because of their fast response “a severely injured man was quickly evacuated to higher care.”

Public information officer McClain added: “We were fortunate in the sense that our SAR [search and rescue] squad was already at the warming hut.” 

All in all, Miller said, the avalanche safety training was fantastic. 

“We talked about doing some mock emergencies,” he said. “And here came an emergency and it was not a mock. Everyone passed with 100% flying colors.”

Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.