CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Ray Shriver helped found a volunteer search and rescue group 19 years ago after he survived being buried in an avalanche. He even trained his own dogs for search and rescue missions.
On Wednesday, after participating in some 800 missions over the years with Teton County Search and Rescue, Shriver died when the helicopter he was riding in crashed while responding to a call for help from snowmobilers in the snowy, remote backcountry of northwest Wyoming.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating Wednesday’s crash of the Bell 407 helicopter in Teton County, FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said. A snowmobiler involved in a separate accident — the one the rescue team was responding to — also died.
The helicopter went down in a remote, wooded, snow-covered mountain area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in northwest Wyoming. The area is about 30 miles northeast of Jackson and east of Grand Teton National Park.
The helicopter went down in a remote, wooded, snow-covered mountain area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in northwest Wyoming. The area is about 30 miles northeast of Jackson and east of Grand Teton National Park.
It was the first fatality in the history of Teton County Search and Rescue, a mostly volunteer organization that began search and rescue missions in 1993, according to the group’s president, Tim Ciocarlan.
“The worst thing that ever happened in 19 years is we broke a wrist. That was it,” he said in a telephone interview.
Shriver, 63, of Jackson, died while the pilot and another member of the rescue team survived the crash. The snowmobiler, Steven Anderson, 53, of Morris, Minn., died of injuries he suffered when his machine struck a tree, authorities said.
Ciocarlan said Shriver had lived in Jackson nearly 30 years and was one of the original founders of Teton County Search and Rescue, which consists of 35 volunteers and one paid director.
“He was my hero,” he said, choking back tears.
“One of the primary reasons he wanted to be on the team was that he was actually buried in an avalanche and someone dug him out,” Ciocarlan said. “I think that was a life-changing event for him and he decided to pursue rescue and help folks that were in rescue type situations.”
Ciocarlan said the pilot, Ken Johnson, 62, of Victor, Idaho, remained in St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson on Thursday but was expected to be released later in the day.
The other rescuer, Mike Moyer, 44, of Wilson, was treated and released Wednesday night, Ciocarlan said.
“They were fortunate and were able to escape without significant injury,” he said.
The helicopter was built in 2008 and is registered to Hillsboro Aviation, of Hillsboro, Wash. A company executive didn’t immediately return a telephone call.
Officials said the helicopter crashed as it hovered in the area where the snowmobilers were located. It was searching for a landing zone at the time. Initial reports that the helicopter had landed and had just taken off were not accurate, Teton County spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said.
Sheriff’s officials speculate that a failed rear rotor might have caused the crash.
Ciocarlan said the search and research team takes great care in preparing for a mission, including a risk analysis that determines the best way of conducting a rescue and the dangers rescuers face.
“We can’t do everything and the fact the ship had a mechanical failure, who can see that coming?” Ciocarlan said.
Reynolds said it was unclear whether the snowmobiler died before or after the helicopter crashed.
Shriver was a county employee with the engineer’s office, Reynolds said.
“This is definitely a blow to the search and rescue organization, to the Teton County organization as a whole as well as our entire community,” Reynolds said. “As someone said to me this morning everyone in our community knows someone on search and rescue, so it’s pretty tragic.”
TETON COUNTY, Wyoming -- One day after a devastating helicopter crash in Bridger-Teton National Forest, a community is still in shock as officials from several different agencies scramble for answers.
It all started Wednesday afternoon around 12:30.
The Teton County Sheriff received a call of a snowmobiler separated from his group, about 6.7 miles south of Togwotee Mountain Lodge.
Teton County Sheriff's Capt. Tripp Wilson said 53-year-old Steven Anderson, visiting from Minnesota, had struck a tree and was pinned under his snowmobile.
Wilson said snowmobile crashes are fairly common, but as rescuers flew in to reach Anderson, things went from bad to worse.
"The helicopter unexpectedly crash-landed," Wilson said. "The group of snowmobilers just saw it go into a tailspin and then go down below the tree line."
The sheriff's department lost contact with the chopper for about 40 minutes, until the pilot finally came through on the radio.
"He was disoriented and injured, and the other two (on the helicopter) were also injured," Wilson said.
At that point, another helicopter was sent out along with ground crews. It took them nearly two hours to arrive on the scene.
Anderson was pronounced dead.
The pilot of the first helicopter was flown to St. Johns Medical Center in Jackson. A second medic on board, 63-year-old Ray Shriver, died from injuries sustained during the crash.
A veteran EMT of nearly 20 years, flags in Jackson now fly at half-staff for Shriver.
"Obviously it presents a somber environment here in Jackson Hole and the community, due to the fact of this tragic incident," Wilson said.
A third EMT was also on the chopper that went down. Mike Moyer, 44, was checked out by doctors and is said to be doing just fine.
The pilot, Ken Johnson, 62, was released from the hospital Friday.
The wreckage remains at the scene, while the FAA and NTSB are trying to figure out what caused the crash.
We found an article about Ray Shriver the SAR Member who passed away, and thought I should Share it.
Who You Gonna Call?
Teton County Search and Rescue: There when you need them
BY LISA NYREN
It started out as any other day on the backcountry slopes for Ray Shriver and his two sons, ten-year-old Matt and Zach, thirteen. The trio had trekked up the back side of 10,086-foot Mount Glory off Teton Pass under fairly clear conditions, seeking deep powder. Earlier on this morning in 1991 they had met up with local climbing guide Jay Pistono—who today serves as the Teton Pass winter ambassador—and followed him to a slope he called Snowshoe Bowl.
“It wasn’t really a hazardous day,” Shriver recalls, relaxing on a couch in his log cabin in Victor.
Pistono and Zach skied down, and Shriver followed, stopping at what he calls a convexity in the slope, to photograph Matt as he came down the hill. They heard a snap, Shriver says, just as he put his camera away. The snow settled with a loud thud, and Shriver grabbed his son’s hand.
Pistono and Zach skied down, and Shriver followed, stopping at what he calls a convexity in the slope, to photograph Matt as he came down the hill. They heard a snap, Shriver says, just as he put his camera away. The snow settled with a loud thud, and Shriver grabbed his son’s hand.
Avalanche.
“I was screaming a lot,” Shriver says. “It’s blackout. It’s total compression.”
The slide engulfed the pair and pulled them apart. Zach and Pistono were downslope, a little off to the side, where they avoided the rumbling snow. When the avalanche stopped, they ran to try to find their companions.
“It’s just the fact that you can’t move a damn thing,” Shriver says, noting he was able to stick his fingers out of the snow and did have a small airway. Pistono saw the fingers; once he learned that Shriver could still breathe, he yelled to him, “I’ve got to find your son.” He moved away from Shriver a few yards, where he thought Matt might be. Hearing muffled cries for help, Pistono did locate Matt and quickly dug him out of the snow.
Meanwhile, Shriver could feel the weight of the snowpack crushing his chest. Zach had reached him and was able to get the shovel out of his father’s pack and start removing snow from around his upper body.
Eventually, all four returned safely to the summit of Teton Pass, essentially unscathed.
“It was a miracle that we survived that,” Shriver says, sipping a drink. “We knew we dodged a bullet.”
Seventeen years later, sitting in his modest cabin with the sun flowing through a big picture window from the west, Shriver—who turns sixty in December—is a sixteen-year veteran of local search-and-rescue teams. He has had his search dog, Kita, a mild-mannered German shepherd, for ten of those years.
“Why was I spared?” Shriver asks of his near-death experience. That question is what led him to search-and-rescue work.
A few months after the avalanche, in 1992, the Teton County, Wyoming, Sheriff’s Department formed a volunteer search-and-rescue (SAR) group. Shriver signed himself up. He was a Vietnam veteran who had worked in Yellowstone National Park for several years, so he already possessed some of the skills necessary to do search-and-rescue work. And he subsequently learned additional skills from other members of the newly formed team.
A few months after the avalanche, in 1992, the Teton County, Wyoming, Sheriff’s Department formed a volunteer search-and-rescue (SAR) group. Shriver signed himself up. He was a Vietnam veteran who had worked in Yellowstone National Park for several years, so he already possessed some of the skills necessary to do search-and-rescue work. And he subsequently learned additional skills from other members of the newly formed team.
SAR caught on, and soon Teton County, Idaho, had its own volunteer group. Shriver now is a member of the groups in both Teton counties, having joined the Teton County, Idaho, SAR three years ago. That team currently consists of twenty-three members, all of whom are unpaid for their life-saving services. The team’s commander, Kelly Circle, says his group averages about twenty missions a year. The winter season’s rescue calls consist of hikers/skiers lost either on the backside of Grand Targhee or in some other backcountry location, individuals caught in avalanches, and overdue snowmachiners.
Circle, who joined SAR the winter of 1996–97, was voted in to the commander position about five years ago. He says he first joined the group to meet people, but that his involvement has since evolved into a passion for the work, which he finds gratifying and worthwhile. “You find yourself searching all night and [you] still put in an eight-hour work day,” Circle says. “We do it for each other.”
Shriver expresses similar sentiments. “We do it [to be] able to serve,” he says.
Shriver expresses similar sentiments. “We do it [to be] able to serve,” he says.
As a nonprofit, all-volunteer group, Teton County SAR works tirelessly to garner grants, donations, and other funding in order to stay current with the latest equipment and training. Teton County, Idaho, provides them with about $1,500 a year, Circle says, which goes toward vehicle maintenance. The rest of the money has come from fundraising events—primarily, Old Bill’s Fun Run and, in 2008, the Community Foundation of Teton Valley’s new Tin Cup Challenge. SAR has also been successful at garnering grant money for equipment from the Teton Springs Foundation, Circle says, which has aided the group in obtaining road vehicles, snowmobiles, and four-wheelers.
Other than that, the team’s volunteers provide what is needed. They use their own gear, wear their own clothing, and do it on their own time.
“I’ve had so many three a.m. phone calls,” Shriver says. He keeps track of all of his missions, and says he is approaching the four-hundred mark between the two Teton County search-and-rescue teams combined.
“I’ve had so many three a.m. phone calls,” Shriver says. He keeps track of all of his missions, and says he is approaching the four-hundred mark between the two Teton County search-and-rescue teams combined.
Shriver has two area maps pinned up to a north wall of his home. On one, he keeps track of his missions and their outcomes. Red pins indicate body recovery missions and yellow ones indicate live rescues. The other map keeps track of Kita’s finds, red and yellow pins dotting the paper.
The SAR team has a total of four search dogs to accompany them on missions, Circle says. The dogs start training for the job at seven weeks of age and, according to Shriver, are the best at what they do.
The SAR team has a total of four search dogs to accompany them on missions, Circle says. The dogs start training for the job at seven weeks of age and, according to Shriver, are the best at what they do.
Kita, whose wide red collar bears her name, sits on the floor, licking her paws and facing Shriver as he talks. She seems as modest about her work as her owner is of his. She has helped rescuers find and recover victims both in snow and in other seasonal conditions. Shriver says she has had eight finds: two living persons and six body recoveries.
“It does take its toll,” Shriver says. “I quit counting at about thirty body recoveries.”
In Teton County, Idaho, the majority of calls in winter are for overdue snowmobilers traveling in the Big Hole Range, Shriver says. SAR works at times with Bonneville and Madison counties on missions that cross jurisdictional lines.
Both Shriver and Circle say improved technology and a greater interest in recreation have changed the way SAR operates. “This place has gone bonkers with outdoor recreation,” Shriver says. “The community has changed, and search and rescue has changed.”
“It’s amazing what technology has done [since 1997],” Circle adds, noting that SAR members use pagers, cell phones, e-mail, and even text messaging to communicate. He predicts technology will play an even more significant role in the future of SAR, not only for the rescuers but for those who use newer, faster, more advanced equipment to venture farther into the wilderness.
To keep current, Teton County, Idaho, SAR trains on the first Tuesday of every month in a classroom setting, and on the following Saturday in live drills. “It satisfies,” says Shriver, who serves as training director, of the overall SAR experience. “It gives you a challenge in life that you don’t get anywhere else … We give a lot. We hope people appreciate it.”
No doubt those who have benefited from a rescue by SAR appreciate it a great deal.
Our heart and our prayers go out to Ray's family we are so sorry for there loss.
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