SEELEY LAKE – Seeley-Swan Search and Rescue were called out at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 to look for two snowmobilers from Arlee who got off the trail south of Fawn Peak and could not find a trail out. SSSAR worked through the night in difficult weather and terrain and rescued the snowmobilers and returned to the Westside Trailhead by 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
According to Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ryan Dunster the man and woman were coming down the south side of Fawn Peak and headed back to the Westside Trailhead. The man went off the side of the road and was unable to get his snowmobile back up on the road. He continued to ride down the mountain and his riding partner followed. When they were unable to find the road or ride the trail out, they called for help.
“They got into a bad spot and couldn’t get out,” Dunster said.
SSSAR was dispatched at 7 p.m. and they left the trailhead between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Dunster said there were eight volunteers, himself and Deputy Heath Hanson.
Using the crew’s SPOT trackers and the SPOT from one of the missing snowmobilers, Gary Connell was able to lead the crew to the missing snowmobilers. Once the rescuers were in the area, the couple turned on one of the snowmobile’s lights to give the crew a visual.
“It was just miserable up on top. It was a wet wind, blowing snow and your zippers and everything were just completely frozen,” Dunster said.
He said once they had a visual, they tried to find a pathway down.
“The snow was so deep that we couldn’t get to them. It was just kind of a horrible thing,” Dunster said.
He thought they were going to have to stay the night with them, so he called in supplies including heat blankets, snowshoes and medical supplies.
Volunteers Ken Brochu, Jon Haufler, Tim Hoag, Owen Hoag and Dunster walked down to them with snowshoes while volunteer Auguste Lockwood stayed on top. While the couple had fire starter, Dunster said they didn’t have a very good saw and they just couldn’t keep a fire going. They had opened up the sides of the snowmobile and were trying to stay warm from the radiant heat but that too wasn’t working very well. The woman could hardly walk she was so cold.
SSSAR Volunteers Matt Pitman and Danny Johnson made several passes and packed down a trail with their snowmobiles. Thanks to them, Dunster said they were able to ride the snowmobiles out.
“If it wasn’t for those two, we would not have gotten them out of there [that night] and she would not have been able to walk out,” Dunster said. “They were just awesome.”
The woman was taken directly to the Trailhead to get warmed up in the ambulance. The rest of the crew made it out to the trailhead just before 6 a.m. Wives Shelly Johnson and Alex Pitman were waiting for the crew with breakfast burritos and hot coffee, something Dunster said was much appreciated.
“We have a really good team. They are just on top of it,” Dunster said. “They did awesome and they stayed out all night long.”
As far as Dunster is aware, the couple sustained no injuries and did not require advanced medical care.
Dunster encourages everyone recreating this winter to be aware of the conditions, pay attention to the avalanche warnings, carry survival gear and ride within their skill set.
“You probably would have had to have been pretty experienced to get off the road or the trail because the snow was just that deep and there is no base to it,” Dunster said. “As soon as you get off you just sink unless you really know what you are doing. Don’t over-ride your skill set because that is where people start to get in trouble. ”
** Editor's Note: The article was updated Feb. 15 to correctly reflect the wives names that provided food to the crew.
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