The Fine Line

Greg Epstein cut his teeth skiing the backcountry of Jackson Hole. Along with friends, he had explored every nook and cranny of Granite Canyon just outside resort boundaries in Grand Teton National Park. As part of his job at Teton Gravity Research, he ran avalanche safety and wilderness first aid workshops for the film company's production crew and athletes. So he was prepared for a rescue, he just didn't expect it to be his own.

Epstein revisits his rescue with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrollers Reed Finlay and Jeff Burke.

As avalanche season approaches, here's a re-play of our most popular episode ever.

When you move to Jackson in your 20’s, you can suddenly find yourself thrust into an extreme playground where the stakes are literally life and death. Accomplished ski racers Jim Ryan and Connor Nolan had the skills to tackle some of Jackson’s burliest lines. Their desire to ski those big lines blinded them to the level of risk they were taking until the day they attempted Gothic Couloir. Rescuer Cody Lockhart understood that desire.

In October of 2012, Jackson architect Paul Duncker met up with friends for a fall hunt in the heart of the Gros Ventre mountains. When Paul didn't return to hunting camp that night, his friends called search and rescue.

Early the next morning Search and Rescue volunteers fanned out across the Dry Cottonwood Creek Drainage. But as they looked for Paul, they didn't encounter a single clue.

The Fine Line shares real stories of adventure, risk and rescue in the backcountry of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.

Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation. Support this project and Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers by making a donation today at www.tetoncountysar.org/donate.

You can also support The Fine Line by sharing this podcast with friends and family, especially if they're heading into the backcountry.

Chuck and Brenda Markham were vacationing with friends when they decided to kayak the Buffalo Fork River. The most experienced kayaker in the group, Steve Fretz, took the lead. What they didn’t know that day was that the river was pushing flood stage, running much faster than usual for July.

All the runoff had pushed woody debris into the river creating a maze of strainers and log jams that snagged and stranded some of the boaters.

Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers KC Bess and Cody Lockhart rowed to the rescue.

This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation.You can support this project and the Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers by making a donation today. Visit www.tetoncountysar.org/donate.

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In August of 2017, Will Grenier, his younger sister Cassie and their friend Erin Gibbs were headed up the Middle Teton. They were all experienced hikers. At the time, 24 year old Cassie worked as a recreational therapist and her job involved taking kids with troubled backgrounds into the great outdoors. Going up the Middle Teton was supposed to be a day off, but as they scrambled up a talus slope a massive rock slide cut loose and Cassie was right below it. What should have been a typical day hiking in the park turned into a fight for survival.

Caty Harris loves being outdoors and that's how she wanted to spend her birthday. So she and her boyfriend, BJ Appell rented snowmobiles to explore the trails around Togwotee Pass. Although they followed the map, they took a turn onto an obscure trail that the guides no longer use and soon found themselves stranded and alone in a snowstorm.

This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, with support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Backcountry Zero is a project of the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation.

You can support this project and the Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers by making a donation today. Visit www.tetoncountysar.org/donate.

When you move to Jackson in your 20’s, you can suddenly find yourself thrust into an extreme playground where the stakes are literally life and death. Accomplished ski racers Jim Ryan and Connor Nolan had the skills to tackle some of Jackson’s burliest lines. Their desire to ski those big lines blinded them to the level of risk they were taking until the day they attempted Gothic Couloir and the Triple Crown. When they had to call for help one of their rescuers, Cody Lockhart, knew just how they felt.

A Jackson resident with a long history of rescuing others suddenly finds himself at the mercy of a community of strangers on Teton Pass in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Once the head of the Himalayan Rescue Association in Nepal, Dr. David Shlim treated all of the survivors of the 1996 Everest expedition detailed in Jon Krakauer’s book, "Into Thin Air."

Rebecca Huntington hosts The Fine Line, real stories of adventure, risk and rescue in the backcountry of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero. You can support The Fine Line and Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers by making a donation today. To learn more at www.tetoncountysar.org/donate.

What happens when a hiking blind date turns into a rescue and the person at your side is someone you just met? Grand Teton National Park employee, Millie Jimenez, recalls how she was hiking on her day off with a new friend in the rugged Avalanche Canyon when a slip turned into a life-threatening fall. Although she had just met her hiking companion, Millie already knew most of her rescuers, fellow National Park Service employees worried about saving one of their own.

In this episode, Millie recounts the rescue with Matt Wilber, Snake River District Supervisory Ranger, and Chris Bellino, Jenny Lake District Supervisory Ranger and Incident Commander for the October 12, 2015, rescue.

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On a Sunday in late June in Grand Teton National Park, rescue rangers started fielding multiple calls. The first call came at 5:55 p.m. An exhausted hiker was stuck on a steep snowy slope in Upper Granite Canyon. Just 35 minutes later, another call came in. A 27-year-old climber was seriously injured on Disappointment Peak.

Park rangers called in two helicopters and Teton County Search and Rescue to help with yet another call for missing boaters following an accident on the Gros Ventre River.

In this episode, we talk with climber Fio Lazarte and Jenny Lake climbing rescue ranger Nick Armitage about the longest and most challenging rescue that day.

This podcast is produced by Backcountry Zero, a project of Teton County Search and Rescue. Support Backcountry Zero, a community vision to reduce fatalities in the Tetons, by simply sharing this podcast with friends and family.

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