BOZEMAN — Rescuers with Gallatin County Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) had a busy Christmas Day helping two people injured in separate incidents near West Yellowstone.
Volunteers were returning from a canceled mutual aid call in Yellowstone National Park just past noon on Friday when a 43-year-old woman crashed her snowmobile about 8 miles southwest of West Yellowstone.
The woman missed a corner and went off-trail while snowmobiling on the Two Top trail system, injuring her leg. SAR was able to reach her with a specialized snow ambulance and transport her off the trail system. She was then taken by ambulance to a hospital in Rexburg, Idaho for further evaluation.
Shortly after finishing the Two Top call, SAR was dispatched to a second incident around 2:45 p.m. A 63-year-old woman fell while skiing on the Rendezvous Ski Trail about three miles south of West Yellowstone. She injured her knee and was unable to ski back to town.
Rescuers were able to reach her quickly thanks to a snowmobiler who saw the incident and provided GPS coordinates. The woman was taken via snow ambulance to the Search and Rescue building before friends took her to a hospital for evaluation.
No further information about the condition of either woman was available.
The pair of Christmas Day crashes came after a 41-year-old Bozeman man and his 11-year-old daughter sustained minor injuries in a snowmobile crash on Christmas Eve on the Big Sky trail system. SAR also assisted a woman who crashed her snowmobile on Whiskey Trail near West Yellowstone on Wednesday.
All in all, it was a busy holiday week for Gallatin County rescuers.
