Hikers were the most rescued recreators in 2024, according to Teton County Search and Rescue’s end-of-year report.
That’s a change from the past decade, when skiers and snowboarders had been the most rescued.
The organization received its second highest call volume in its more than three-decade history. Search and Rescue attributes the high call volume to its multimillion-dollar helicopter, acquired in October 2023.
The helicopter allows the organization to help others throughout the region, including in Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Colorado and Idaho. Those assists nearly doubled flight rescues from 2023.
Annual rescues continue to trend up as the county grows and more people from around the country file into the backcountry. Statewide, 329 search and rescue missions were reported in 2024, with the vast majority in the state’s western mountains and the Bighorns, according to the Wyoming Information Sharing Platform (WISP). The state mirrored Teton County’s trend of hikers and backpackers requiring the most responses.
