WEBVTT

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A friend

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was supposed to be back
from a trip to the Navy ice caves.

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They're not back yet.

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I want to do Fast Team, the follow up team

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with more gear and third team
with the gear and backup.

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We were concerned that they're dying.

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To get

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this thing started bloody to the

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may not be a good thing.

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Hey, guys, can you talk to us?

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No, not

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time.

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I got the guys.

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Jackson Hole, Wyoming,
the most exclusive destination

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in the Rockies.

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It's America's front door to the Tetons,
where inspiring peaks and record breaking

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big game are just part of the appeal.

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All that's appealing about Jackson
is summed up in local real estate prices.

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They remain staggeringly high

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because of its natural beauty
and limited private land.

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Jackson Hole is one of the most coveted
real estate markets in the entire country.

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So putting down

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roots here means spending
$2 million on a home

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that might go for 250,000
in other parts of Wyoming.

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For many who want to buck up and buy in.

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This is the man, Jesse

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Timmers owned a construction business
since the 1970s,

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building luxury homes for Jackson Hole's
wealthiest residents.

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This is the fun one.

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It's going to be really cool.

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A little house and a guest house.

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It was the joke of long time.

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The millionaires have were

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chased out of town by the billionaires
and that was back in the eighties.

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And the net worth
of some of these residents

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that come in here and build second homes
and or first homes to stay here

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is pretty substantial.

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Tim's clients are demanding,

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so his work requires
a fanatical eye for detail,

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a skill that makes him perfectly suited
to his second life

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as a long time chief advisor
to Teton County Search and Rescue.

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I have
to say, I'm pretty type-A and controlling.

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I've been incident commander a lot.

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I've been here a long time.

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The team just listens to me.

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I don't have really have to say much,
do they?

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Be quiet.

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They listen to me and we move on

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and he'll.

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12 years ago, in 1992, in the fall,
there was an ad in the paper

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for volunteers to apply
to be on a search and rescue team.

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The person that was the leader of the team

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led for about two years
and then he moved up

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to become the undersheriff
at the sheriff's department.

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And immediately we realized we needed
a leader because we were starting to have

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organizational issues.

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And I went into his office and I said,

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you know, we need to have a leader.

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And he says, Great, you're it.

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And once I was chosen,
I never looked back.

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Today,
Tim is on his way to be among old friends

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as he helps oversee a joint training
exercise between SAR and two other rescue

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teams, the Jackson Hole
Mountain Resort, Ski Patrol and Rangers

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with Grand Teton National Park.

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The mission to practice

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patient evacuation
from an exposed mountain ledge.

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I'm coordinating to ground rescue teams

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of search and rescue folks, and we're
putting everybody in the field now.

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The first order of business
is to get our short haulers inserted near

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the snowboarder.

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The hell are you shuttles
people and gear up to the training area.

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That's
where volunteers Cody Lockhart and Dr.

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AJ Wheeler walk ski patrol through the
do's and don'ts of helicopter evacuations.

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I've been told
that I'm flying or not. Okay,

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AJ, you're
going out the second flight out.

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Using a stretcher, roped into
what's called a short haul line

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that extends from the bottom of the heli.

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This simulates a real rescue

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with Tim practicing his role as incident
commander, giving orders by radio.

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They see what I see.

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Go ahead.

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Make a plan.

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And get back to me

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what your mode of extraction is
and let me know

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and what I need to do down here
for your. Support.

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We do have our patient packaged
in a stock bag,

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and at this point,
I think just a bowling bag would work.

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The litter is the stretcher used
to stabilize the patient, and the Bowman

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bag wraps the person up in order to shield
them from the wind and cold.

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The litter
in the Bowman bag, they basically have

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a sled attached to them
and then someone to grab a hold of them.

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I won't lose you, buddy.

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Yeah. Coffee?

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Yep. Okay.

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5050.

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Coffee, five zero.

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I'd say

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the decision was made to short.

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Haul John and myself in with the litter
to help extract

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the victim.

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It's standard procedure
for the rescue team member to be harnessed

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with the patient
during a short haul rescue.

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The team made up of park rangers,
ski patrollers

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and SAR volunteers
executes a flawless extraction.

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Flying two crew members
and a patient in the litter

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off the ridge
top and down to the landing zone.

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And then rescue guys
keep on saying it was really good.

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Well done.

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See, down the bottom.

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Teton County Search and rescue
often trains on Saturdays.

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And because weekends are when more people
explore the backcountry, it's

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not uncommon for a training session
to end with a call out

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for a real rescue. 911.

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Where's your emergency?

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I'm calling to report that a

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group of friends was supposed to be back
from a trip to the Navy ice caves.

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And they're not back yet.

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This time, the call comes in from Idaho
on the other side of the Tetons,

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from where the team is winding
down, it's Ridge Top training.

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Not only is this rescue are coming
from the opposite side of the mountains,

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it's also in a place totally unlike
where the team spent the day.

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We get a call in a cave rescue
and the urgency is extremely high.

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They're so
the issue is what do we do with training?

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We need every single person here
to get them out.

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So we need to go.

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Because this call is for three
missing hikers

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who were last seen
headed for the Darby, Ice and Wingate,

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which means they
could be lost underground.

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The scenarios are

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they're just laid in their post,
holing out

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an avalanche as a likelihood.

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Or they could be hurt.

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The hikers might be injured

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or suffering from hypothermia.

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So Tim leads the team to gather
what it needs to race over the mountains

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where the road ends and a difficult trail
into the backcountry begins.

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Hypothermia is a real threat,
and that's what our ticking time bomb

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is, is if we can just get to these guys
quick enough.

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Teton County Search and Rescue
Veteran Leader and volunteer Tim Seale.

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Carlin's takes over as incident commander,
mobilizing the team to go in

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search of three hikers lost somewhere in
the area of the Darby ice and wind caves.

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They know about the cave,
as you heard there.

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And they're chipping the
ice, plug their stock or lost

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the Darby.

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Ice and wind caves are a one way
underground cavern system

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with an upper and lower entrance that sits
on the western side of the Teton Crest.

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That means it's at the edge of SA's

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reach and difficult to access,
and the longer it takes to get there,

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the more threat there is to the hikers
trapped inside.

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We get a call, a cave rescue.

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It's a really big deal.

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It's probably our worst case scenario.

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We were concerned that they're dying.

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The team relocated to the trailhead
closest to the caves.

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Tim is in charge
and this is his command post.

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I want a fast team,
a follow up team with more gear,

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and the third team with the gear
and a backup.

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First thing we do on an incident,
we establish the incident command

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and then we put a game plan together
within the first three or 4 minutes.

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And then we have operations.

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And operations are the folks
that are really making the decisions.

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What's going to happen in the field?

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Forward operations are run by hasty teams

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and guided by the best athletes
and most skilled survivalists there.

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It's going to be.

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Including Jake Urban, owner

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operator of the Jackson Hole
Outdoor Leadership Institute.

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As a hasty team leader,

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my role is often making sure
that the rest of the members on that team

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understand
what the objectives of our mission are.

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But before Jake
and the other volunteers head out,

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Tim gets an aerial surveillance report.

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Okay, team, go ahead.

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It looks to be evidence.

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Of a slide down the lead or the.

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Now. Tim and the team

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must manage risk
before they even get to the cave.

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But for Jake

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and the other first responders,
risky challenges are part of the appeal.

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They feel ready for whatever
this backcountry might throw at them.

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Everyone on this team is a volunteer.

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Everybody knows
what they've signed up for.

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As we progress up
the mountain, it goes from green grass

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to a little bit of snow and a lot of snow.

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The hasty team locates three
sets of tracks headed toward the caves,

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and this leads them to a designated
wilderness area.

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Wilderness

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areas are tough,
a long way back from civilization.

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They have no roads.

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Gosh, wildlife, bear terrain that nobody's
really been into hiking at all.

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You don't want to think you actually.

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Did go to the ice cave east.

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One copy that will continue on.

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And we find ourselves being detectives
trying to root out

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all the clues.

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Soon the team reaches the first big clue,

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enabling them
to eliminate a possible scenario.

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Doesn't have your in their tracks.

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Well, these right here.

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Yeah, right here. That's them.

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The tracks lead
to the upper entrance of the cave system

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and not to the lower entrance.

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So the hikers probably avoided
avalanche activity reported near

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the lower cave entrance
by the aerial spotters.

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Instead, they apparently climbed further.

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Headed for the upper ice cave.

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Entry point.

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This means the hikers could be attempting

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a demanding through hike of the caverns
and might be stuck inside.

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So the team decides to split up.

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What do you guys think about trying
to stay in these.

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Trees, seeing. How it holds up in there.

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By entering through the lower exit?

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Jake's team hopes
to take a shortcut to the lost hikers.

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All right.

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Are you near or
did you already go through the avalanche?

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Syria. There is no avalanche.

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On this side of the canyon
that would affect them.

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So we're pretty convinced
that they're stuck in there at some point.

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Hypothermia is a real threat.

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And that's what our ticking time
bomb is, is if we can just get to these

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guys quick enough.

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Inside the

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Darby Ice Cave, there is a serious route
requiring 6 to 12 hours underground

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where spelunking is navigate
an area known as the Maze.

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It's full of narrow
paths and freezing water.

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And sometimes this route is blocked
when the cave water freezes solid.

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That's what Tim is worrying about.

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Back down in Ensign Command.

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You know, with any luck,
we're going to just do a little short,

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little crawl here.

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That there's a typically an ice block
to build.

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A lot of folks don't realize that.

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So they will go in the ice cave
and they work their way down, pull

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all their ropes off the other drops
and they can't get out.

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And that's exactly what Jake's team finds

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a plug of rock hard ice blocking the way.

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Then through the ice, they spotlights.

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And guess it's the hikers trapped
after a long, cold night in the cave.

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All three
could be succumbing to deadly hypothermia.

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That's his wife.

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He's right. Good.

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So, yeah.

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Turn off your light.

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After getting to the ice plug,
the only way we were able to confirm

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00:13:50.496 --> 00:13:52.765
that they were behind
it was we could see light.

247
00:13:53.732 --> 00:13:54.767
That's moving.

248
00:13:54.767 --> 00:13:55.568
He's right there.

249
00:13:55.568 --> 00:13:59.038
Yeah, that's his light.

250
00:13:59.038 --> 00:14:00.706
Is that coming from outside?

251
00:14:00.706 --> 00:14:02.308
Hello?

252
00:14:02.308 --> 00:14:04.343
We were just getting started.

253
00:14:04.677 --> 00:14:07.079
Just go to town. Watch the shrapnel.

254
00:14:07.146 --> 00:14:09.815
Your go for the high lights
coming through.

255
00:14:10.983 --> 00:14:11.584
You guys.

256
00:14:11.584 --> 00:14:14.186
Jake has no way of knowing
the thickness of the ice floe

257
00:14:16.288 --> 00:14:17.223
or how desperate

258
00:14:17.223 --> 00:14:19.725
a condition
the hikers may be in on the other side.

259
00:14:20.459 --> 00:14:21.660
Then check it out. Their flashlight.

260
00:14:22.928 --> 00:14:25.698
Hey, guys, can you hear us?

261
00:14:25.698 --> 00:14:29.768
I've seen this first set before newscasts.

262
00:14:29.935 --> 00:14:33.239
And this is be 20 to 30 traffic.

263
00:14:33.239 --> 00:14:34.506
In extreme cases.

264
00:14:34.506 --> 00:14:37.943
Hypothermia can kill in under an hour
with victims

265
00:14:37.943 --> 00:14:41.747
becoming delusional
or spiraling into a state of hysteria.

266
00:14:41.814 --> 00:14:42.448
He's right.

267
00:14:42.448 --> 00:14:44.850
Good.

268
00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.123
Hello?

269
00:14:53.425 --> 00:14:56.829
Hey, guys, can you hear us?

270
00:14:57.062 --> 00:14:59.832
Hello?

271
00:15:00.132 --> 00:15:02.401
Deep inside the mountains outside
Jackson, Wyoming.

272
00:15:02.601 --> 00:15:06.105
Any place above 8000
feet can feel like winter all year long.

273
00:15:07.172 --> 00:15:09.241
Just below snow line. Incident Commander

274
00:15:09.241 --> 00:15:12.378
Tim SEAL Carlin oversees
a rescue inside the Darby Ice Cave.

275
00:15:13.145 --> 00:15:16.181
He has to decide if he should risk
sending in another team

276
00:15:16.315 --> 00:15:18.484
from the upper cave entrance.

277
00:15:18.484 --> 00:15:21.053
There's ice falls in the cave,
there's vertical shafts,

278
00:15:21.053 --> 00:15:24.089
there's water right up to your neck,
going through passages.

279
00:15:24.657 --> 00:15:26.392
It really is a challenge.

280
00:15:27.526 --> 00:15:29.762
I think he's above us.

281
00:15:29.762 --> 00:15:44.843
You can't really get up there.

282
00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:48.747
They're tough on the inside.

283
00:15:49.014 --> 00:15:51.450
They can either act without.

284
00:15:51.617 --> 00:15:52.918
A thick ice plug blocks.

285
00:15:52.918 --> 00:15:56.922
Jake and his team of first responders
from making contact with three lost hikers

286
00:15:56.922 --> 00:16:00.392
trapped for more than 24 hours
in this frigid underground wilderness.

287
00:16:00.726 --> 00:16:02.995
Life or death,
it's always life or death up here.

288
00:16:04.296 --> 00:16:07.700
Jake leaves the cave to call Tim
on the radio and discuss their options.

289
00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:10.803
There are places in the cave

290
00:16:10.803 --> 00:16:13.772
that if somebody is hurt,
we can't put them on a backboard

291
00:16:13.772 --> 00:16:16.742
and we have no way to get them
through some of the crawls.

292
00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:21.747
And we know we're going to be underground
and damp, cold conditions

293
00:16:22.081 --> 00:16:25.484
right at freezing 32 degrees
and some water up to our chest.

294
00:16:26.051 --> 00:16:28.754
And for 12 to 24 hours,

295
00:16:28.754 --> 00:16:31.957
minimum, that's

296
00:16:31.957 --> 00:16:34.960
narrowed moment for me because it's

297
00:16:35.060 --> 00:16:38.464
not only it's a long way to get there,
but we have to find them.

298
00:16:38.464 --> 00:16:40.399
We have to get in there now.

299
00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:45.437
By the time we find somebody in the cave,
we're wet and cold and tired.

300
00:16:45.838 --> 00:16:49.641
So they're really hesitant
about sending the team through.

301
00:16:50.342 --> 00:16:53.379
Tim determines it would be too risky
to send in the second team

302
00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:54.980
from the upper entrance.

303
00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.316
That route involves
several dangerous repels

304
00:16:57.449 --> 00:17:00.586
made extra perilous
by the icy conditions inside the cave.

305
00:17:01.553 --> 00:17:03.722
Tim believes his team has no choice.

306
00:17:04.123 --> 00:17:06.792
They must break through the ice.

307
00:17:06.792 --> 00:17:09.061
That's the problem,
is that when there are ice

308
00:17:09.061 --> 00:17:12.731
plugs, we're never sure
how how wide they actually are.

309
00:17:13.132 --> 00:17:15.067
Sometimes they're pretty simple
to chip through.

310
00:17:15.067 --> 00:17:21.473
Other times
it might take days to cut through it.

311
00:17:21.473 --> 00:17:25.144
Go for the high heights
coming through a weak point and

312
00:17:25.611 --> 00:17:34.920
just go to town.

313
00:17:36.121 --> 00:17:37.923
Hey, guys, can you hear us?

314
00:17:37.923 --> 00:17:43.062
Once we began to break through the ice,
water started to come out of it.

315
00:17:43.062 --> 00:17:44.863
And this line starts bloody.

316
00:17:44.863 --> 00:17:53.372
Grandpa may not be a good thing.

317
00:17:53.372 --> 00:17:54.773
Teton County Search and rescue

318
00:17:54.773 --> 00:17:58.377
are chiseling away at a massive ice floe,
trying to reach three lost hikers.

319
00:17:58.777 --> 00:18:00.712
Hey, guys, can you hear us?

320
00:18:00.712 --> 00:18:03.582
Any time you're in a cave and water starts
pulling in.

321
00:18:03.615 --> 00:18:07.653
Not a very comfortable thought.

322
00:18:13.425 --> 00:18:16.795
Luckily, the meltwater passes,
but it raises new questions

323
00:18:16.795 --> 00:18:19.598
about the condition
of the lost hikers on the other side.

324
00:18:20.099 --> 00:18:23.368
Yo, yo, yo, can you can

325
00:18:23.368 --> 00:18:26.839
you see through this hole?

326
00:18:29.675 --> 00:18:32.678
Guys, can you talk to us?

327
00:18:32.945 --> 00:18:35.814
Finally, they chop open a porthole
so that one of the rescuers

328
00:18:35.814 --> 00:18:38.851
can slide through.

329
00:18:42.387 --> 00:18:44.523
Hey. Yeah.

330
00:18:44.523 --> 00:18:46.892
And they like what
they find on the other side.

331
00:18:47.192 --> 00:18:49.895
What a blast from Owen's work.

332
00:18:51.163 --> 00:18:53.332
Ultimately, the party was.

333
00:18:53.632 --> 00:18:57.436
Was safe, unhurt,
albeit very cold, wet and tired.

334
00:18:57.903 --> 00:19:00.239
So no medical due or. Totally fine.

335
00:19:00.305 --> 00:19:02.107
Let's let's start rolling.

336
00:19:02.107 --> 00:19:05.344
And Google invites them to get down here.

337
00:19:06.345 --> 00:19:09.181
See now, everyone hustles to get the Chile

338
00:19:09.181 --> 00:19:12.918
hikers out into the sunshine.

339
00:19:14.253 --> 00:19:17.122
So you think it'll energize us?

340
00:19:17.422 --> 00:19:21.460
I would think
that it's going to feel good.

341
00:19:22.461 --> 00:19:24.563
Glad you guys got to.

342
00:19:24.563 --> 00:19:25.764
Put in our best folks.

343
00:19:25.764 --> 00:19:27.833
They went in there and they know the cave.

344
00:19:27.866 --> 00:19:31.136
They know how to angel systems
and they know what to do

345
00:19:31.136 --> 00:19:34.840
in that environment.

346
00:19:37.576 --> 00:19:46.518
So and the good part

347
00:19:46.618 --> 00:19:53.125
for rescue.

348
00:19:53.125 --> 00:19:55.260
When they reach the mouth of the cave,
they radio.

349
00:19:55.260 --> 00:19:57.829
The good news down to Tim.

350
00:19:57.829 --> 00:19:58.664
Is that.

351
00:19:58.797 --> 00:20:01.500
Jake is just naturally a good mountaineer
and a good leader,

352
00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:05.237
and he was the right guy that day.

353
00:20:05.337 --> 00:20:08.941
I feel like in my in my previous team's
work, I've saved lives.

354
00:20:09.074 --> 00:20:14.213
But the connection you make with people in
this environment

355
00:20:14.213 --> 00:20:18.116
is unlike any other EMS opportunity

356
00:20:18.116 --> 00:20:20.552
that's out there.

357
00:20:21.453 --> 00:20:24.523
Together,
Tim and his team savors moments like these

358
00:20:25.958 --> 00:20:26.925
when training.

359
00:20:26.925 --> 00:20:29.294
Attention to detail and hard work pay off

360
00:20:29.728 --> 00:20:33.732
and everyone goes home in one piece.