Teton County Search and Rescue had more calls for service this May than ever before

JACKSON (WNE) — Teton County Search and Rescue had a busy May.

“Summer essentially started early,” said Cody Lockhart, Search and Rescue chief adviser.

With warm and dry weather, people were eager to get out on the water and on hikes, mountain bike rides, and horseback trips, Lockhart said. When more people are out in the backcountry, there will likely be more people getting into trouble and needing help, he said. 

“At some point it’s a numbers game,” he said.

Search and Rescue responded to 14 calls for service in May. Six of those calls required volunteers to embark on rescues. While leadership in the rescue agency still sees a downturn in total callouts in the shoulder season, over the years that period has gotten smaller. 

Search and Rescue did six rescues in May last year, two in 2023 and six in 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Generally, Search and Rescue helps more visitors in the summer months and more Jackson Hole residents in the winter months — often backcountry skiers and snowmobilers, Lockhart said. That’s generally been the case so far this year, he said.

The ramp-up in rescues came as tourism to Jackson Hole intensified and approached or broke records. Yellowstone National Park saw its busiest May on record, Grand Teton National Park saw its second-busiest May, and Jackson Hole Airport had a 15% bump in enplanements in May compared with last year.

Search and Rescue received calls for two swiftwater rescues on the Snake River, a crashed speed flyer, a stranded motorist near Cave Falls, three calls for missing kids, an injured horseback rider, overdue bear hunters in the Gros Ventre mountains and two injured bikers on the same trail on Teton Pass. That’s according to a Search and Rescue press release.

This story was published on June 23, 2025.