Team effort rescues stricken snowmobiler

Bigfork and Creston fire departments and the ALERT helicopter crew had to get creative rescuing a man injured in a snowmobile accident Tuesday afternoon near Jewel Basin.

Bigfork Interim Fire Chief Mick Borges said there was already an ambulance crew in the area responding to another call on Foothill Road when the call came in out about a snowmobile accident five miles up Jewel Basin Road.

One of the emergency medical technicians from the first call jumped in a vehicle with Creston Fire and drove up the road, where they found the snowmobiler pinned beneath his snow machine.

“He was over the side of an embankment 12 feet down off the road,” Borges said.

The Alert helicopter was dispatched, but could not land in the immediate vicinity. The helicopter landed at a rock quarry a mile from the accident. The helicopter crew then rode in a truck with fire responders to the scene.

The snowmobiler, who had a back injury, was fitted with a neck brace, put on a backboard and loaded into the back of the pickup truck. Responders drove slowly so the ride did not jar the man on the slick road, and arrived back at the helicopter 20 minutes later.

ALERT flew the man to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. He was listed in stable condition on Wednesday afternoon.

Borges said a team effort was necessary to get the man to safety.

“Creston was a huge help in all of this,” Borges said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.