Bozeman Woman Strikes Head on Tree in Snowmobile Accident

Gallatin County Search & Rescue was busy again this weekend rescuing snowmobilers. On Sunday, the West Yellowstone Police Department Dispatch received a call reporting an injured snowmobiler after a crash. According to a press release from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, a group of snowmobilers said one of their party had left the trail and struck a tree.

The crash occurred around 1 p.m. on Sunday, approximately six miles south of West Yellowstone on the South Plateau Trail. It involved a 27-year-old Bozeman woman, who reportedly struck the tree with her head and was ejected from her snowmobile. She was conscious but incoherent when her party made their emergency call.

Volunteers from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue in West Yellowstone, the US Forest Service, and Montana FWP were all dispatched to assist with the rescue.

The injured woman and her fellow snowmobilers were located coordinates retrieved from the 911 call. In addition to a head injury, the woman was suffering a possible broken wrist and leg.

Search and Rescue used a rescue sled to transport her back to West Yellowstone to a waiting Hebgen Basin Fire Department ambulance. The woman was transported to Big Sky to a waiting Air Methods helicopter.

On Friday, Gallatin County Search and Rescue was involved in responding to an injured hiker on Bozeman's 'M" Trail. According to a statement from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, the injured hiker was a 77-year-old male who fell in a rocky portion while descending the trail. The hiker injured his right quadricep and was immobilized.

According to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, search and rescue crews were dispatched to the 'M' hiking trail near Bozeman on Friday, January 1.

Search and Rescue team members loaded him onto a one-wheel litter and transported him to the trailhead. He was then taken by paramedics from AMR to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital.