One gnarly day in Wyoming...
So you guys may know some of the story but here is the full version.
Jay Mentaberry is a friend of mine that is 16 and one hell of a rider. On Sunday January 9th 2011, I was out with him and Phil Yibar and Tyler from 208 Production Films. We were out to collect the last of Jay's footage for this year. Jay had set up on this cliff drop, marked his line, and went for his approach.
Time is 11am.
After the take off, we was way off line, all we saw from the top was him bail, I moved to see where he landed and all I saw was snow dust and a tumbling sled. I raced around the hill and started the climb from the bottom. The hill was 40 degrees plus, I sidehilled as far and as fast as I could. Parked the sled and ran over to him. His leg was bent backwards behind him and ankle in the wrong direction, take a moment for a visual...And his nose was fillet open all the way to his skull, and nasal cavity. Tyler and I were the first ones on scene, got him a rag for his nose then started to make a plan on what to do with his leg. I took off my knee brace, cut his pants, and put the brace on his leg, which at this point is now straight. Full compound fracture just above his boot. Installed the knee brace and cranked it down as tight as I could, we then used an entire roll of duct tape to secure the brace to his boot to make sure leg could not rotate or bend, then added a shovel handle for more support.
Now the fun begins, we sent out Phil, and Kurtis to try and gain cell service. In the mean time Tyler and I worked Jay down the slope to as far as we could get him. We identified a a pocket of trees in the flat for a base camp. We sent Randy down there to start collecting firewood. Tyler and I then put Jay on the tunnel and moved the sled the rest of the way down the hill and to the trees. Jay was in a lot of pain, but handling it like a trooper. We got a fire going, got Jay on our packs out of the snow. Randy had a space blanket and we used fuel out of the sled to get the fire going. Tyler propped himself up against a sled and rested Jay against him to keep him warm while we waited for news from the crew.
Time 1:00pm
Tyler and I switch spots, at this time we hear the blades of a chopper in the distance. Sure enough here they come, we are done...So the chopper signals that he sees us and flies off. We thought maybe they could not land and needed a bigger pad. So Tyler Rallied down to search for them. In the mean time the Alpine EMS crew shows up on scene. Bryan Pack and Dave. The asked us about the extent of injuries and what we had done to this point. They took all vital signs and mad sure Jay was as comfortable as possible.
Time: 2:00pm
Kayla( I think) Intermediate EMT shows up with some pain meds for Jay. She started an IV line, and administered the Morphine. Jay at this point was as calm as I have ever seen some one, not to mention he is just with some friends, and no family.
Time3:30pm
Star Valley Search and Rescue was the next on scene, they were in contact with the chopper, according to SVSR the chopper could not land because they did not have skis on the chopper (keep in mind they were dispatched to a mountain rescue). SO chopper #1 turns around, but chopper #2 is in route and 45 minutes away. Updated Chopper was 12 minutes out. We started to make a plan on how to get Jay to the chopper, clearing a path and getting him ready to transport. Then the dreaded call came, no chopper weather was too bad to continue flight. The next plan was made to take him out on a toboggan. SVSR brought down a toboggan and stated getting Jay ready for travel, backboard, two sleeping bags, heat packs, and space blankets.
Time 4:30pm
Jay is ready on sled, and behind a sled and moving out. I believe the words that were stated by Jay were "put me behind a Polaris and we will make it out" So they put him behind and Articat. After two big climbs and three big descends, we are at the steepest part of the trip, just one more hill to go up. Half way up the sled gets stuck with Jay in tow. Phil, Tyler, and I rallied past the sled, and started to pull Jay up with a rope, it was about 200 yards to the top, there were about 10 of us online to pull. Got him up...
Time: 5:00pm, dark is rolling in fast, and we still have 1 mile of a steep 45 degree slope to descend. There were more SVSR at the bottom waiting for Jay with a sled with shocks on it to transport him out more comfortably. The worst part of the trail ride was yet to come. I went down first with a few others to get ready on the bottom. Because of the time of day, it was going to be hard for people to ride their sleds down that steep grade. A team of people started to lower Jay down the hill 600' at a time. This process took almost 2 hours.
Time: 7:00pm.
Jay is at the bottom and doing great I made contact with him, and assured we were almost out. The trail ride in the sled out according to Jay was the worst part. We had 3 miles of trail that was all whooped out, sometimes 2-3' deep bumps. Jay at this point was just along for the ride.
Time: 7:45pm
Arrive at the Grey's River Trail Head with Jay, and transferred him over to the ambulance team.
Time: 8:45pm
Jay Arrives in Jackson at St. Johns Hospital....
Time: 1:00am
I got news from Phil and Tyler that Jay had surgeries on his nose and leg and all is well.
Time: 10am.
I visited Jay and he was walking down the hall in a walker.
and at 3
m on crutches. What a trooper
I think I got all of the details correct. This was a very long day a total of 9 hours to transport him out to medical help. Thanks for all of the great people that helped on this mission. Jay is one hell of a kid and a tough one at that. He never panicked or cried the entire time. I do not think that at 16 I could have done the same with out the security of my family around me.....
Here is what the sled looks like
just before impact 
did you get that "battery taste" in your mouth? Good luck on your recovery, workout your upper body while the leg is healing and get back out there.
