Woman Listed Critical After Snowy Rescue

An 18-year-old woman was in critical condition Sunday after a dramatic mountain rescue in howling winds and freezing temperatures Saturday night.

A second woman suffered frostbitten hands and feet.

Rescuers were summoned by a third 18-year-old who broke her foot on the way to find help, but pressed on until she reached a phone.

The women, students at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., were on a snowshoe outing in the Proctor Mountain area near Trail Creek, the Blaine County Sheriff’s Department said.

At about 1 p.m., the trio tumbled into an avalanche chute. They did not trigger a slide, but the chute, coated with ice at an angle of 40 degrees, was no place to linger.

Robin Scarth left her injured friends and went for help, but fractured her foot in several places during the descent. Despite the pain, Scarth forged ahead and reached the Trail Creek Cabin, where she summoned help at 5 p.m.

More than 30 volunteers from the Blaine County Search and Rescue unit and the Ketchum Fire Department responded to the call. The stranded women were located at an elevation of 8,300 feet. The temperature hovered around zero and winds were gusting up to 40 miles per hour.

Rescuers, two of whom suffered mild hypothermia, used ropes to lower the pair to safety.

Erin McGarry was loaded into an ambulance with injuries that included second-degree frostbite on her hands and feet, as well as a cervical strain. Her friend, Angela Guerricabeitia, suffered third-degree frostbite on both feet, second-degree frostbite on her left hand and an arm and shoulder injury.

She was taken to the University of Utah Intermountain Burn Center in Salt Lake City. Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling described her condition as critical, but stable.