Flathead County woman rescued from wilderness

A potential disaster was averted Sunday, due to preparation, a bit of luck and the rapid response of search and resue responders in Lincoln and Flathead counties.

At approximately 1:45 p.m. Lincoln County Sheriff’s dispatch received a 911 call from Ben Bernall of Troy. Bernall, along with two friends, Zachary Gidley and Julie Nisse of Flathead County, were skiing in the Snowshoe Creek drainage of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness when the unexpected struck.

The trio was switch-backing their way up the ridgeline when Nisse slipped and tumbled off the ridge. Bernall said she rolled approximately 500 feet down the slope, through trees and over small cliffs, before coming to a stop.

“It’s awfully scary to see one of your friends disappear off the mountainside,” Bernall said. “She was in a spot where it could have gone from bad to worse.”

Bernall called 911, but couldn’t get a strong enough signal for effective communication with dispatch. After making sure his friend was stable and secure, he hiked to a higher elevation and sent his wife a text message. She relayed the information to responders through Lincoln County dispatch.

Undersheriff Brent Faulkner was on-duty in the Sheriff’s Office when the call came. He contacted David Thompson Search and Rescue and volunteers began to mobilize immediately for a rescue operation up the mountain. He then made a call to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, who authorized the activation of the Two Bear Air Rescue helicopter from Whitefish, which put the local search and rescue volunteers in the standby role of “Plan B,” Faulker said.

The helicopter crew successfully hoisted Nisse off the slope and took her to the Libby Airport, where an ambulance had staged to await her arrival. Her skiing partners were worried she had sustained a broken ankle, in addition to the bumps and bruises and knocks to the head she suffered during the fall, so she was transported to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center. She was treated and released with only minor injuries.

David Thompson Search and Rescue stayed on alert in the area until Bernall and Gidley completed their trek down into the Cherry Creek Drainage from Snowshoe.

“As usual, David Thompson Search and Rescue was ready to go at  a moment’s notice,” Faulkner said. “They were able to dispatch a team in no time at all. Even though they ended up being Plan B on this operation, they were great. We’re also impressed with Sheriff Curry and Two Bear Air Rescue, this is a tremendous resource we have access to thanks to him.”