Father & Daughter Injured in Snowmobile Accident Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, a man and his daughter were injured while snowmobiling on the Big Sky Trail system. The 41-year-old man suffered an arm injury while his 11-year-old daughter received a leg injury.

The accident occurred just after 1 p.m. on December 24th, about eight miles north of West Yellowstone.

Gallatin County Search & Rescue out of West Yellowstone responded to the accident, as well as emergency crews from the Forest Service and Yellowstone National Park, who used a specialized snow ambulance to reach the crash scene.

The daughter was placed on a backboard and loaded into the snow ambulance; her father was able to ride out on the back of one of the rescue snowmobiles. They were transported off the trail system to an awaiting ambulance from the Hebgen Basin Fire Department.

Both injured parties, however, opted to go to the hospital in their own vehicle after being checked out by the EMS crew.

The day before, on December 23, search & rescue crews were busy responding to another snowmobile crash about five miles south of West Yellowstone on the Whiskey Trail. The rider was a 57-year-old woman who complained of femur, back, and neck pain after the accident and appeared to be going into shock.

The injured woman was transported on a rescue sled to a waiting Air Methods helicopter. She was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for evaluation.