Deschutes County SO Search and Rescue comes to aid of 2 lost snowmobilers near Todd Lake

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two snowmobilers who became lost in blowing snow on the trails near Todd Lake southwest of Bend late Thursday afternoon called 911 for help and were guided out of the area by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams.

County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly after 4 p.m. from a 56-year-old man from Winnemucca, Nevada who was riding with a friend, a 38-year-old Bend man, toward the snowmobile area near Moon Mountain when they became disoriented due to weather, snow conditions and unfamiliarity of the elaborate trail system, said Deputy Donny Patterson, Assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

The riders, on separate snowmobiles, traveled about 90 minutes as they lost daylight and noticed they were getting more disoriented, Patterson said. Strong winds in the area were “blowing snow in all directions, inhibiting their ability to see snowmobile trails,” Patterson said in a Friday news release.

A sheriff’s office Special Service deputy assigned to SAR called the lost pair and determined SAR resources were needed to safely help the riders out of the area, the deputy said. The riders remained in the spot where they had cellphone service.

The SAR snowmobile team was activated, and eight team members responded to the page. Two snowmobile teams consisting of six SAR members deployed on SAR snowmobiles to Dutchman Sno-Park, Patterson said.

When the teams made it to within about 200 yards of the snowmobilers, “poor visibility and current weather conditions made travel in the dark unsafe for a snowmobile rescue,” Patterson said. The teams then deployed on snowshoes and reached the pair around 8 p.m.

“The lost subjects were well-equipped for the weather,” uninjured and in good health, Patterson said.

The two SAR teams escorted the snowmobilers back out of the area to their vehicles at the sno-park.