Albany County rescuers save stranded snowmobiler near Widow Maker Peak

A stuck snowmobile in the Widow Maker area west of Centennial turned a solo ride from Green Rock into a countywide search when Albany County authorities got the overdue-rider report around 6:15 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 2026. Footprints led away from the machine near Medicine Bow Peak, and a cellphone ping pointed rescuers toward Carbon County before ground clues narrowed the search back to the Snowy Range.

Albany County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue and Intermountain Flight & Ambulance Services were activated as deputies worked through a large patch of mountain terrain where cell coverage can be unreliable and a wrong ping can send crews in the wrong direction. The missing snowmobiler was found near the area where the machine had been discovered, then transported to Ivinson Memorial Hospital, where the person was treated for hypothermia and exhaustion.

The call shows how quickly a routine outing can become a rescue in a county that covers about 4,500 square miles and serves about 37,000 residents. It also underscores why the sheriff’s office keeps pressing basic backcountry precautions: ride with a partner, tell someone your route and return time, and carry emergency communication gear that can send an SOS when a machine gets stuck or a rider becomes separated from it.

The setting itself adds to the risk. The U.S. Forest Service says the Green Rock Picnic Site along the Snowy Range Scenic Byway provides access to the Libby Creek Trail for winter cross-country skiing, while the Green Rock Picnic Area also serves as an entry point for the U and O snowmobile trails. The agency also warns that snowmobiles should not be ridden in or on ski areas and trails. In a landscape used year-round for hiking, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, skiing, OHV riding, camping and biking, a small navigation mistake can quickly become an emergency.

The response also reflects the limits of local resources. In a 2023 rescue account from Medicine Bow Peak, Liberty Boyer said Albany County Search & Rescue is a 50-member volunteer team that typically gets 10 to 20 calls a year, using drones, dogs, snowmobiles, horses, ATVs and mountain bikes. That same volunteer model still anchors the county’s response when a rider disappears in the Snowy Range, where weather, terrain and distance can overwhelm even experienced recreationists.