(soft music) - Me learning how to snowboard here, no backpack, I mean, I just had a snowboard, walked up the hill.

Not a clue, not a clue.

Nowadays, there's not a slope I can stare at without imagining the whole thing coming down.

(snow rumbling) Ignorance was bliss, I guess.

(chuckles) (gentle music) - People come here for the snow.

And it's the best.

Deep powder, that's what we live for, it's incredible.

(people cheering and laughing) Town fills up.

Who respects it?

Who doesn't?

You know, some of these are just accidents.

And some, they're playing where they shouldn't.

- Cooke City is one of the most remote locations in the lower 48 states.

- It's an odd little place, really.

You know, half the people hate each other for various reasons.

You know, grudges that go on forever, 20+ years.

The thing that we have in common is everybody that stays here indefinitely, they love it here.

- Cooke City has like 80 year-round residents.

People come here from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, places that don't have big mountains like this.

And when you're not living in it or really close to it, you don't have a real grasp on what actually the risks are.

The mountains here start right out of town, go straight up, and extend for miles, and that comes with a lot of avalanche terrain.

This area has the most fatalities, probably by a good number, in the last 25 years.

(snow rumbling) (uneasy music) - Certain days, the snow is so sensitive, it just needs a reason.

There's times like that, we spend the day in our riding gear just in case.

To save somebody, you're talking minutes.

- My goal in life is to actually find somebody alive.

Hasn't happened, but we want to.

But by the time those party members of that riding group come into town and we get geared up and we go out, it's too late.

Way, way, way too late.

(melancholy music) - There are many times I've had to look into the faces of seven or eight people that are just in total disbelief and grief because their friend is gonna come down the mountain in a body bag.

It can be avoided.

In many cases, it can be avoided.

- [Lara] It's amazing how frustrating it can be to read some of those reports and know that so much was preventable.

- They don't think it's gonna happen to them.

Nobody really thinks it can happen to them.

They just don't have any idea what they're playing with.

(tense music) - I've seen every failure.

Equipment, panic, simple things, batteries.

We got a visual!

- Visual!

- Okay, let's find the head!

Get to his airway!

- It's always the same people, essentially, who are gonna go out and do the rescue.

And they're not immune to any of the emotions and tragedy that comes along with taking dead people out of the mountains.

(somber music) Even though people can be grouchy and salty with each other, they still look out for each other, and they're looking out for everyone who comes here, and they want everyone to go home safe.

(somber music continues)