Backcountry rescue team rescues injured mountain biker on Perry Hill

September 14, 2026  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team members bring the injured mountain biker down from Perry Hill to an awaiting Waterbury Ambulance on I-89 about one mile south of Exit 10. Photo courtesy of WBRT

The Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team responded to a call last week for an injured mountain biker on the Perry Hill trails in Waterbury.

Shortly after 2 p.m. on Sept. 7, the team was relayed a report of a 33-year-old female mountain biker from Quebec who had suffered a back injury on the popular biking trails, the team’s report states.

Within five minutes, the first rescue crew member arrived at the trailhead near the Waterbury Ice Center on River Road. A friend of the biker was at the trailhead and provided clear information on the patient's condition and location, according to the release.

The incident happened on the Disneyland Trail where the biker went over her handlebars and landed “like a scorpion,” the friend described. She had significant back pain, reportedly had lost consciousness briefly and had shown signs of short-term memory loss, the report noted.

Backcountry rescue members approached the site from two directions with gear needed to extract the biker and return to the base. Just after 3 p.m., the first EMTs reached the biker who was treated and placed in a Stokes litter and prepared for transport. The crew members then carried the injured woman downhill to a location along Interstate 89 where a Waterbury Ambulance was waiting. The location along the highway was the quickest and most direct route despite requiring some bushwhacking, according to team members.

The biker was taken by ambulance to UVM Medical Center and the rescue was completed by 4:45 p.m.

Fourteen backcountry rescue members took part in the call, which was the team’s seventh this year. It was the agency’s 302nd call since it was formed in 2002. Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team is a unit with Waterbury Ambulance Service.