Donnelly, ID – It’s a story that could only happen in the American West.

Ski patrollers at Idaho’s Tamarack Resort work day in, day out to rescue injured skiers and snowboarders, but rescuing a stranded sheep has to be a first.

The Simboli family of Boise stumbled across a sheep buried up to its head in snow while backcountry skiing near the Valley County ski resort on Sunday. Based on the untracked snow surrounding the sheep, resort officials estimate that it was likely stuck for at least two weeks, since the last 10-inch storm that apparently prompted the sheep to give up on survival. They believe that it went lost during the summer grazing season.

The Simboli family fed the sheep the only item they had to offer — the remains of a granola bar from a jacket pocket — and summoned help.

The sheep was barely alive when Tamarack’s ski patrollers arrived. Her eyes were covered in ice. They did a full secondary survey on the sheep, just like they’d do with any other patient. Then they bound the sheep’s legs, loaded it into a patrol toboggan and began the 90-minute slog to safety, with the Simboli kids leading the way.

Valley County sheep rancher Lee O’Dell is now looking after the sheep, hand feeding it electrolytes, but she has yet to stand on her own. He gives her 50/50 odds of survival, and says that she’ll have to stand and eat on her own if she’s going to make it.

And he says that should the sheep pull through, he’ll name her Tamarack.