In 2022, MRA and Montrose Search and Rescue team member Mike Leum was asked to join a mission to the Ukraine to help a group of special needs orphans who had been abandoned because of the invasion by Russia. Jack Osborne, the son of rock star Ozzy Osbourne and acquaintance of Leum, was
Stowe Mountain Rescue Tries to Teach, Warn Inexperienced Adventurers The Stowe Mountain Rescue team made headlines in December with a post about social media videos that were luring inexperienced skiers and snowboarders into backcountry locations that they were not prepared for and leading to an increase in rescue calls for the team. More recently, the
Sitting here in California hoping for snow, but mostly getting rain. I know the snow will come, but patience isn’t exactly my strong suit. Recent missions for my team have definitely required patience as we have had several searches this year with no find of our missing person. Most searchers find these to be the
In Los Angeles County’s San Gabriel Mountains this past August, during a heat wave, a hiker who was out searching for a woman who has been missing since June 22 had to be rescued after falling ill on Mt. Waterman. L.A. County search teams, aided by other counties around the state, had already conducted more
Garmin Reports 2024 inReach Data Many SAR teams have noted the increasing frequency of satellite device activations precipitating callouts, and data from Garmin, which introduced the first inReach device in 2011, backs up that people who recreate in the outdoors are increasingly making use of the devices to call for help when they need it.
It’s been many years since I was in school, but fall has always brought me back to that feeling of starting a new journey. This year, I actually am returning to school for the first time in several decades, having enrolled in a writing program where I hope to marry my two passions – SAR
Alpine Rescue Team’s Dramatic Mission on Torrey’s Peak after Lightning Strike Colorado’s Alpine Rescue Team had an audacious rescue in June on Torrey’s Peak when two hikers were caught in an unexpected storm and one was struck by lightning while on the phone with rescuers. “It was probably one of the more dramatic calls I’ve
As someone who enjoys learning new things and taking on new challenges, I have often taken classes or trainings or committed to a physical challenge to stretch my limits. I have been a journalist, a stay at home mom, a hospice volunteer, a retail employee, an EMT, and trained as a college counselor. I have
Kate Patterson’s first SAR mission was the kind that search and rescue volunteers always hope for. A 71-year-old woman had been missing in remote Mendocino County, Calif., for several days. The terrain was steep and heavily vegetated. Overnight temperatures dipped down into the 40s for the two nights she was out. Patterson, a member of
SAR Teams Assist Los Angeles Fires The January fires in Los Angeles, particularly the Palisades and Eaton fires, had huge impacts on local Mountain Rescue Teams in the area. Altadena Mountain Rescue, Malibu Search and Rescue and Sierra Madre Search and Rescue all dealt with fires in their immediate area, and some had members’
On the evening of Dec. 23, California’s Malibu Search and Rescue received a call for a missing 78-year-old male with dementia who was last seen several hours earlier when he went out to retrieve his mail. The call came in at 7 p.m. when the temperature was 48 degrees and falling. The area around the
Linville-Central Squad wins Land Rover Defender Service Award Two MRA teams were finalists for the Land Rover Defender Service Awards that were announced in late November. Inyo County Search and Rescue in California and Linville-Central Rescue Squad in Avery County, North Carolina, were both finalists to win $25,000 and a new Land Rover Defender 130
As we start a new year, and I reflect on the year that has passed, my 11th year in Search and Rescue, I am thankful for all that this community has taught me and ways in which it has helped me grow. I have learned so many things – from hard skills like building a
Mountain Rescue Association President Mark Miraglia testified yesterday that a proposed Emergency Response rule from the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration would put unnecessary and burdensome requirements on SAR teams and recommended that OSHA remove wilderness technical search and rescue from the rule. Miraglia spoke at a hearing for stakeholders to provide
Several MRA teams have been deployed to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, including Appalachian Mountain Rescue, Linville-Central Rescue Squad and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service. With widespread destruction in some of their communities as well as adjacent areas, these teams are working in command post positions and also as boots on the ground in
A new documentary about two search and rescue teams and their mostly forgotten shared history is more than just a story of difficult rescues and the hard-working volunteers that perform them. Filmmaker Mark Weiner hopes it is a philosophical look at the ways in which mountain rescue teams might provide an example for community and
By Molly Williams, Meridian Editor At the summer business meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Mountain Rescue Association board approved a proposal to change the organization’s bylaws, which were first written more than 60 years ago. The major revision in the proposal reduced the board from 71 to 12 members. This option was
“Where the Rope Ends” Airing on PBS The documentary that was featured in the last edition of Meridian is now going to be shown on PBS stations. “Where the Rope Ends” tells the story of Nichole Doane, a Seattle nurse who was rescued by SAR after a canyoneering accident in 2017. Doane was seriously injured
This marks my first edition of the Meridian as Editor in Chief, and I am excited about this new adventure. Thanks to Rick Lindfors-Ackerman for all his dedication to the team and for answering my thousand questions as I embark on this new journey. As Rick mentioned in his last letter, I have a background
