Book Review by Doug McCall, Seattle Mountain Rescue
“58 Years: My Life in Mountain Rescue” is a fun read about the early days of mountain rescue. Lynn Buchannan joined the Mountain Rescue Council (MRC and the original name of Seattle Mountain Rescue) after being approached by Ome Daiber in 1952 (Daiber, 1907–1989, is known frequently as the “Father of Mountain Rescue”). Daiber took Buchanan on a climb up Lundin Peak following a dulfersitz (also known as body rappel, the dülfersitz is a non-mechanical abseiling technique used in rock climbing and mountaineering) rappel accident where one of Buchanan’s Washington Alpine Club climbing instructors died next to Buchannan the week before. Buchanan joined Seattle MRC and quickly became rescue qualified. He later moved to Yakima and was one of the founding mem bers of Central Washington Mountain Rescue (CWMR). Some of the tales recounted in Buchanan’s book show just how far mountain rescue has come since the early days, while other stories carry an echo of more recent missions. In one story, Buchanan tells of a Seattle MRC board meeting where several of the founding members were almost voted out of the unit because their first-aid cards had expired. In another unit-related story in CWMR, Buchan nan describes the skepticism around the Bergtraga (an early litter from Austria) and wheel. One humorous story explains how Buchanan became deputized after a joint mission with the Hood River Crag Rats (Oregon) on Mt. Adams. Buchannan had called the Crag Rats because they were 100 miles closer to the south side of Mt. Adams. Following the mission, the Hood River county sheriff said that a civilian volunteer did not have the authority to call out an out-of-state unit. So the Yakima County sheriff deputized Buchanan, and later informed the Hood River sheriff that his deputies had made the call. Buchanan explains the development of the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic (MAST) committee that was formed in Washington state. Buchanan had been a fixed-wing pilot and got the opportunity to get some stick time on a UH-1 Huey. Buchanan later became the president of the MAST committee and worked to train the mountain rescue teams in helicopter operations. Buchanan details some of the 82 helicopter missions he has been on. Buchanan says he has experienced severe turbulence (“when the control of the aircraft is in doubt,” as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration). On one mission Buchanan experienced extreme turbulence when the helicopter’s tail became damaged. In a somewhat humorous recounting of a mission for a lost helicopter, Buchanan writes that a C-130 airplane searching for the ELT signal saw the helicopter sitting on the summit of Mt. Baker, with two guys waiving for help. The pilot of the helicopter had been coming back from a job and decided to land on the summit, where he shut down the aircraft. After walking around the summit for a bit, the pilot returned to the helicopter but was unable to get it started.
The pilot and passenger had to spend the night on the summit until they were located. Buchanan tells of several missions on Mt. Adams, one in which a climber who survived a 1,000-foot slide was very unwilling to let go of a rock he had been clinging to until he was fully assured that the rope, harness and belay would hold him. On another mission, Buchan an recounts searching for a fall subject who had an apparent dislike of brightly colored clothing, claiming that it created visual pollution. One of the mountain rescue members asked if the two hours of noise and exhaust pollution from the helicopter that was searching for him was countered by his lack of visible clothing. Buchanan also shares his experiences at the national level, including stories from MRA meetings, one of which devolved into a number of people being thrown into a pool, only to be broken up by a sheriff ’s deputy who was attending the meeting. At breakfast the next morning, the deputy was informed that he was pretty close to being pushed into the pool himself. At the 2010 Juneau MRA meeting, Buchan an received the Lifetime Service Award and his wife Connie received the Distinguished Service Award. “58 Years: My Life in Mountain Rescue” is filled with intriguing stories of search es, rescues and recoveries, and much more. As a rescuer, I can relate to each of these stories. As an MRA member, it is a great opportunity to read about the developing days of mountain rescue. This is the perfect book to read while waiting for your next mission. Doug McCall has been a field member of Seattle Mountain Rescue since 2008, and has served as the chair of the Washing ton region and former Secretary/ Treasurer and Member -at -Large of the MRA. McCall began climbing in the Washington Cascades in 1992 and enjoys alpine ascents, mixed climbing, and backcountry skiing.
