By Jules Harrell
Shaun Roundy, a Utah County search and rescue professional, writes poignantly about the many events he’s participated in, by foot, sled, motorcycle, ski, rope, ATV, boat, belly (in the caves) and underwater diving for body parts. Shaun is the kind of guy you just want to hang out with and swap stories, knowing that by the end of the evening he’ll be still telling more while you are quietly listening, in awe of his experiences.
And it can get gross at times. When he describes the rotting faces of bloated waterlogged corpses whose arms may fall off you have to cringe a little. When he talks about the little girl’s body that is caught in river debris, at least you already know she’s dead because otherwise you’d be heartbroken like the rest of the rescuers. Lots of kids die in Shaun’s book; in fact, lots of people die. Several also survive, although as he says most of the time the SAR groups don’t even know if their patient lived or died unless they come back and tell them.
Shaun is no stranger to death and destruction. He sees it all the time, and writes about it in a way that puts you there with him. Throughout the book you will see many photos of different rescue scenes, as well as some photos of SAR folks just having a good time. It’s important to remember that SAR is almost always volunteer, and as volunteers we have to have a good time once in a while. Speaking of which, there was the time Shaun had a cute chick out for a date on the lake when his boat capsized. He was forced to call for rescue, which we all know means he’ll never hear the end of it from his SAR friends. The cute chick pretty much ditched him for his rescuers, but at least he can laugh about it now. As I’m sure the rest of his SAR team does too.
Vignettes of what it was like to develop the motorcycle contingent of Utah County’s search and rescue really made me want to go out and buy a motorcycle. You can personally experience how hard they had to push those bikes straight up gnarly rooted paths late at night. I still can feel what it must have been like for the guys to feel their bikes rear up in front of them, and have to somehow get them back on the path again without falling to their deaths down below.
The motorcycles speed up rescue and recovery, and are fun too. Still, a high level of skill is required to ride where you once hiked, and Shaun certainly takes you there in his book.
When Shaun says 75 stories, he’s not kidding. This 214 page book is jam packed with stories, photos and discussions of what SAR life is like for the average person who also has a job and a life to juggle. At one point, Shaun is about to sit down with slathering hungry jowls to Thanksgiving dinner prepared by a friend when of course, right while he’s piling his plate with food, the pager goes off. The two rolls and slice of pie provided by the host at the last minute give Shaun and another rescuer some food while they’re stuck high on a mountain cliff, freezing cold and bivvying for the night. Those two rolls and pie sure tasted good, I can feel them in my stomach all the way here in upstate New York.
I admit it, rescue stories are a favorite. Right now, Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2010 is sitting on my desk. I had to put it down to devour Shaun’s book for this review. If you don’t have a copy of 75 Search and Rescue Stories in the mail to your address right now, I highly recommend you get one. This is the best rescue book by far that I’ve ever read. Get your fix and get it now at: http://bit.ly/rescuestories
Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.
About the reviewer:
Jules Harrell is a 50 year old ski patroller for both Jiminy Peak and Magic Mountain, a search and rescue volunteer, an animal tracker, and a former EMT/firefighter with the Bolinas Fire Department in Marin County, California. She has written three books: A Woman’s Guide to Bikes and Biking (Bicycle Books, 1999), A Woman’s Bike Book (Owl Publications, 2010), and Tripping with Gabrielle (to be released by Owl Publications, 2010). Please see her blog at: www.photonicgirl.blogspot.com and contact her at photonicgirl@ gmail.com for more about life on the Iced Coast.
