The MRA recently completed a newly plotted series of maps detailing the entire Mountain Rescue Association network of regions and teams. Seeing our regions plotted out really drives home the scale of the organization we are all a part of. The MRA is a national organization, encompassing nine regions that span two countries and 32 states.
As small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) became more and more common in SAR throughout California, individual teams and agencies have been working hard in developing drone programs, training pilots, purchasing equipment, and gaining operational experience. Many teams have been producing impressive results with drones on missions by keeping SAR ground teams out of dangerous terrain
The 2026 MRA Conference took place in Juneau, Alaska June 12 – June 14, with pre-conference activities hosted earlier in the week. Co-hosted by Juneau Mountain Rescue and Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, the conference was an opportunity for members to spend time between the mountains and the sea expanding their SAR skills. The annual gathering
Mount Baring, located on National Forest land in Washington state, is popular with base jumpers across the U.S. The mountain’s north face drops nearly vertically to a meadow below that features a small lake and open areas, enticing high-risk takers with a short hike from the parking lot to the 6,127-foot summit. Over the years,
Welcome Spring! Since the winter business meeting in February, your board has been parsing the data from the Mentimeter responses collected during the meeting. We solicited the membership for folks interested in drafting a strategic plan once all this data is listed by priority. If this is something you would like to be a part
When the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team responded to the deadly avalanche in Lake Tahoe in February, they couldn’t have anticipated the wide-reaching impact it would have on the team. TNSAR responded, along with Nevada County’s Search and Rescue team, rescuing six survivors and later assisting with the recovery of nine deceased skiers, including
As mountain rescue teams, we are all familiar with the management of accidental hypothermia. It involves a well-established series of activities, including rewarming the subject, providing calories and hydration, and removing the subject from the field. Rescuers typically provide whatever calories they have on hand, with a classic choice being hot cocoa and some sort
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
As volunteer rescue professionals, we provide an essential public service and mission readiness that requires a great deal of training and personal preparations. Underpinning this capability is communications. One of the most important, yet often overlooked, aspects of communications is maintaining Federal Communications Commission (FCC) compliance to use the Mountain Rescue Association licensed frequency, 155.160
Wilderness medicine is basically what we all do as part of a MRA team. In keeping with this thought, I want to bring information to you that is relevant to what we do either with technical ropes and providing medical care in colder temperatures. Jørgen Melau published in his Substack under the title “Frozen
Greetings fellow MRA Members, I hope all of you had a safe and enjoyable summer. As we head into the fall, the board has a few avenues that it is exploring. With the deployment of FEMA teams to recent disasters, the question has arisen as to whether the MRA might be able to create a
Crisis on Mount Hood: Stories from a Hundred Years of Mountain Rescue Ten years ago, when the Hood River Crag Rats turned 90 years old, we had a small celebration for the community. That spawned an idea in my brain. I was a writer before I was a doctor and a rescue mountaineer. I’d written
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.
Fellow MRA Members, I want to thank the Marin County SAR members who made the Spring SAR Exercise such a successful event. It was a lovely venue with many different tracks of interest to all. I would have liked to clone myself to attend all the field and class sessions – which is why it
The 2025 Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) Annual Search and Rescue (SAR) Exercise took place June 12 – 15 in the headlands of Marin County, just a few miles from San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Hosted by the Marin County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team, this year’s event was held at NatureBridge Golden Gate, a
A simple call to transport a teen with severe depression turned into a pivotal moment early in my rescue career, during an ambulance ride-along that was required to get my EMT license. Most rescuers have moments that stand out, guiding future care decisions and even influencing shifts in life trajectory. This would be one of
In the mountains, we train for a lot—technical rope systems, backcountry trauma, avalanche rescue. But one of the most time-sensitive, high-stakes emergencies mountain rescuers face gets surprisingly little attention: drowning. It’s something SAR teams around the country have been dealing with a lot recently, from waterfall and lake drownings in the Lake Tahoe, California area,
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
