Snow Rescues… in September The Pacific Northwest has already had two incidents with snow creating the need for a rescue in the backcountry. Snow at elevation in the fall isn’t unheard of, of course, but hikers can find themselves caught unaware of quick and dramatic changes in the weather. “Fall and spring are transition seasons,
155.160 is THE SAR radio frequency in the United States. It is on everybody’s ICS-217, and it is often associated with the MRA. In fact, it may even be labeled “MRA” in your radio. Allocating limited radio spectrum is a complicated issue that begins with licensing. The FCC grants licenses according to frequency, use, and
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
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
Utah SAR Teams Paying Search and Rescue Members for Missions, Training Summit County (Utah) Search and Rescue is the latest Utah team to start compensating members for their work. Because of a new statewide tax for emergency services that went into effect last year, the county, which includes Park City, is working on a plan
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
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
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
The MRA Annual SAR Exercise 2025 will be held June 13 through through June 15. This year’s event will be hosted by the Marin County SAR team and will be held at NatureBridge Golden Gate, located in the scenic headlands of Marin County. The annual MRA SAR Exercise aims to advance the field of search
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
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
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
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