Once again I’d like to thank you for downloading and reading this issue of Meridian and hopefully enjoying the stories and contributions of MRA team members. We are used to downloading this as a file but we’ve recently taken a big step: Meridian is available as a dedicated web page on the Mountain Rescue Association site, allowing easier viewing of older content and content sharing. The MRA web team has been hard at work on this project and have done a wonderful job stocking the new library of stories and committee reports.
This issue also marks the end of my time as editor in chief of Meridian. I started my EIC role in the summer of 2020 while working a day job as a TV news producer and volunteering with Eugene Mountain Rescue in Oregon. I am no longer in an MRA team due to my move to Minnesota, where mountains are few and far between. The MRA and its teams are best served by someone who is still an active member of the organization and the specialized missions and training involved.
The best part of this gig is interacting with people on both the rescue and rescuee side of missions. The MRA is full of courageous and ingenious people who answer the call for help and many times come up with incredibly creative ways to locate and extract someone in peril. I am grateful for the time that I’ve been able to spend talking to MRA team members and partner agencies about their mission experience and getting to work on the future of this publication. Much of my time now outside of my day job is now dedicated to K9 and water SAR with my two dogs as well as being a snowboard instructor in the winter.
Meridian now transfers to the very capable hands of Molly Williams. Williams is a Marin County, Calif. SAR volunteer whose editorial experience includes Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal. Her credentials definitely outweigh the experience I had when I started in this position. I will still contribute stories here and there. Though I am no longer an MRA member, it is an organization that I believe in and will gladly assist.
Cheers,
Rick Lindfors-Ackerman
Meridian Editor in Chief
Northstar Search and Rescue
