The MRA DEI Committee is proud to introduce Jack Mitchell, a member of Atalaya Search and
Rescue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jack has been a member since September 2016. He attends the University of New Mexico, majoring in Emergency Medical Services.
Jack doesn’t remember a time where he wasn’t outdoors. He has been climbing since he was
five years old, skiing since he was four. He was an alpine ski racer until last year when he made
the decision that the risk of falls and injuries was not worth it. He has gone white water rafting and kayaking in New Mexico as well as the Adirondacks. He’s worked as a guide the last couple summers in New Mexico as well. He is known by his coworkers as the “Jack of all trades”, for his rescue knowledge and life experiences.
Jack has dreamed of being on a team since he was a kid. As a toddler absorbing picture books, learning about helicopters and first responders, to books, TV and movies as an adult. When he was in high school, he found out that his computer science teacher was on a search and rescue team. “On a school camping trip, I asked him if I could join, given I was fifteen years old. He didn’t know.”
The teacher followed up and found that there was no age restriction. Apparently the topic of age had not come up before. Atalaya is under the State Police and the Department of Public Safety. The state established that the incident commander of any given mission would be Jack’s guardian until he reached 18. The state also required Jack to always be fielded with a teammate. It was understood that Jack would only attend missions where he and his parents were both comfortable.
His biggest challenge: he couldn’t drive. “If it was a two AM mission, I had to wake up my mom
and ask her to take me, “ he said a bit abashedly, “but then it was a good excuse for when I was
tired in class.”
Jack is a rescue level member and one of the more senior members. He has held the record for
the most missions attended in a year. He is currently serving as the secretary/treasurer of the
Rocky Mountain MRA Region. He is also a task force leader for the state of New Mexico,
serving as an in-the-field incident commander and directing the use of resources in the field.
Atalaya sees between twenty and thirty missions a year, mainly searches with a handful of
technical rescues every year. In the winter, the searches are complicated by hypothermia.
The team responds to missions all over the state. Jack once drove five or six hours to a mission.
“It was a team of six. We were looking for a missing plane on property owned by a secretive
private organization. We found the plane and we went home. It was an odd mission.” It was also
his first mission dealing with a fatality, something he found difficult to deal with at age 16.
Jack’s most impactful mission was a recent one. What he remembers are the physical and
mental difficulties of it. It was a swift water recovery of a subject about Jack’s age who had
been missing for several months. “The Taos Bridge is a suicide destination. There are plaques
for all the deceased.” Jack was the youngest responder and was in charge. There were five rescuers, one raft and one kayak. “How do I stay safe” was his top priority–and not just him, but the deputies with him. By water, it was six miles to the subject, then another six miles out. The low level of the water didn’t help the situation. It ended up being a ten hour experience.
“We didn’t find out about the nearby mountain lions until later. The cats perhaps thought we’d brought lunch,” he said.
As sometimes occurs, the appreciation and the relationships that come out of these ordeals are
the rewards. Jack didn’t know everyone he was working with beforehand, but now “we are all
best friends.” The parents were understandably appreciative. “I don’t speak Spanish, but I didn’t
need to, to understand.”
Jack took on his first team lead role at the age of fifteen. “I was the youngest and most senior
person there,” he explained, “and I had the trust of all my team members, which is huge.”
Trust, respect and teamwork are ideals that Jack returns to repeatedly when discussing his
teammates. It is why diversity and inclusion are important to him.
“I am who I am because of mountain rescue. And I would not be here today if I hadn’t been let
in and seen as an equal person.” His team has given him the tools to help others. “What I
do–turning someone’s worst day into something a whole lot better. I could not do that alone.”
And he wants that for others. He speaks of a teammate who goes out of her way to make
newer people feel included. “When it’s your first time at a meeting and people are using big
words and acronyms, it can be weird.” The example has inspired him to be more of a “mother
hen” and check in with team mates, which he feels is an important part of being on a team.
“More people should get that experience.”
He also talks about a team member from another team whom he met because he couldn’t rent a
car to drive to the national MRA meeting in Mt Hood, Oregon. Jack finds that the mountain rescue community is always willing to step in and help, no matter the situation.
Atalaya is a small team–about thirty field active team members, with a fairly high turnover rate,
which can contribute to the diversity of the team. Jack feels diversity is important to the success of his team; People with different backgrounds, communities, perspectives and ideas. “There is a place for everyone in mountain rescue, but not enough people know we’re out
There.”
Financial challenges are an area where Jack feels teams can help in creating inclusion.
This includes having team gear that can be borrowed when personal gear either isn’t available or has been damaged. He also feels it important to reimburse members for training they take on outside of the team. Unfortunately , there is one group of people that don’t seem to accept Jack because of his age. “Subjects. I’ve learned not to tell them my age. They feel embarrassed, it just gets weird, so it’s better left unsaid.”
Photo captions
Jack M. Action Shot 1 – Jack Mitchell during rescue training (Aaron Lovato / Atalaya Search and Rescue)
Jack M. Action Shot 4 – Jack Mitchell climbing little cottonwood canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah
