Blog Test

We recently finished a fantastic week with Rescue 1, Seattle Fire Department.  The commitment to excellence and dedication to the mission within this Company – and entire Department- is remarkable.  Our objective heading into the week was clear: deliver a set of experiences that challenged reliance on gadgetry; focus on fundamental principles of rigging and ropework; and facilitate a healthy discussion regarding equipment choices & training progressions as they relate to Mission Profile. We began with an in-depth discussion of rescue kit selection. The team worked every scenario with the gear chosen for their harness – a Small Teams type of approach.  Lengthy discussions took place regarding terminology such as mirrored systems, two-tensioned rope systems, single main/separate belay, DCTTRS, etc. In the end it was decided that the name matters little, but effectively mitigating legitimate risk is what will win the day.  Just how strong does the anchor need to be?  Why 10:1…and how can a Company reasonably deviate from it? Everything comes back to managing the right risk at the right time. With thoughtful kit selection and a training progression focused on system simplicity, even the most difficult rescue scenarios can be efficiently solved.  It was an honor to work with such a terrific group of professionals. Our hat is off to Rescue 1, Seattle Fire Department.

We wrapped up the second training workshop with ICE-SAR team members to include some volcanic rock crevasse rescue scenarios, utilizing an artificial high directional. My hosts took me out for a nice hike to the active volcano on the way to the airport. Getting that close to a fresh river of molten lava was an unforgettable experience. Thanks, ICE-SAR!

The second week of our trip to Iceland included a Refresher Workshop for previous RfR Fundamentals attendees. The weather continued to be dry and cold, and we had some excellent training sites for pickoffs, litter work, and volcanic crevasse rescue.  The old lava flows have numerous cracks in the surface that form rock crevasses.  Some of these are hidden with a blanket of thick moss that acts like a carpet. Cracks like these create a hazardous trap door quality for the unaware hiker out for a stroll. It was a different experience to cover crevasse rescue in a volcanic lava flow.

We wrapped up our first course in Iceland with a nice drooping horizontal Kootenay Highline System over a scenic river gorge near the end of the fjord. There was a humorous misfire of the line delivery device that resulted in a small delay in establishing the messenger line. However, the comic relief was well worth the line entanglement. Lots of clever anchoring techniques were utilized to rig the highline, including the “hedgehog” ground anchoring plates (angled aluminum –note: not snow pickets!- with customized rebar stakes).

The Icelandic Search and Rescue Association (ICE SAR) has been attending Rigging for Rescue seminars going back to 2007. Our trips to Iceland have covered many cliffs and crags on this spectacular island nation. 2021 marked our 7th trip to Iceland and one that was hard-earned after a couple of Covid-related rescheduling snafus. ICE SAR is the umbrella organization for around 96 SAR teams. Each comprised of around 30 members. That means for a small nation of 300,000, nearly 1/100 are active SAR personnel. Respect! This trip we started up north in the village of Akureyri.  This is near some of Iceland’s best backcountry skiing terrain and it also has an abundance of cliffs and crags for SAR training. We were treated to mostly dry, albeit cool weather and had a great week of ropework and rigging.  

Recently, we hosted Tip Top SAR from Sublette County, WY at our home base in Ouray. Tip Top responds to a large swath of the Wind River Range, which involves some very remote terrain oftentimes accessed by helicopter. The team prefers to hone their ground rescue skills in Ouray each spring in preparation for the hiking/climbing season in the Winds which starts around July 4th most years. And right on the heels of hosting Tip Top we trained another Wyoming-based team – the Jackson Hole Mountain Patrol. The JHMP is responsible for all of the incidents and accidents on the Jackson Hole ski area terrain including the summer bike trails as well as the via ferrata. The via ferrata at Jackson has been in use for around 5 years now and they continue to add new terrain to the via ferrata circuit every year. Much of the terrain would make for very challenging terrestrial rescue as the base of the cliffs are semi-remote with no easy access to the road cuts or ski lifts. Every year we brush up on the basics like 2-rope pickoff techniques. But we also spend a lot of time on aerial suspension systems such as Guiding Lines and Highlines. The longer suspension systems allow us to float the patient across very rough talus-strewn terrain to an eventual egress point for a wheeled litter evac. A great couple of weeks with Wyoming SAR personnel!