Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 17:58 Jeff Lehman The dates for TRBC have been set. The course will be at the Sheriff's Heartbar Training Facility on Aug 9-11 and Aug 23-25.
Download the docs for details.
TRBC, Technical Rope in News Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 12:10 Margo Machen Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 21:35 Robert Pincus On Dec 8 and 9, 2012, I attended a free workshop to introduce a GIS application called MapSAR to 40 attendees from several search and rescue teams throughout the state.
The MapSAR application is the result of collaboration between members of the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team, ESRI, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and the Mountaineer Rescue Group.
The goal of MapSAR is to bring GIS techniques and technologies to the Search and Rescue field. What is GIS? GIS as defined by ESRI is “A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.”
Friday, March 15, 2013 at 11:54 Jeff Lehman On March 2nd, the California Region of the MRA came together in June Lake, CA to re-accredit member teams in alpine rescue (snow and ice). This year the event was hosted by Montrose SAR on the slopes of the closed-for-the-season June Lake ski area. West Valley SAR and the Cave Team successfully completed their reaccreditation that included an avalanche beacon search and technical litter evactuation of an injured person.
Each year the Califonia region of the Mountain Rescue Association meets to complete the re-accreditation of its member teams. A fully-accredited MRA member team has completed an accreditation test in each of three disciplines: search and tracking, snow and ice rescue, and technical rope rescue. To maintain accredited status, each team must successfully re-accredit every five years in each of these disciplines. The California Region re-accredits member teams every three years. That is, every year there is an accreditation in one of the disciplines, and this continues in a rotating manner. This allows for events such as those last year where there wasn't enough snow to complete the snow and ice test, but still enables teams to maintain their five year accreditation.
Associate member status is also available. As an associate member, a team must complete and maintain accreditation in at least one discipline. For example, the Cave Team was an associate member in technical rope rescue for nearly a decade before pursuing full accreditation. The only differentiation between associate and full membership is the patch and the ability to vote. I highly recommend that every team pursue accreditation in at least one discipline, as my team greatly improved as part of this process. I think the search management and tracking accreditation is the best first step for most SAR teams.
Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 14:44 Dave Nicolet
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 20:14 David Laver For the Wrightwood/Phelan Search and Rescue Team, November 18, 2012 was one of those very important days that you can’t wait for, and at the same time, you are dreading. This was the day the team had been training for over the past year and a half. They were going for a national certification with the Mountain Rescue Association.
As a team, the Wrightwood/Phelan SAR team felt pretty good about running searches. It really wasn’t something that we did very often, but when there was a search, we had been very successful. However, the process of going for the Search and Tracking certification with the MRA gave us an entirely new perspective on search management. There are three official parts to the certification, and they all require time to become proficient.
Wrightwood SAR in News Monday, February 18, 2013 at 21:43 Dave Nicolet Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 14:22 Jeff Lehman
View New York Mountains in a larger map
On February 15, 2013, at approximately 4:46 p.m., Deputies from the Colorado River Station responded to Caruthers Canyon in the Mohave National Preserve, reference a missing hiker.
Search efforts immediately begin in the area of New York Mountain Peak, which is located on the northwest side of Caruthers Canyon. Due to conditions and terrain, the search was suspended at midnight and resumed at first light on February 16, 2013.
Members of the Colorado River Station Search and Rescue, with the assistance of Barstow Search and Rescue and National Park Service Rangers, continued to search the rugged terrain of New York Mountain Peak.
On Saturday, February 16th, at approximately 10:24 a.m., the Sheriff’s Department Aviation Division located the body of missing hiker, Darrick Rollin Danta, near the summit of New York Mountain, at approximately 6800 feet. Sheriff’s aviation transported members of the Colorado River Station to the scene, where Danta’s body was recovered.
The cause of death is under investigation however, foul play does not appear to be a factor.
The full text of the announcement is available here.
Missing Hiker in Missions Monday, February 4, 2013 at 21:33 Jeff Lehman 
Only a few more weeks left to train for West Valley SAR's annual "Run for Rescue". The USTAF-sanctioned event is April 27 at Chaffey College. There are 5K and 10K courses available as well as a "kiddie" course. For your post-run cool down, you can check out the concurrent safety fair. Registration is now open, and you can find information and an entry form at www.westvalleysar.org.
Run for Rescue, West Valley SAR in News Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 7:16 Jeff Lehman The Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) field practical will be held near Laurel Pines Camp. It will be held despite a concurrent SAR mission. Laurel Pines Camp is located at UTM 0526066 E, 3781249N NAD27. This is on State Highway 38 which goes from Redlands through Mentone the back way to Big Bear. The camp is 37 miles from the corner of Lugonia and Orange in Redlands. For internet information see <http://www.laurelpinescamp.com>. Depending on the snow condition, one may park at the long turn-out at the 8000 foot mark, on a road just a few feet west of the turn-out or at Laurel Pines Camp. We may or may not be able to park inside the Laurel Pines gate. That is yet to be determined. In any case, park in such a manner such that the road through the camp is not blocked. Proceed on foot with your entire winter SAR pack to the actual site for the BMC. To get to this site from Laurel Pines Camp, walk west down highway 38 to the turnout at the 8000 feet elevation sign. Look southward to a large flat snow play area which is at UTM 0525718E, 3780852 N NAD27. Walk further westward to find a road that leads to the BMC site. The total distance from parking area to BMC site is approximately 0.5 miles.
New students: The practical begins promptly at 7 am on Saturday on the dates listed in the BMC Tracker website. It will end on Sunday afternoon. The exact ending time depends on number of students, instructors, remediation, etc. Consider car camping at the BMC site Friday night to acclimatize. This is both a learning and testing experience.
Recertifying students: The practical begins promptly at 7 am on Sunday on the date listed in the BMC Tracker website. No recertification will be done on Saturday. It will end in the afternoon; the exact ending time depends on number of students, instructors, remediation, etc. Consider car camping at the BMC site Saturday night to acclimatize. This is only a testing experience. Instructors will not teach SAR members who are present to recertify. See a description of the field test on the Tracker website.
Radio monitored at BMC site: 155.385 which is San Bernardino county SAR TAC I, i.e., channel 11.
There is onsistent cell phone coverage at the site. Cell phones may work west of the BMC site at Barton Flats or northeast of the site.
For more information, contact Sonny Lawrence, Cave and Technical Rescue Team at
Email: slawrence@sbsar.org
Mobile phone: 909-255-6036