"I'm going to die," she thought. "There's nothing I can do." These were the thoughts going through Leah Brown's head as she was sliding down the icy slope of Mount Hood. We invited Leah and one of the rescuers, Erik Broms to talk about the November 25th 2023 accident and challenging rescue on Mount Hood, Oregon www.pmru.org…

Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic National Forest is a very popular peak. This strenuous hike offers spectacular views of he Olympics as the reward. In this episode Ania is joined by her fellow rescuers Amy and Milo to talk about the accident that took place on Mt. Ellinor in May of 2021. What went wrong? What went well? Could this be you? www.pmru.org…

Eldorado Peak, with its knife edge summit, is one of the most iconic peaks in the Pacific Northwest. Our very own PMR member, Marc "Milo" Milobinski is joining Amy Graham and Ania Wiktorowicz to talk about his climb of Eldorado Peak, the accident, rescue and emergency signaling. Sometimes accidents happen in the least expected places that are still…

Chris Erickson was a veteran mountain ranger in Denali when he was faced with a crevasse rescue that was deemed impossible: extricate a fallen climber from a 60 foot depth of a crevasse what was only 12 inches wide on the bottom. His story is a true example or heroism and perseverance that you may only find in rare rescue stories told by seasoned e…

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz, Created by Mari Feher Andrew Holman is a Portland, Or transplant living and climbing around Anchorage, Alaska. In the process of climbing all the peaks of the Chugach Mountain range near Anchorage, one night he found himself tumbling 500 ft on the South side of Avalanche Mountain (5,050 feet) . What do you do with one mi…

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz, Created by Mari Feher Eric Gagnon has been in Search and Rescue for 25 years. He has been in helicopter rescues for 10 years with King County Sheriff's office in the state of Washington after a start at the Coast Guard. Not only is he a rescue specialist, a hoist operator but currently he is training incoming new members…

Created by Mari Feher, Hosted by Ania Wiktorovicz In July of 2022 Jaden Stewart of Gallatin County Sheriff SAR in Montana, Karel Kaiser and their partner set out to summit Mt Rainier in the state of Washington via the Ptarmigan Ridge route. As they started out from their high camp in 30+ miles /hour wind, they noticed a lone headlamp from the party…

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowitz, Created by Mari Feher We all have a connection to nature and the mountains. It is unavoidable to experience some stress, trauma or even loss and grief while you are on your favourite pitch or route. How do you cope when you are under stressors? Do you have the necessary tools to overcome this experience or the need to re…

K9 Rook is a human remains detection K9, a Belgian Malinois that works for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office along with his handler, Terri Hines. What does Rook do exactly? What is the certification process for your dog to become a SAR dog? How many different kinds of search dogs are out there and how are they trained? If you ever pondered any …

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz, Created by Mari Feher In June of 2022 Sam Kang was leading a 5.6 trad route on Unicorn Peak in the Tatoosh Range in Washington, when a microwave-size rock came loose, sending them to a 25 foot fall, landing face up on the ground. Freak accidents like this can happen to anyone and on routes that you have done a thousand t…

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz, Created by Mari Feher In today's episode Ania is talking to Gabe Kitter. He was featured on Garmin.com when his inReach Mini and his trusty friend Steven Jensen saved his life after his 800+ pound snowmobile rolled over him a few times in Cantwell, Alaska. Alaska can be desolate just like many outdoor locations all throu…

Cheri Higman is the first female chair person of Seattle Mountain Rescue, unravelling her first mission that turned into three separate call outs within 24 hours. www.pmru.orgPortland Mountain Rescue

Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz, Created by Mari Feher Did you know that after an avalanche you, as a back country recreationist are the strongest link in the chain of survival? Heiko Stopsack is a paramedic with the King County Medic 1 and King County Sheriff's Department's Air Support, also a member of Hood River's Crag Rats rescue team. He is here to…

Created by Mari Feher, Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz Dale Remsberg is an IFMGA and AMGA mountain guide based in Lafayette, CO. He currently serves as a technical director of the American Mountain Guides Association, which includes instructing and examining young guides. Dale prides himself in high-end skills in all the disciplines and can still be fou…

Should Airbags Be Standard Avalanche Safety Equipment? Avalanche Airbags , invented in the 1980s prevent mortality better than avalanche transceivers, but have yet to be widely adopted. Is the price and weight difference worth it to save your life? Absolutely. Come and learn how to use them and where you can get one. PMR's presenter Christopher Van…

Created by Mari Feher, Hosted by Ania Wictorowicz So you like backcountry skiing and mountaineering? If you are a beginner you may stick to known routes but if you do like getting off the heavily traveled areas and find your way through new pow in the backcountry, are you sure you can find your way out? What can you do to ensure you make it out saf…

Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Created by: Mari Feher In 2020 Jake Palazzi had one of those classic rappel accidents. Upon topping out on a five pitch route, Wherever I may roam at Smith Rock in Oregon, he came to a crashing halt after falling a full pitch and rag dolling another 150 ft to the hiker's trail. How did he survive rappelling off the end o…

Created by Mari Feher, Hosted by Ania Wiktorowicz On May 31, 2019 four climbers -- Yevgeniy Krasnitskiy, Ruslan Khasbulatov, Vasily Aushev and Kostya "Constantine" Toporov -- started climbing the hardest, most technical route on Mount Rainier in Washington . High winds that tore up their tent and blew away their gear forced them to stop on the Libe…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz A fire erupted on Sept. 8, 2012, and burned about 26,000 acres, or about 40 square miles at the Pole Creek trailhead. The fire that was caused by lightning cost about $18 million to fight. The surging blaze destroyed four cars at the trailhead in the Three Sisters Wilderness, endangering 30 hikers…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Are ice caves the same as glacier caves? Should you be taking your selfie with them or explore them on your own? Did you know that the PNW has one of the few remaining ice caves inside glaciers on our back yard volcanos in the entire country? Eddy Cartaya, the Indiana Jones of Glacier Caving , TED…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Have you ever experienced a whiteout? Imagine 2 feet visibility where you can not even see the steps you've just made, blowing ice, temperatures dropping drastically. Now add, that you are in this whiteout as the last team up, close to the summit of Mt Hood with extreme angles below you, with the …

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Tom Gall, one of Portland Mountain Rescue's Rescue Leader takes you down to the Grand Canyon where a canyoneering trip when horribly wrong. Tom's years of experience as a 20 year PMR veteran, a fire lieutenant and as a paramedic came in handy to control the situation and organize an aerial evacuat…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Have you ever wondered how long it is and what it takes to complete a full rescue? Ania is picking the brains of Clackamas County Sheriff's SAR Deputy Scott Meyers and PMR's rescue leader Chris Baker. See the entire time line, the technical support system of a rescue as well as hear some interesti…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz PMR is recruiting! Every 2 years Portland Mountain Rescue holds try outs for new members and the time has come for you to apply if you were ever interested in belonging to one of the most advanced rescue unit on the West Coast. Come and listen to the ins and outs of the application and try out pro…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz NWAC's own Peter Moore avalanche specialist gives you an insight into avalanches on Mt Hood. Avalanche science, weather and preparedness is the center points of this interview. If you are a beginner in the backcountry and need advice on how and where to look for information and avalanche safety eq…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Can you survive falling into a fumarole? There are very few people that can claim such fame. May 24th, 2014 was the last climb on Mt Hood for Mike Adams. Take a listen to his story as there are not many that live to tell the tale. As always, PMR walks you through what to do to avoid getting yourse…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz On May 30th, 2002 9 members of a climbing party fell into a crevasse on the South side of Mt Hood. The well televised rescue is bought to you by one of our 25 year veteran rescuer Steve Rollins, who was on scene when a rescue helicopter crashed into the side of the mountain. The rescue made it int…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz What is Psychological First Aid? Whether you are affected by the pandemic, you've suffered an accident in the outdoors and it limits you from doing the things you love, many of us are having extra stress in our lives nowadays. When the level of stress exceeds what that person can cope with is when…

Created by: Mari Feher, Hosted by: Ania Wiktorowicz Memorial Day weekend in 2020 was a very busy weekend for Portland Mountain Rescue. PMR was already on a standby knowing that people tired of the pandemic lockdown would head to the hills. On Friday, May 22nd a rescue call came in about a lost snowboarder that got stranded in whiteout conditions on…