I will have to agree with you about the Denali volunteers: "They also include highly skilled, carefully selected volunteers in their high altitude team." I was on the June team in 1987 - quite an experience - about two weeks at Advance Base Camp -14,000+ dealing with incidents. We were hoping to make a push for the summit, but our plans were disrupted by the need to treat a HAPE victim. The good news was that our work was monitored by Dr. James Wilkerson, author of Medicine for Mountaineering and we had a very worthwhile, positive discussion afterward. Denali was a great experience - I kept mumbling to myself as we trudged up the Muldrow Glacier, "You're not in So Cal or So Arizona any more." And I was a volunteer, taking leave from my job at Channel Islands to fly to Alaska and toil as a volunteer -all in all, a wonderful experience.

I agree that I am focused on my Arizona experience, but I see the same system working here in the local counties quite effectively. Certainly with so many disparate situations, there is a lack of uniformity, but it is up to each community to deal with the situation as they see fit, in accord with other priorities...

It is worth noting that SARA was not always a effective organization, not even little bit. SARA was formed in the fall of 1958, shortly before an epic snowstorm blanketed Tucson and the surrounding ranges with record snowfall, causing the deaths of three Boy Scouts attempting to climb Mt. Wrightson, just S of Tucson. I and two of my hiking companions volunteered for the operation, climbing Wrightson and determined that they had not reached the summit.

That was the start of SAR in Tucson. We learned of SARA and joined, part of the first training class. The founders of the group was members of the local Civil Defense team who saw the need for SAR. Their problem was that their outdoor experience was minimal and early efforts were ineffective, for the most part. We were fairly hardy hikers, acquainted with the local trails and high spots, but knew nothing of SAR and first aid procedures.

Gradually things improved and positive results began to appear. There was resistance at first to admitting women to the organization, but I think that was a highly significant factor in SARA's improvement. SARA was the first organization in my experience where I witnessed male and female cooperating and working together effectively. (This was the 60's, after all). The NPS at that time was basically a Boys Club, but has undergone a similar change, with similar results.

I moved to SoCal in 1985, but I have kept in touch with SARA over the years. MY last contact was a few years ago, where I spoke at the memorial service for my best friend who had been hugely instrumental in improving the outfit and who had climbed Wrightson in the snow with me many years earlier.

So, what is the path forward and how do we make SAR even more effective?